10 ways diversity can make your board more effective

1. New trustees can bring new expertise such as marketing, finance or IT knowledge.
2. Younger trustees can revitalize an aging board and ensure continuity.
3. Trustees drawn from service users bring a practical perspective on organisational decisions.
4. The inclusion of minority, disabled, young and other kinds of trustees frequently forces the board to change the way meetings and information are structured, often for the better.
5. Trustees from different backgrounds can give the board useful contacts, networks and access to communities.
6. The governance discipline needed to support a more diverse board improves board practice overall.
7. A more inclusive board broadens the conversation and offers the opportunity for all trustees to learn new and unexpected things.
8. Trustees from regional branches and other countries help the group keep the interests of distant stakeholders in mind.
9. After going through diversity training, the board is better equipped to support diversity efforts in the rest of the organisation.
10. A board that demonstrates diversity by including a range of ages, sexes, races, skills and background commands confidence

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