About becoming Wen’s Chair of Trustees

Wen is a growing organisation, having doubled our staff in the last year, from 12 to 24 staff, who though mostly working part time are an incredibly talented and committed team.  The step change in size and impact of Wen over the last few years, brings opportunities and challenges. The climate and biodiversity crises are now leading issues, affecting government policy and driving media attention. There is therefore an opportunity as Chair of Wen to have a significant impact on issues that connect gender, health and the environment.

We are looking for a capable individual who, in addition to the statutory duties outlined in the role profile, can bring one or more of the following skills or experiences to this important role:

• Local knowledge – experience of the borough of Tower Hamlets, where most of our food and wellbeing work takes place, OR experience of other community/urban work.
• Intersectional feminism and anti-racist work – able to guide and support the organisation as we embed our values and work towards becoming more inclusive and representative of our communities and their issues.
• Vision and strategy – in a fast-changing world, it’s increasingly important that we understand and deliver the greatest impact for women, communities and the environment.

It is part of our strategic priorities as an organisation to become more accessible and inclusive. As part of this we are committed to Wen’s board reflecting the diversity of our community, and especially welcome applications from groups that are currently under represented including Black and Minority Ethnic women, trans women, younger women, people from the LGBTQIA+ community and Disabled women.  Our office has partial wheelchair access, and we are prepared to discuss other accessibility arrangements where necessary for the chosen candidate

Time Commitment

The Board of Trustees meet once every two months (usually Monday or Tuesday evening) at the Wen office in Tower Hamlets or remotely.  Trustees tend to play quite a large role supporting staff although this varies from person to person and month to month. We would expect trustees to contribute on average up to 2 days per month in addition to the bi-monthly meeting