Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind, has been appointed the chair of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, while Sharon Allen, chief executive of Skills for Care, has been appointed vice-chair.
Farmer and Allen will both serve a three-year term from January 2015 and replace Lesley-Anne Alexander, chief executive of RNIB, and Virginia Beardshaw, chief executive of Ican, who have served as chair and vice-chair since 2009 and 2012 respectively.
Farmer commented on his appointment: “It is a real privilege to take on this role. I am particularly pleased to have been elected by my fellow trustees. The next few years will be crucial for the development of our sector and I am looking forward to Acevo playing its full role in this.”
Farmer was a judge at this year’s Charity Awards, and will serve on the panel again next year.
Sharon Allen said: “I’m delighted to be taking up this new role and really looking forward to start work alongside Paul and board colleagues. Our focus is on modelling strong and effective governance which we can then promote across our sector so I want to use my experience to play my part in driving that agenda forward.”
The board of trustees at Acevo is elected by the full members of the organisation and any full member may stand.
Acevo has opened nominations for four new places on the board, and are particularly looking for new board members with legal expertise, from small charities, who are aged below 44 or who are members of an ethnic minority.
Sir Stephen Bubb, chief executive of Acevo, said of the appointments: “I’m delighted that our board have elected Paul Farmer and Sharon Allen as our new chair and vice-chair. As highly distinguished chief executives they have the experience and national profile to help lead Acevo to new and even greater strengths.
“Paul has been an outstanding advocate for his charity and our sector, a chief executive at the very top of his game, as is his new vice-chair Sharon. As we saw in Mind’s agenda-setting work at the party conferences this year, he has put mental health at the top of the political debate like never before. It is great testament to Acevo that Paul and Sharon should have stood for election as chair and vice-chair. I look forward to achieving great things with our new team over the next few years.”
Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisation, welcomed the appointments. He said: “This is an excellent appointment. Paul is a highly respected, experienced and eminently pragmatic chief executive. He will be a great asset to Acevo.”
Board nominations close on 15 November 2015, and the new board members will be announced at Acevo’s AGM in Parliament in January 2015.
