Our current recruitment for these positions is closed however we look to develop this programme with the potential to offer more opportunities and funding in the future.
see more information on our previous recruitment below
We’re excited to launch a new initiative to empower members of the Black, marginalised, and racialised communities to join boards.
In 2022, we started to recruit some new trustees for Bristol Pride with the hope of adding people from the QTIBPOC community to our board. Despite reaching out through various networks, we didn’t receive the range of applicants we had hoped for. We reflected on why this might be and decided to take action by reaching out to Olmec and their ‘Black on Board’ programme, to fund 4 places aimed at training and empowering members of the Black, marginalised, and racialised communities (BMC) to join boards. This initiative came about from our desire to create change and genuine representation and equality.
Black on Board is a governance training programme for organisations investing in BMC designed to train and mentor participants onto board positions. The programme delivers sessions and includes support to identify and apply for board positions while giving you the training you need to become an effective board member. The course has a track record of supporting 75% of students into governance positions for every programme run over the last decade.
We are looking at recruiting 4 applicants to complete this course. Applications are open to all members of the BMC community and we are particularly interested to hear from people with a strong connection to the LGBT+ community. There will be an opportunity to join the Bristol Pride board but ultimately we’re offering this training so you will be able to sit in positions of decision making, representing your community on any board.
Black on Board training covers the key areas that you need to become a board member, from understanding types of boards and your legal and financial duties, through to the core principles of running an organisation.
The training will be delivered via 7 monthly in person masterclasses as well as additional flexible online learning modules.
7 monthly masterclasses
Where you are trained in all the key skills required from the role and legal duties of board, through to strategic and operational planning and effective decision making. Masterclass sessions run for 2 and a half hours and will take place on a Friday on the following dates:
Session – Date
1 – February 24th
2 – March 31st
3 – April 28th
4 – May 26th
5 – June 30th
6 – July 28th
7 – September 15th
14 online learning sessions
Black on Board online provides access to the full curriculum of 14 sessions in 13 units, for self-study in a similar way to Open University. You study at your own pace, once you have access, at any time that suits you. Each unit takes from 4 to 8 hours with access to resources that allow all board competencies to be met and for each individual to pursue excellence and expertise.
Anyone can take up a governance position with the right training. Olmec have found that many people are intimidated by the idea of becoming a board member itself. The training demystifies this idea. You do not have to have a specific qualification or have been a manager first. There are many types of board and opportunities.
A board is responsible for making sure that an organisation has a clear idea of where it is going and how it plans to get there. Board members have a responsibility to act honestly, exercise reasonable care and skill, whilst performing their necessary tasks on behalf of the organisation.
Black on Board is a governance training programme for organisations investing in Black, marginalised, and racialised communities (BMC) staff designed to train and mentor participants onto board positions. Olmecs focus within the BMC is people of colour from Black, African, Asian, Arabic, Caribbean, South – East Asian, Hispanic, Latin American, dual, and multiple heritage communities to address under representation of our communities at board level. There is provision for this type of work within the 2010 Single Equalities Act.
Black on Board was set up for people of colour in 2004 following evidence based research in 2001 that links racism and colour with life outcomes. Subsequent research reinforces this. The McGregor–Smith Report monetised this type of discrimination at an estimated cost of £24 Billion to the UK economy. The Parker Review found that only 1.5% of the top 100 FTSE had BMC company directors whilst you are 18 times more likely to be stopped and researched if you are a person of colour than if you are white. Black on Board is a programme designed to promote fairness to redress discrimination in the UK based on the colour of people’s skin.
Olmec is an award-winning social enterprise and provides a training team who are all experienced board members in their own right. Black on Board has run successfully since 2005.
The current programme is now closed to applications
Olmec
Olmec is a BMC (Black and Minoritised Community) led Social Enterprise which champions race equality through economic and social justice, formed in 2003. Olmec supports people into jobs, into social businesses and on to boards and acts as a catalyst for social change. Its corporate website is www.olmec-ec.org.uk and you can follow it on Twitter @OlmecEmpComm
Black on Board Community was created by students from the programme who were so positively affected by that they wanted to continue the peer support created by the programme. The group realised that training and mentoring, allied to the building of community is a powerful tool. They wanted a grassroots member organisation that provided ongoing learning and peer support, open to everyone in the UK.
Formed in 2019 by 12 people, the membership has reached 100.
“Olmec’s Black on Board project is tackling inequality at its roots by not only providing the required skill for disadvantaged people to compete but also bringing attention to the problem of unacceptably low (in some cases non-existent) representation of people of African descent and other minorities on HA Boards’’
“The Black on Board programme has helped me develop my skills and confidence and provide the support I needed to work with a housing association board. The particular area that I needed to develop was the jump from operational to strategic skills. Olmec has taken time to support me with this. I would recommend the programme to others.”