2050 Climate Group announces new Chair, Vice-Chair and Trustees
At our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 22 June 2020, we held our annual elections for board leadership positions.
Lucy Stanfield was elected Chair. Lucy is a strategy and business development specialist working in the environment and higher education sectors. She is currently working for the University of Edinburgh on a number of initiatives related to the circular economy. Lucy feels strongly about the power of education and believes it is the best tool we have to tackle climate change. On being elected Chair, she said
“I’m honoured to take on this role in an organisation which frequently amazes and inspires me. I’m proud to be part of an organisation and a Board which does things differently. The work that 2050 Climate Group does demonstrates the importance and impact of young people having a seat at the table in driving action on climate change and I’m excited to see what the next year brings.”
Laura Brankin was elected Vice-Chair. Laura is a Sustainability Consultant at AECOM and works with organisations to set ambitious carbon reduction targets, identify climate change risks and opportunities and develop and refine their approach to sustainability. She said:
“I’ve been lucky enough to experience 2050 Climate Group’s work through a variety of lenses, including completing the first Young Leaders Development Programme (YLDP), as part of our Operations Team and most recently as a Trustee. I am continually inspired by the hard work and dedication of our volunteers and staff, and in a year that will bring both challenges as a result of COVID-19 and the once in a lifetime opportunity of COP-26 in Glasgow, I am delighted to take on the role of Vice Chair.”
Sarah Leslie was re-elected Treasurer, having first been elected to the role in 2019. Sarah is an employment lawyer with Shepherd and Wedderburn LLP. This past year, Sarah managed her Treasurer responsibilities remotely from Brussels while working on lobbying on the EU New Green Deal for a renewable energy company - but is now back from this secondment and keen to help 2050 Climate Group continue to educate, empower and enable Scottish young people be part of the wave of change needed to work towards a just and climate positive society.
Our outgoing Chair and Vice-Chair, Lynette Purves and Sarah Knight, were thanked for all their work over the past year. They will continue to enthusiastically contribute their expertise and experience as Trustees on our Board. See our full Board of Trustees.
In addition to electing board leadership positions, we have also recruited internally for new members and were delighted to welcome three of our operational volunteers to the board.
Jamie Wylie joined the Board in 2020 after three years in the operations team. After completing the Young Leaders Development Programme in 2016, he joined 2050 Climate Groups’s Policy team, coordinating engagement with government policy processes. He has represented 2050 Climate Group at events including the North Sea Climate Conference and COP24 in Poland. He holds degrees from the University of Edinburgh and Lund University in Sweden. Jamie now lives in Geneva and works for the Solar Impulse Foundation.
Kate Chambers has been an active volunteer with 2050 Climate Group since 2017, supporting with branding, communications and growing the charity's network. Over the past few years, she has been an integral part of the operational team delivering 2050's flagship Young Leaders Development Programme. In her day job, Kate is a Consultant at Resource Futures, with experience working across the public, private and third sectors on projects related to waste reduction, reuse and recycling, business and staff engagement, sustainable food and community engagement.
Lotte Beekenkamp is an Analyst at technology and innovation consultancy Accenture. Originally from the Netherlands, she joined 2050 Climate Group in 2018 as a staff member, assisting with the delivery of the Malawi Climate Leaders project. Lotte has an MSc in Environment and Development from the University of Edinburgh, and has a strong interest in sustainable development, tech-for-good, design thinking and digital transformations.
What does our Board of Trustees do?
Put simply, the role of a charity’s trustees is to effectively govern an organisation to make sure the aims of the charity are being met. This includes setting strategy (in consultation with our wider volunteers and Leaders Network) but also making sure the charity has enough resources to do its work, and complies with legislation. Unlike our operational volunteer roles, there are more formal roles and responsibilities associated with being a trustee, and their work tends to be more behind-the-scenes, rather than directly involved with our ongoing projects.
Our board of trustees are all volunteers, and board meetings take place on Saturdays or weekday evenings (although a few bleary-eyed morning calls have been known!). Current areas of work for our trustees include:
Fundraising for our activities (particularly in light of changing circumstances due to COVID-19)
Exploring international partnerships on youth climate action as Glasgow prepares to host COP26
Establishing the systems and processes which support our larger operational volunteer team (everything from GDPR to volunteer training)
Leading on the development and implementation of our 3-year strategy and Theory of Change.
How is our board different from a typical charity board?
2050 Climate Group incorporated as a charity in 2017, having previously been a group of volunteers, initiated by the 2020 Climate Group and ‘incubated’ by Young Scot. However, there are a few unusual things about our charity board:
We’re younger - The average age of a charity trustee is 61 years old. As a charity run by and for young people, all of our trustees are under 35 years of age, and our average age is 29.
We’re bigger - Most charity boards have between 4 - 10 trustees. At present we have 15 trustees, which helps us respond to the demands of a fast-growing volunteer-led organisation, and to enable the regular participation of those balancing early-career and family life.
We’re active - We estimate that our trustees spend about 8-16 hours a month on their charitable responsibilities, and we have more frequent board meetings (at least every two months, rather than traditional quarterly meetings).
Anti-Racism: we know we have work to do
Climate justice is racial justice. At present, we are an all-white board. We need to do better in order to successfully address climate change. As Ayana Elizabeth Johnson says - we acknowledge that this is not just because pursuing diversity is a good thing to do, and not even because diversity leads to better decision-making and more effective strategies. But because people of colour are disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis. As a Board that cares about maintaining a habitable planet whilst people are safely living here, we need to become actively anti-racist.
Our whole team of volunteers is taking time to reflect on our work and develop our proactively anti-racist actions - focusing on anything from organisational values and structures, to recruitment and diversity of voices. These actions will be embedded within any future work. We are committed to do better and step up our work.
Are there opportunities to join?
We recruit trustees on a roughly annual basis. Keep an eye on our opportunities page or subscribe to our newsletter to hear when we’re advertising.