Celebrating Trustees’ Week 2023

To mark Trustees’ Week, Zoe Whitfeld reflects on her experience of joining Partnership for Children as our first Early Career Trustee and the benefits of diversity of perspective that younger Trustees bring to boards.

It is an inspiration to work with my fellow PfC Trustees as they all have interesting, rich, and diverse backgrounds in areas that complement each other’s strengths and passions; I feel that I also bring a unique perspective as a young person as I can integrate the youth voice into the extensive experience of the other Trustees. I value having the opportunity to share my insight with those whose passions are aligned with mine in a place where we can really make a difference.

I enjoy being a Trustee for PfC as it helps me to understand the complexities behind the strategic development of charities. Having worked within the Governance sector of Plan International whilst being a PfC Trustee, I was able to better understand the influence and responsibilities of the Board at Plan International. Furthermore, I was able to share with my PI colleagues certain practices that I found beneficial to PfC, such as the recruitment process for an Early Career Trustee, as both organisations valued the input of the youth perspective.

As I now work as a Wellbeing Youth Worker for Response Organisation, I feel that my understanding of the running of a mental health charity is beneficial to my approach to this role. Furthermore, being engaged with the incredible content of the programmes at PfC has helped to inform my approach to working with young people in this role.