2025: 28 June - 13 July

Pride Day: Sat 12 July

Black On Board

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.

Information and Commitment

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.

How To Apply

The current programme is now closed to applications

Further Information

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.

Feedback

“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.”