As part of our package of member benefits, VONNE’s Gold and Silver Membership+ supporters have the opportunity to submit a guest post for our website. This blog by James Carss, founder and CEO of Associate Gold members Castle Peak Group, shares the findings of their latest research report assessing the barriers to diversity and inclusion in third sector organisations.
From Intent to Impact: Why Board Diversity in the Third Sector Is Still Falling Short
Across the third sector, commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is strong; at least in principle. Charities exist to serve communities that are increasingly diverse, complex and unequal. It follows that their boards should reflect those communities, not only in values but in lived experience.
Castle Peak Group’s Third Sector Board Diversity Report in 2025, reveals a persistent gap still exists between intent and impact.
Senior charity leaders overwhelmingly want diverse boards. But most acknowledge they are not achieving them.
The data tells a consistent story.
Nearly 90% of senior executives involved in board appointments say they often or always consider diversity when recruiting new trustees. Almost 70% collect demographic data on board composition. And yet, over 70% do not believe their boards reflect the communities they serve .
This contradiction sits at the heart of the sector’s governance challenge. Good intentions, without the right structures, processes and behaviours, are not enough.
Our report highlights several systemic barriers that continue to constrain progress.
- Recruitment practices reinforce the status quo
Word-of-mouth remains the dominant method for board recruitment. While informal networks feel efficient and familiar, they tend to recycle the same profiles which encourages unconscious bias and limits access for those outside established circles.
Targeted outreach to under-represented groups is still rare. More than 60% of organisations report that they never or rarely use it.
- Lack of diverse candidates is a symptom, not the root cause
The most frequently cited barrier was difficulty finding diverse candidates. But the evidence suggests this is less about availability and more about reach. When recruitment methods are narrow, candidate pools inevitably are too.
Policies exist but lack teeth
Just under half of charities have a formal diversity policy or goals for board composition. Of those that do, none believe these are “very effective”. Without accountability, measurement and leadership ownership, policies risk becoming performative rather than transformative.
- Bias remains largely unaddressed
Fewer than half of respondents reported receiving training in unconscious bias or inclusive recruitment. This leaves well-meaning decision-makers exposed to deeply ingrained assumptions about what a “credible” board member looks like.
Why This Matters More Than Ever
Board composition is not a cosmetic issue. Diverse boards make better decisions, challenge group thinking, strengthen legitimacy and improve an organisation’s ability to understand risk, opportunity and community need.
When boards do not reflect lived experience:
- strategy becomes disconnected from reality
- trust with communities erodes
- innovation is constrained
- leadership pipelines narrow
In a sector under increasing financial and operational pressure, governance quality is not a “nice to have”. It is a resilience issue.
Moving from Commitment to Change
Key priorities include:
- embedding diversity goals into governance frameworks
- reporting regularly on board composition and progress
- investing in bias awareness and inclusive selection capability
- broadening search strategies beyond existing networks
- considering external expertise where internal reach is limited
This is not about lowering standards. It is about widening access to talent that has historically been overlooked.
The Role of Leadership
Perhaps the most important finding is cultural rather than technical. Several respondents referenced resistance, overt or subtle, to change at board level.
True inclusion requires confidence from existing leaders: confidence that diversity strengthens governance rather than threatens it; confidence to explain why representation matters; and confidence to challenge long-standing norms.
Without that leadership, even the best frameworks will fail.
A Moment of Opportunity
Despite the challenges, our report also offers grounds for optimism. The willingness is there. The awareness is growing. Many of the recommendations come directly from senior leaders themselves.
The task now is to turn insight into action.
For charities serious about impact, board diversity cannot remain aspirational. It must become deliberate, measured and embedded, not as a compliance exercise, but as a core component of effective governance.
Final point
A statement we hear often is ‘achieving board diversity is difficult in the north east, it isn’t London’. Firstly, we would comment that this statement is purely defining diversity as a representation of ethnic minority - diversity includes a lot more characteristics that just that.
If we are to discuss ethnic minority representation within the North East, the demographic make up of many of the cities and towns around us has evolved greatly over the past 20-30 years. In Newcastle alone there are schools that now have up to 50% split of non-white children.
In late 2025 Castle Peak Group completed a project for the Angelou Centre in Newcastle who were seeking to recruit 5 highly qualified professionals to join there board as trustees who had lived experience as an ethnic minority:
“We began working with Castle Group earlier this year to support the recruitment of new trustees. The calibre of candidates they brought forward, as well as the care they took to understand who we are and what we needed, exceeded our expectations.
Because of that success, we returned to Castle Group to help us recruit for two senior roles that we had struggled to fill for almost a year. Within a short period, they delivered exactly what we had been looking for: strong, mission-aligned candidates, a smooth process, and clear, proactive communication throughout. Their ability to translate our needs into a targeted and effective search made a tangible difference to our organisation.
Castle Group has become a trusted recruitment partner for the Angelou Centre, and we would highly recommend them.”
— Faty Kane, Executive Director, The Angelou Centre
Castle Peak Group are an executive and board search consultancy working with like-minded organisations who share their belief in both the importance and benefits of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. You can find out more about their work and services on the Castle Peak Group website.
Image Credit: Castle Peak Group