Chair

MEWSo is looking for a Chair to make a significant contribution to leading our Board and support our ability to deliver our strategic plans for the benefit of our service users.

About MEWSo

The Middle Eastern Women and Society Organisation (MEWSo) is a registered charity set up to support Middle Eastern, North African and Asian women in London. We reject every form of discrimination, inequality, and exclusion and aspire to a society where every woman lives in safety with equal opportunities.  We hope for a community in which diversity is considered an element of strength and not of division.

MEWSo aims to:

• Protect and prevent violence against women in BAME communities through its various campaigns. Offer emotional and practical support through our advice services with particular emphasis on Domestic Violence and other Welfare issues (e.g. housing, benefits, disability and health, etc.) Help women empower themselves to rebuild their lives after experiencing trauma/hardship with workshops and projects catered to the needs of survivors. 

Role description

The Chair needs to take the lead in ensuring that the trustees fulfill their duties and responsibilities for effective governance of MEWSo.

The Chair is a Trustee with a specific role on the Board. The Chair is elected or appointed to this role as set out in the charity’s governing document. The Chair will be responsible for leading the meetings of the trustee Board, supporting and supervising the Chief Executive and acting as a channel of communication between Board and staff.

As a Chair, your leadership skills, experience and insight will help us ensure our organisation is run in a responsible and effective manner. You will also help us to be accountable, deliver on what we say we will do and use our funding as effectively as possible. You will also work with the Board and Staff to bring strategic plans for the future direction of the charity so we can continue helping as many women as possible.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for proactive individuals who are willing to be engaged in MEWSo's work and support the staff when needed. We particularly encourage applications from women who have the following experience and qualities:

• leadership skills experience of committee work tact and diplomacy good communication and interpersonal skills impartiality, fairness and the ability to respect confidences work or volunteering experience in the charity sector, ideally supporting women from minority backgrounds have a passion for MEWSo's work can make the time commitment no significant potential of conflict of interest

We're are keen to have an inclusive environment and maintain the diversity of our board; therefore, we would like to hear from women from minority ethnic backgrounds or LGBTQ+ communities to reflect the diverse communities we serve.

Reasonable expenses will be covered. A full induction will be provided after appointment.

Time commitment

The Board meet every other month (Currently meetings are held remotely) In addition, the Chair will require an estimated 5-8 hours a month, or about 2 hours per week. However, the time commitment might change depending on our needs and projects so a level of flexibility is required. There might be participation in subcommittees and working groups in the future. Ad-hoc communications with the Executive Director and staff.

How to apply

Reach TrusteeWorks are supporting us with our Chair recruitment. Please email a CV and a cover letter in which you include why you are interested in the role and how your skills and experience would add value to MEWSo.

If you have any questions or require any assistance submitting your application, please get in touch with the TrusteeWorks team. Please contact the TrusteeWorks Team to arrange an informal chat about the role.