The chief executive of ACEVO has said she probably would not be a chief executive in another sector, and that it is the charity sector's record on gender diversity that enables her to be one.
Jane Ide was speaking on a panel alongside other charity leaders at a Third Sector Trends event, and was talking about diversity in civil society leadership.
Funding, recruitment, and diversity are three of the main issues in the charity sector, she said, adding that more data is needed on diversity in the sector.
“At face value, there is a pretty high score on gender diversity [in the sector], there’s a lot of women in our sector and in leadership roles. I probably wouldn’t be a chief executive if I was working in the business sector.
“But actually, we find that you’re much more likely to be a woman chief executive if you’re leading a small or local charity. If you’re a man, you have much better chances of leading a big charity and all that goes with that - the salary, position, pensions.”
Campaigning in the charity sector
The chief executive of ACEVO also said that the ongoing debate around campaigning in the sector could slowly be encroaching on charities' willingess to campaign.
In the same way the sector makes slow and incremental changes to society, the rules on campaigning may slowly chip away at the sector's ability to do so, she said.
Ide gave the example of the chair of the Charity Commission asking charities to be "kind" in their campaigning and used the analogy of a tree growing over a neighbour’s fence into your own garden, until your strip of lawn gets smaller and smaller without you even realising.
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