Dillon Patel and Ellie Hart share their experience of being shadow trustees at Brighton and Hove Museums Trust.
What is the role of a shadow trustee?
Dillon – Unlike normal positions on the board, a shadow trustee does everything that a normal trustee member would do, except for the voting rights. They sit on the board, they provide scrutiny, they provide challenge, they read all the papers, they provide ideas. I think it’s a benefit to the Senior Leadership Team, so they get new and fresh ideas. But also, it’s a way for young people to break into the heritage sector, which can be very difficult.
How did you get involved with the museum?
Ellie – I saw the shadow trustee role on LinkedIn, and although I had an interest in becoming a trustee, I hadn’t necessarily thought about what sector that would be in. But as I read the job description, I thought it was really interesting, because I work in arts and had visited the museums as an audience member, and there’s a lot of cross-over with arts and heritage. I also have family connections in Brighton and previously lived there.
Dillon – I studied ancient history and archaeology at university and in my early career I did a couple of stints with the British Museum and Buckinghamshire Museum. For me, it was trying to get back in touch with those roots a little bit and it seemed like an amazing way to reconnect with a fantastic range of museums while broadening my experience.
What have you gained from the experience?
Dillon – I think professionally, it’s given me a lot of insight about how a board runs; the responsibility, the roles of different actors, and how that all comes together to quality assure or scrutinize the operations of an organisation. Standing on the outside, you don’t realise how a successful organisation is run and how many plates need to be kept spinning all at the same time to ensure that museums can keep their doors open.
Ellie – I’ve really enjoyed observing how conversations play out and how different perspectives are brought in to make decisions and to problem solve. I didn’t really understand how much the board does, even though it is a free, voluntary role. And they really do scrutinize each element. I also think the support of the board to the senior leadership is crucial; it’s a space for senior leadership to be able to sound out ideas and get encouragement as well as constructive challenge.
Are there any elements of the role that were unexpected?
Ellie – It has brought home how important it is to have diversity of perspective. The things that get discussed are really varied, as there are lots of different challenges that are going on for all parts of the organisation. If you don’t have a board that is reflective of society and different perspectives and brings their own different life experiences, I think it would be hard to make a decision democratically that would feel reflective of the organisation.
Dillon – I think one thing that was surprising was the generosity of the board and the senior leadership team to bring us into conversations. The CEO, senior leadership team and the Chair are making a genuine effort to make sure it’s a valuable experience for us, and so they can get the best out of it for the organisation.
What advice would you give to other AIM members thinking about a shadow trustee programme?
Ellie – The two-year term is really good, because it takes a bit of time to find your feet, and there’s only four meetings per year.
Dillon – I think everybody talks about wanting to do more in the EDI space and a lot of that is focused on external programming, but I think we do need to look internally at structure, to build in the voices of the communities that we serve. It can never be a bad idea to invite different voices into an organisation. And you don’t necessarily need to have a fixed plan about what was going to work exactly. You can test something, see if it works, and if it doesn’t work, iterate it.
Ellie – The key thing for me is moments for feedback on both sides. And to be matched to someone to act as a mentor that can guide you through the meetings, which has been helpful. I think the board having a sense of something specific they’d like the shadow trustees or the young trustees to support on gives a focus, so you can feel there’s an area that you’re really contributing to, as well as just observing and listening.
Is there anything else you’d say to people thinking of applying for a role like this?
Ellie – I would say to people not to worry if you don’t have a heritage or museum background. I think a lot of sectors cross over. Dillon and I do very different jobs, but we both bring different perspectives from our own sectors. If you’re an audience member, and you go to different museums yourself, or exhibitions, you’re going to bring your own perspective.
Dillon – I’d say absolutely, just go for it. A shadow trusteeship is a really valuable thing to put on your CV. It can really help create connections with other really dedicated, excellent board members, who can then flag opportunities to you as well. I’ve been able to learn from a really dedicated network of trustees; everyone on the board has a wealth of experience and achievements in the sector.
Have you developed skills that you can take back to your day job and help your future career?
Ellie – For me, an insight into the financial side of the organisation. I manage a programme in my day job, so I manage budgets, but I don’t have oversight of a whole organisation. I’ve been able to get a real insight into how that’s managed and spread out, and the kind of decisions that need to be made. It’s given me a lot of validation for the knowledge that I have and has really helped my confidence in thinking about applying for a trustee role in the future or being a support or volunteer for another organisation.
Dillon – The main thing I take away from it is leadership. How to actually run a board, make decisions, get that buy in, and do it in a way that people feel like they have contributed. It’s not a top-down approach. It’s more consultative than that, and that has been interesting from my own development perspective, in terms of what kind of a leader I want to be.
Ellie – I would really stress to AIM members that this has been such a positive experience for us and for the Trust. I think more boards should be opening this up.