Executive Search consultants specialising in diversity and inclusion

The UK Cyber Security Council (UKCSC) was a Government initiative, funded through the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). UKCSC is now a self-regulatory body for the UK’s cyber security profession. It develops, promotes and stewards nationally recognised standards for cyber security in support of the UK Government’s National Cyber Security Strategy to make the UK the safest place to live and work online. We supported DCMS in the appointment of a Chair, a Treasurer and a Trustee to form the UKSC’s first Board of Trustees.

A particular focus of the campaign was ensuring diversity since the cyber security profession has traditionally been male dominated. The appointments were critical in ensuring a clear message that Cyber Security is a profession for all. Furthermore, it was vital the Chair displayed the strong leadership skills and strategic vision to lead, advocate for and grow a fledgling organisation. Following their interviews, the selection panel decided on a Chair and Vice-Chair structure as well as the other board members. Taking on an additional candidate outside of the agreed numbers. Both the Chair and Vice-Chair placed are women with the Chair being a Black woman.

We have subsequently worked with UKCSC to recruit four further Trustees to expand their Board membership to eight.

Currently, the entire complement of Board members at UKCSC was recruited by Inclusive Boards. The Board has strong diversity both within and beyond the protected characteristics.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is one of the UK’s leading sight loss charities. They recognise everyone’s unique experience of sight loss and offer help and support for blind and partially sighted people – anything from practical and emotional support, campaigning for more accessible transport, reading services and the products they offer in their online shop. The RNIB is a catalyst for change, inspiring people with sight loss to transform their own personal experience, their community and, ultimately, society as a whole.

Having previously placed a Trustee on RNIB’s board, Inclusive Boards was commissioned to undertake the executive recruitment of new Trustees, specifically seeking candidates with experience in:

• Strategic customer relationship management.
• Fundraising strategy and innovation.
• Digital transformation.
• Institutional Investment.

We successfully placed three Trustees to the board of RNIB. 

Examples of candidates placed include: Deborah Womack, who has been leading the transformation of global businesses into customer-focused enterprises for more than 20 years; and Alice Collins, who has spent a decade leading highly successful fundraising teams in some of the UK’s most-loved charity brands including Alzheimer’s Society, Make-A-Wish UK and Macmillan Cancer Support.

MindOut is a well-established, small charity run by and for LGBTQ+ people living with mental health problems. They offer unique and highly effective, evidence-based mental health support. Their mission is to improve the wellbeing of LGBTQ+ people who experience mental health problems, reduce mental health stigma, and promote positive mental health amongst the LGBTQ+ community.

MindOut were looking for a new Chair to play a key role in ensuring they meet their strategic aims, and provide leadership and direction to the board, ensuring they fulfil their responsibilities for governance. As a user-led organisation, they wanted their new Chair to have direct experience of mental health problems, identify as LGBTQ+, and be based in Sussex.

We identified 100 candidates within and beyond our network who met the skills profile, and engaged with over 50 people regarding the role. 10 complete applications were received, nine of which were presented to the selection committee. All of the candidates presented had personal experience of mental health problems and were members of the LGBTQ+ community. MindOut interviewed 4 candidates.

The successful candidate, Simon Fillery, brings new skills to the board, including a strong understanding of diversity and inclusion from their consultancy work. They were also previously a Trustee at AKT and have a lived experience that reflects that of the beneficiaries of MindOut’s work.

In 2020 we worked with the National Archives (TNA) to place a new Non-Executive Board Member. TNA is a non-ministerial government department of DCMS (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) and the official archive and publisher for the UK Government, and for England and Wales. The specific skill requirement was strategic-level expertise in equality, diversity and inclusion and buy-in to their ‘Archives for Everyone’ strategy.

After a competitive process, where we longlisted 10 strong candidates, we successfully placed Sonia Cargan. Sonia has spent 22 years serving in various leadership roles at American Express and is currently Chief Diversity Officer, responsible for overseeing American Express’ global inclusion and diversity strategy.

We were subsequently commissioned to support TNA in the search for a new Chair of Audit and Risk. After another highly competitive process, we placed Rommel Pereira, former Finance Director of the Bank of England.

Most recently, we supported TNA for a third time in their search and selection for a new Chair of the Board. This politically sensitive and important placement in the heritage sector saw us engage with numerous potential Chairs who understand the specific challenges facing culture in the UK. We presented a strong longlist of 10 candidates. Ministers approved the selection of a preferred candidate, Andrew Wathey CBE.

Three of the current five Non-Executive Board Members at the National Archives were placed by Inclusive Boards.