Sharon Heal gives her view on what a good board of trustees should represent and why they remain critical to cultural organisations.
Museum governance has been in the spotlight recently with resignations from boards and allegations of government interference in the running of institutions. This makes it a timely moment to consider what good governance looks like and what role the trustees of our museums should be playing.
Good governance should not only welcome a diversity of opinion, it should be rooted in a diversity of people. The boards of our museums are too often monocultural spaces that lack diversity and recruit to type. For our museums to welcome a range of audiences and tell a variety of new and engaging stories, boards need to be more diverse and more representative of our communities.
Simple measures such as committing to openly advertising in the right places, transparent and supportive recruitment, demystifying the process and the role, and being welcoming, can help. We can also learn from organisations that have acted to widen the net, such as Glasgow Women’s Library, whose Pathway Programme opens the way for volunteers to join its board... Keep reading on Museums Association.
Museum governance has been in the spotlight recently with resignations from boards and allegations of government interference in the running of institutions. This makes it a timely moment to consider what good governance looks like and what role the trustees of our museums should be playing.
Good governance should not only welcome a diversity of opinion, it should be rooted in a diversity of people. The boards of our museums are too often monocultural spaces that lack diversity and recruit to type. For our museums to welcome a range of audiences and tell a variety of new and engaging stories, boards need to be more diverse and more representative of our communities.
Simple measures such as committing to openly advertising in the right places, transparent and supportive recruitment, demystifying the process and the role, and being welcoming, can help. We can also learn from organisations that have acted to widen the net, such as Glasgow Women’s Library, whose Pathway Programme opens the way for volunteers to join its board... Keep reading on Museums Association.