“Creating lasting change in cities requires boards to reflect the communities they serve. Aspire is taking the required actions to make this happen. By joining this programme my hope is to broaden its reach and increase the numbers of board ready participants for the future.”
In the second of our series of blogs from our twelve Aspirees’, Olubodunrin Tokosi shares what he’s learnt so far…
Looking back over the last 5 years, I now realise that I strayed into toxic productivity. However, everything changed around my son’s first birthday. The pandemic struck, with disproportionate hospitalisations and deaths of People of colour (PoC). Black Lives Matter (and many other) protests followed the murder of George Floyd and the footage of the Edward Colston statue being toppled and pushed into the harbour was viewed across the world.
As I stood outside and routinely clapped for the 1.2 million honourable NHS staff, I re-examine my choices and considered what truly mattered. I also feared for family and friends who as PoC made up 20.7% of NHS staff. They were mostly frontline, and sadly accounted for up to 64% of staff deaths.
It became painfully evident that the solutions sought, required diversity of thought coupled with the ability to speak truth to power. My thoughts 2 years on, are of creating change with likeminded people on relatable causes.
As I received thought more about joining boards, I had mixed feelings due to prior experiences that ranged from full out tokenism, to wanting my support on specific projects as organisational priorities. However, I have also witnessed true altruism in charities that struggle for survival and trustees invest all their waking time into keeping them solvent.
Whilst existing trustees may genuinely want new ideas and to implement change, they rarely have the time to truly develop new trustees. Additionally, tension always exists between wanting change and having the capability and capacity to deliver.
This is why, on reading about the Aspire programme, I immediately understood its importance. With the top 500 charities in the UK only having 8% (PoC) trustees, and 70% of recruiting being done informally, I chose to locate and fill any gaps in my boardroom acumen. This would ensure I would operate effectively, whilst being my authentic self.
This is where the Aspire programme shines, it’s imparting the necessary skills through relatable coaches and providing exposure to the boardroom. Most importantly, as “92% of trustees are white, older, with above average income and education (Charity Commission 2017)”, the programme is working with organisations to integrate diversity into their corporate culture and helping plan for future board composition. This co-creation recognises that culture will ultimately affect how well a diverse board will perform.
As boards race to show diversity, my hope is they understand that social and professional diversity is needed to facilitate the required ‘diversity of thought’ in organisations. This is being demonstrated by the intersectional mix of Aspire trustees recommended to organisations.
My advice to aspiring trustees is to:
- Select causes that align with your interests/passion. It’s your genuine passion and interest that provide the fuel during challenging times and transform your potential into excellence
- Understand the commitment you’re making and plan your time realistically. It always looks very different when you bring those compartmentalised areas of your life together
- Invest in yourself, and sign up for the Aspire programme. This is so you can comfortably hit the ground running and make a real-world difference
Regards,
Olubodunrin Tokosi
ASPIRE is BeOnBoard’s diverse leadership project, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, that aims to break barriers and disrupt the leadership status quo by diversifying boards with People of Colour to increase representation across the VCSE sector.
To find out more about ASPIRE, visit our webpage HERE
Click HERE to read Sara Telahoun’s blog and click HERE to read Sheika Johnston’s blog.
