News – Broadening London?s boards

A year-long pilot project aimed at increasing diversity on the boards of major arts organisations in London has been initiated by The Greater London Authority (GLA) in response to research into 21 of London?s major arts organisations in 2001. The research revealed that only 8% of board members and 3% of senior management were Black and Minority Ethnic (BME), though London?s BME population currently stands at 29%.
The scheme, to be known as Gain, has £60,000 funding from Arts Council England (ACE) and will be managed by Arts and Business (A&B). The steering group will be led by Professor Lola Young, Head of the Mayor of London?s Culture Strategy together with representatives from ACE and A&B.

In Gain?s pilot year, potential board members will be recruited from Asian, Chinese, and BME communities in the private, voluntary, arts and public sectors. Consultants will lead training sessions in good governance and equality and diversity issues for all board candidates and participating arts organisations. Commenting on the proposals, Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, said: ?It is essential that the boards of arts bodies are able to represent the broad range of interests that make up our city. Gain contributes to this goal by encouraging and supporting people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities with skills and those organisations that recognise the benefits that diverse perspectives can bring to the arts.? Six organisations have already signed up to Gain including the Lyric Hammersmith, Artangel, the Serpentine Gallery, the Crafts Council and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Should the pilot project prove to be successful, A&B have plans to broaden the scope of Gain to tackle gender and disability representation and extend the reach of the project nationally.