Jewish charity leaders attend conference to improve diversity of trustee boards

Senior representatives from dozens of Jewish charities have attended a conference to help improve the diversity of their trustee boards.

The event on Tuesday featured speakers on leadership and charities law, while Jewish Leadership Council chief executive Simon Johnson spoke about the learning points following an independent inquiry into the JLC.

More than 140 attended the conference, which was jointly organised by the Jewish Volunteering Network (JVN) and the JLC’s leadership division Lead. JVN is now led by Nicky Goldman, formerly of Lead.

She said the conference was an “opportunity for trustees from organisations across the Jewish community and beyond to come together to learn best practice in governance, share experiences and network”.

She added: “The demand for this is demonstrated by the fact that it sold out weeks ago. It was encouraging to see how much the participants benefited from the sessions.”

Workshops included subjects such as recruiting trustees, fraud and financial controls, trustees’ duties, grassroots initiatives, measuring success, and safeguarding.

Michelle Janes, Executive Director, Lead said: “It’s inspiring to see so many people committed to the effective leadership of such a wide range of organisations and who are motivated to continually develop their own leadership skills and abilities.  We know the impact of this event is much more than the content of the sessions and are excited to support the community in taking this forward over the coming months”