Elaine Willis

1. First of all, about you: what attracted you to becoming a chair/trustee?
A mix of reasons: I have had a 10 year break from being a trustee and felt I had some energy to get involved again. I wanted to use some of my professional and personal learning in the service of a national charity and work with others as part of a team.

2. Which organisation(s) do you represent?
The Beth Johnson Foundation which engages in “innovative and developmental work that has the potential to develop, influence and challenge the role and status of Older People in Society.” At present, it is the key resource for all you would ever want to know about Intergenerational Practice both in the UK and Internationally.

3. What particularly attracted you to this organisation?
I myself am now in mid life and, with my parents now in their 80s, we have gone through a lot of learning about ageing, disability and health and social care. There has been a lot of frustration due to encounters which don’t always work well with statutory services and anger at the attitudes others have towards people in older age who though physically limited still want to live a life!

So for a while I have been looking for an opportunity to be part of an organisation which is looking at these issues so that my emotional passions can be used to influence change and harnessed into something positive!

4. Is there anything that would make you an even more effective trustee/Chair?
I think that having a good Chair encourages a Board to function well - the meetings and decisions made are better quality, the level of debate is usually richer and personal motivation is raised. I like to have a good partnership with the Chief Executive, a well structured and purposeful way of doing business and good quality paperwork which focuses on what really matters rather than the peripherals.

5. What’s the biggest challenge you have faced in your role?
I have only just embarked in this role so the biggest challenge to date is getting up to speed and guarding against being the over critical newcomer. When you join a Board it is important to acknowledge and respect the organisation’s journey to date even if that has been a rocky one because it contributes to the value of what the charity is now able to be.

6. What do you consider the most satisfying aspect of your role?
The Foundation is at a really interesting point in its development. It has made some constitutional changes to position itself better for the future, it has a breadth of work to draw on and some real opportunities ahead. It will be satisfying if as a trustee I can contribute to enabling the organisation to improve its capability to do what it does best and make real differences to policy and practice as it affects older people.

7. Do you think there is enough general recognition of the value of the trustee/Chair role?
It depends. The best organisations are those which acknowledge the rightful place of the Board but don’t over-egg its importance! Mostly I think that Boards should come into view at important moments of change and debate where leadership is essential to success.

The public view of trusteeship is only as good as the individual trustees they have known – and usually these individuals are rather varied adverts for the role!

8. What do you think is the ideal term of office that a trustee/Chair should serve?
I think the new trend of serving for a term of three years and then perhaps a second term if motivated and wanted is a good rule of thumb. Trustees need to know that they are not expected to give the rest of their life to the Board and organisations need to have the opportunity to refresh skills and passions at Board level.

9. What tip would you give to a new trustee?
This is like saying what tip am I giving myself at present! Learn fast, work to create relationships with the team of trustees and Chief executive you are a part of, and gradually ease yourself in to the ways of the organisation by offering to do one or two small tasks.

10. If you weren’t a trustee, what would you do with that time?
I like to be committed as a trustee and be really engaged with what is going on. This is why I don’t see myself being a trustee of lots of charities. Previously I found that I needed time to `recover’ from being Chair of a Board as it was emotionally demanding and testing of many skills. Let’s face it – being a trustee can be hard graft and not all joy and celebration!

11. What question do you want to ask next week’s trustee?
Once you are not `new’ anymore, how do you keep your `edge’ as a trustee and continue to add value?

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