A warm welcome to our new Chair of Trustees Genevieve Maitland Hudson, whose appointment was formally confirmed this week. We’re delighted to have found her!

In Gen’s own words she is “a researcher and policy advisor with fifteen years’ experience of leading and supporting organisations in the areas of social measurement, social innovation, social impact, social entrepreneurship and social investment.”

She currently works as Deputy CEO at Social Investment Business, leading on impact measurement research, data, communications, policy, business systems and business development and spearheading innovation in grant-making and social investment funds.

Gen brings a deep knowledge of and interest in democracy, as well as a collaborative and consensus building approach to decision making, and an enthusiasm and passion for impact — so a useful and needed set of skills for mySociety.

And coupled with this happy news, the inevitable need to say goodbye to our outgoing Chair. We give our heartfelt thanks to Catherine Brown, for her huge contributions to mySociety over the last three years, and wish her all the best for her next endeavours.

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Top image: Mabel Amber

Can you lend us your expertise?

We currently have several vacancies available on the boards of mySociety and our wholly owned subsidiary SocietyWorks — providing exciting possibilities for the right people. Might you be one of them?

An independent board, helping to steer our direction, is a crucial part of how we operate as a charity. Information from the Charity Commission on trustees’ legal responsibilities can be found here: gov.uk/guidance/charity-trustee-whats-involved. 

mySociety trustees feed into decisions about our priorities; approve and help set budgets and strategy, and represent the organisation amongst their peers and the wider communities of people and organisations within our fields.

The Treasurer brings financial expertise to the table, playing a particular part in overseeing the finances of the organisation.

Non-Executive Directors help ensure that the company is well-run, solvent, operates within the law, and makes the best possible strategic decisions.

These are voluntary roles and therefore unpaid, but reasonable expenses are of course covered. We believe that this opportunity offers experiences quite unlike any you’re likely to find elsewhere, and will prove rewarding to the right candidates.

If that sounds of interest, please check out our recruitment pack where you’ll discover lots more about the kind of people we’re looking for, and instructions for how to apply.

Before the summer we began the search for new Trustees and Non-Executive Directors to join our charitable and commercial boards. As we enter Autumn I’m very pleased to be able to share the fruits of our search with a clutch of lovely and talented new board members.

For our mySociety Ltd board which oversees our commercial and product development work we are pleased to welcome three new Directors:

Steve Skelton

Steve is Director of Strategy and Innovation at the Government of Jersey, turning emerging theory of open policy making, participatory design and digital government into practice. Previously at Stockport Council, and as Chair of the GM Connect programme for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority he is a leading thinker on all things Local Government.

Ade Adewunmi

Ade is no stranger to mySociety and has been a supporter of our work since her time leading the Government Digital Service’s Data Infrastructure programme. Currently a data strategist at Cloudera Fast Forward Labs, she will help us consider the wider application and impact of ethical data use across our range of services.

Cam Ross

Cam is a Director of Green Angel Syndicate, a network of angel investors funding early stage technology businesses which fight against the climate crisis, and for the sustainable use of resources. He’ll help advise on the further development of our SaaS products, with a particular interest in shaping our response to climate change.

We welcome two new Trustees to our charity board for UK Citizens Online Democracy, who are responsible for the strategic direction and sustainability of the whole organisation:

Julia Keutgen

Julia is a Senior Transparency Advisor at the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, advising parliaments and political parties on accountability, transparency and the rule of law. She works closely with the Open Government Partnership (OGP) on enhancing the role of civil society in public policy making and government oversight.

Kate Jones

Kate is currently Private Secretary to the Chief Executive of the Civil Service & Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary, where she works on EU Exit and Civil Service HR. Previously working in the Cities and Local Growth Unit at BEIS and before that at the Design Council and CABE, she brings invaluable insights around Government and public policy.

In addition to Owen Blacker who stepped down after an amazing 17 years of involvement with mySociety, we also say goodbye as a Trustee to Nanjira Sambuli. Both stepped down at our AGM in July. Immense thanks to both for their support and service.

Our search for a new Chair of UKCOD will continue over the next couple of months as we speak to candidates, and we expect to make additional board appointments during 2020.

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Photo header image by Jakub Kapusnak

For a charity like mySociety the appointment of a new Chair and Trustees is an important opportunity to bring new leadership and energy to our boards and to the organisation as a whole.

Over the next three months we are looking to appoint a clutch of new board members for UK Citizens Online Democracy (our charity board) and for mySociety Ltd (our commercial board) as well as the uniquely important appointment of a new charity board Chair.

After 15 years of service, our Chairperson, James Cronin will be stepping down at the end of the year.

James was one of the original founding group of volunteers who established mySociety. He has been a Trustee and Chair of UK Citizens Online Democracy and a Non-Executive Director of mySociety Ltd for most of their existence. James has been critical to the success of mySociety over the years and continues to be a mentor for me and the team.

Before then another of our very long-standing Trustees, Owen Blacker, will be stepping down at our AGM in July. Owen was also one of the original cohort of mySociety volunteers and has similarly served for over 15 years. We’ll miss Owen’s technical expertise, passionate defence of privacy rights and support of LGBT rights, and our board will be diminished as a result.

Strengthening our boards

So with this changing of the guard we have the opportunity to appoint new leadership and advisors to our boards and we hope you might consider applying.

A strong and diverse board is essential to ensure that our organisation is well-run, solvent, operating within the law, and making the right strategic decisions.

Three years ago we went through a similar exercise, appointing new Trustees Rachel Rank, Tony Burton and Nanjira Sambuli. We also established our commercial board with Jonathan Flowers, Tim Hunt and Anno Mitchell all being appointed. We also very recently appointed Mandy Merron as a new Trustee following a number of months in which she acted as an independent advisor to our Finance Committee.

So over the past few years we’ve already brought in new voices and opinions, improved our gender balance, and moved to fixed term appointments with a maximum of two consecutive three year terms and we’re keen to continue this progress through the next phase of our development.

Applications and appointments

For our charity board we are looking for new Trustees who can bring additional legal and policy experience. Specifically we need help in understanding the impact of any legal challenges we might face, especially in relation to data protection and Freedom of Information. We also need advice on how best to shape and influence public policy and consultations, especially where they relate to Democratic Participation, Place and Communities or International Development.

Trustees should have experience of working with the charitable or not for profit sector and must have a passion for our goals and experience of pursuing them.

You can see the full advert and application process here.

For our commercial board we would like to appoint new Non-Executive Directors with SaaS development experience and service provision to government and the public sector. We would especially welcome experience in developing and scaling software as a service products, and working on, or commissioning, service provision within Local and Central Government; especially in relation to Democratic Participation, or Place and Communities.

It would be beneficial for Directors to have experience of working with the charitable or not for profit sector, but this is not essential. They of course must have a passion for our goals and experience of pursuing them.

You can see the full advert and application process here.

We’re keen to continue to diversify the make-up of our boards and are particularly keen to see applications from women and underrepresented groups.

A unique new Chair

Appointing a new Chair is an exceptional opportunity to join a pretty amazing and committed, impactful charity. You’ll work with your fellow Trustees and the senior management of mySociety to help shape and direct our growth and development over the next few years.

We want to recruit a Chair who represents the best of what mySociety has to offer, who can help extend our ambition, hold us to account and champion our cause. They will need to be comfortable representing UKCOD and mySociety publicly and be prepared to speak on our behalf from time to time.

They will help us continue to diversify our board and team across a range of occupational and personal backgrounds, ensuring we deliver on our support of equal opportunities in ways that reflect the range of our users and work programmes.

They will be able to use their experience and connections to contribute towards helping more people to be active citizens and improving access to and participation in democratic processes around the world.

The closing date for all applications is 10.00am, Monday 13th May.

If our mission motivates you in the way it motivates our staff and volunteers, we would love to hear from you and you can find full details for how to apply here.

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Image: Xiang Hu

In May of this year we began our search for new Trustees and Directors to join our charitable and commercial boards at mySociety.

I’m very glad to say that we’ve now completed our search and today we can announce the appointment of three new Trustees to the board of our parent charity UK Citizens Online Democracy (UKCOD) and three new independent non-executive Directors to mySociety Ltd.

Our three Trustee appointments are Rachel Rank, Tony Burton and Nanjira Sambuli who join our Chair, James Cronin and fellow long-standing trustees Manar Hussain, Owen Blacker and Stephen King of the Omidyar Network on the UKCOD board.

Rachel Rank is Chief Executive of 360Giving where she is aiming to make grant funding in the UK much more transparent. Previously she was Deputy Director of Publish What You Fund, leading the organisation’s research and monitoring work, including the development of an annual transparency index.

Rachel has previously held positions with the Commonwealth Secretariat, DFID, DAI, Transparency International and the Overseas Development Institute. She has researched and written several publications on transparency, good governance and accountability.

Tony Burton founded Civic Voice – the national charity for the civic movement; he is Vice Chair of the Big Lottery Fund (chairing its Audit and Risk Committee), Vice Chair of Friends of the Earth, Executive Chair of Sustainable Homes, Vice Chair of HS2’s Independent Design Panel and a trustee of TCV (The Conservation Volunteers).

With 25 years’ executive experience on the boards of national charities working with communities on environment, heritage and land use, he has a strong track record in strategy, campaigning, volunteer development and external affairs for conservation, community, regeneration, planning and the environment.

Nanjira Sambuli was until recently Research Lead at iHub, in Nairobi Kenya, providing strategic guidance for the growth of technology research in East Africa and has just taken on a new role as Digital Equality Advocacy Manager at the Web Foundation. She focuses on the unfolding impacts of ICT adoption to governance, innovation, entrepreneurship and societal culture in Kenya, and across Africa, with a particular passion for the gendered aspects to technology access and adoption.

Nanjira is on the Advisory Board (Africa) for Sum of Us, board member at Kenya’s Media Policy Research Centre, and sits on the UN High Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment where she works with panel members to demonstrate high-level leadership and renewed commitment and action towards making women’s economic empowerment a reality in our lifetime.

At the same time we are enlarging our commercial board with three new non-executive Directors joining mySociety Ltd. Tim Hunt, Jonathan Flowers and Anno Mitchell join our Chair James Cronin, trustee representative Owen Blacker and myself Mark Cridge, Chief Executive of mySociety.

Tim Hunt is Marketing Director of The Guardian, leading the expansion of the global audience into the US and Australia whilst driving increased newspaper revenue of £64m last year.

Tim began his career in advertising – where he was Managing Partner of St. Lukes; he also founded his own successful consultancy practice and launched Sky Italia as Marketing Director.

Over the past 15 years he has held senior digital and tech marketing roles including board roles at YouView, Freeview and launch Marketing Director of Project Kangaroo, the internet joint venture between BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4.

Jonathan Flowers is a portfolio non-executive Director, strategic advisor for three companies and Coach, with deep experience in Local Government.

He was formerly a member of the independent service transformation challenge panel appointed by Treasury and DCLG, Managing Director of a consulting business, Commercial Development Director for a major Financial Services company, Deputy Chief Executive of a County Council, Local Government Executive headhunter and advisor, and local government sector strategist for a FTSE-50 company.

Jonathan is an alumnus of the Cabinet Office Top Management Programme, Fellow of the OR Society, Chartered Management Institute, Institute of Directors and the RSA.

Anno Mitchell is a specialist in digital organisational change. Over the past twenty years she has helped a diverse range of organisations to clarify their vision and purpose; helping them understand how this drives product and capability development and marketing. She was recently Chief Strategy Officer at the agency We Are Friday, where she created new digital strategies and services for international clients such as HSBC and Barnardo’s.

Previously she has worked with government and third sector organisations, as Strategic Lead for Digital Engagement in the Department of Health, Product Strategist for iCan / Action Network at the BBC, and Innovation Consultant to Horsesmouth, a peer to peer mentoring platform for younger people funded by the Edge Foundation.

Together these new Trustees and Directors bring a formidable range of important experience to our boards; drawn from fundraising, communications, marketing, product development, local government, finance, governance and international development. They also bring much needed balance in gender and our first non-UK board member.

We all look forward to working with each of them over the next few years and we’re excited about the new connections, critique and possibilities these appointments bring.

And to the single departure

We are also saying thank you and goodbye to James Crabtree, Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and Contributing Editor at the Financial Times, who is stepping down from the UKCOD board after 13 years.

James pretty much coined the idea for mySociety in his 2003 Open Democracy article which called for the UK Government to establish a civic hacking fund. This in turn prompted original founder Tom Steinberg and others to start mySociety.

For that we are incredibly grateful and extend many thanks to James for his long and distinguished service.

Image courtesy of Bart Heird

Whilst election fever grips the UK, we’re seeking some new representatives of our own, to join our two company boards.

We are inviting candidates to put themselves forward to become a Trustee of our parent charity UK Citizens Online Democracy or as an independent Non-Executive Director of our commercial business mySociety Ltd.

This is a unique opportunity to join a very smart group of board members in helping guide the development of the UK’s original civic tech agitator, as we plot out a course over the next few years.

As our work has become increasingly global we would like to expand our charitable board with at least two additional trustees who can bring a combination of experience of international development, campaigning and research. If you’ve helped grow an organisation and have a good head for figures and legal matters, that would be of great benefit as well.

On the commercial side we’re especially looking to expand our service provision to the public sector in the UK, and wish to appoint up to three new directors, who will ideally bring in some mix of experience from government, public sector, digital product development and importantly marketing and commercial skills. Again finance and legal expertise is appreciated, along with an entrepreneurial streak.

There’s no getting past the fact that our current boards are entirely male. So for both roles we’d like to use this as an opportunity to redress the balance on each board, as well as add more diversity to better reflect the users of our services both in the UK and internationally.

You can apply for the charitable Trustee role here, and the commercial Non-Exec Director role here.

We’ll be accepting applications until 10am on Monday 6th June – but don’t leave it until the last minute to apply!

Image courtesy of Shell Vacations Hospitality (please note this is not our real boardroom)

UK Citizens Online Democracy (UKCOD), the registered charity that runs mySociety and its stable of democracy and community websites is seeking applications for the position of trustee.

The role of trustees is to:

* Ensure UKCOD fulfills its charitable objectives
* Oversee the work of mySociety and its projects
* Participate in strategy, policy and other discussions
* Ensure the moral integrity of mySociety

Trustees have legal obligations, detailed here on the Charity Commission website. Positions are unpaid, as required by law. Current trustees are often very practical volunteers: we are still small enough that simply being an extra pair of hands is required as much as strategic thinking. However, mySociety is now five years old, and at this critical time of uncertainty and opportunity in UK democracy, we are seeking to strengthen our board of trustees in various ways. This includes:

* Experience and networks within the philanthropic sector
* Diversity in gender, age and background
* Legal and financial qualifications
* Contacts within the forthcoming generation of MPs
* Statistical analysis skills

We are looking for passionate applicants who are keen to give the often substantial time required, generally more than five hours a month. Demands on time can be unpredictable and lumpy and input from trustees can be required outside of board meetings and occasionally on short notice. Face to face meetings are held in central London once a quarter. It is desirable that applicants can usually attend in person, however conference calling is possible.

Applications including CV and a covering letter to trustees2009@ukcod.org.uk. Deadline 1st August 2009.