recruiting for senior leadership and the board.

Recruiting for senior leadership and the board — trustees, CEOs, and senior hires are a different beast. The power dynamics, the networks, the insider culture that quietly undermines diversity at the top.

Recruiting for Senior Leadership and the Board: Power, Networks, and the Diversity Problem at the Top

The charity sector has made real progress on inclusive recruitment — but look at who's actually sitting in the CEO chair or around the board table, and a different picture often emerges. Senior and trustee hiring is still largely driven by informal networks, quiet conversations, and the comfort of familiarity. The result is that the same kinds of people keep getting through, regardless of how good the official process looks on paper.

This session is an honest conversation about how senior recruitment really works — the power dynamics, the pressure of referrals from donors and long-standing trustees, the cultures that favour insiders, and the structural reasons why diversity efforts at entry level rarely make it to the top. We'll explore what genuinely rigorous senior hiring looks like, how to handle the politics when the process gets complicated, and what it would actually take to open these roles up to people who don't already move in the right circles.

If you've ever found the formal process confirming a decision that was already made — or felt the pressure of a well-connected referral — this is the room for that conversation.

This is not a webinar. Expect a frank, peer-to-peer discussion with cameras on and real experiences at the centre. Come ready to share what you've seen, not just what you'd recommend.

For Trustees, Chairs of the Board, CEO’s, in-house recruiters and HR professionals working in the non-profit sector.