Board Elections Summer 2023
Introduction
As we continue to bring UKU operations back to normal, we are announcing board elections taking place this summer. Historically, UK Ultimate board positions are held for three years, with resignations done on a rolling basis. We have some catching up to do resulting from disruption due to the pandemic.
Firstly, we would like to extend huge thanks to all of the current UKU Board members for their expertise, hard work and support throughout their time on the board.
The following board member positions (current board member in brackets) are overdue for renewal.
Chair (Graham Mynott)
Without Portfolio (Ed Lee)
Without Portfolio (Fowzia Mahmood)
Without Portfolio (Serena de Nahlik)
In July 2023, the following board member terms will also expire.
Treasurer (Wayne Davey)
Without Portfolio (James Cooper)
Director of Competitions (Chris White)
Finally, Marius Hutcheson (Without Portfolio) has decided to step down due to a lack of time.
We are pleased to note that several of the board members listed above are considering re-standing. Graham, Ed and James have all confirmed that they plan to step down. Thanks again to all of them.
There are a number of related board decisions to note regarding the composition of the board:
The Performance Director role will continue to be appointed rather than elected.
Ali Tincknell has been reappointed in that role until April 2025.
In line with the Code for Sports Governance, the size of the board will be reduced to 12, meaning that one of the Without Portfolio positions will not be renewed.
Board elections will be run with the requirement that there should be a minimum of 5 female-identifying and 5 male-identifying board members, with the following clarification on the procedure:
Individuals are free to stand for more than one role, and should indicate their preference for those roles in order.
The roles will be appointed in the following order: Chairperson, Treasurer, Director of Competitions, Without-portfolio positions.
If the outcome for any of the roles could result in a gender balance that does not meet the required gender-balance requirement, then candidates for one or more named or without portfolio positions may be restricted, or nominations re-opened, in order to maintain the balance.
Please note that there will be a further announcement this summer relating to a number of roles that need to be filled in the UKU Competitions Committee.
Background and Roles Information
Interested candidates are encouraged to familiarise themselves with relevant information on the website, and in particular:
Board members are company directors of UK Ultimate Ltd. This link has some information about what this entails.
To provide additional background information about the organisation, Si Hill will be leading two online “What is UK Ultimate?” presentations outlining UKU’s roles, responsibilities and some of the current challenges on the following dates:
Wednesday 14th June at 18:30 meet.google.com/neu-wdyw-vud
Monday 19th June at 20:30 meet.google.com/muh-mpve-bmp
The calls will take approx 30 mins, with some time for discussion afterwards as required. Any UKU member is welcome, but the goal is to help people who are interested to have a better understanding of what is involved before they apply. UKU staff and board members will undoubtedly be happy to discuss the roles directly if you ask them.
Nominations Are Open Now
Timescales for this process are as follows:
Sat 10th June: Nominations open
Wed 14th June: “What is UKU?” presentation #1
Mon 19th June: “What is UKU?” presentation #2
Sun 16th July: Nominations close
W/c 17th July: Online voting opens
Sun 13th Aug: Online voting ends
W/c 14th Aug: Results announced
If you would like to stand, please send an email to admin@ukultimate.com with the following details by 23:59 on Sunday 16th July.
Your name, email and mobile number.
Please indicate your gender in your own terms.
The role(s) for which you are standing, including your preference-order if you standing for more than one role.
A short “manifesto”- essentially a statement that we will publish alongside the election that you can use to describe your relevant skills, qualifications, experience and reasons for wanting to join the UKU board. In order to provide some standardisation we suggest these are no more than 300 words long. If you are finding this overly restrictive please let us know.
A headshot that we can publish on the website to help other members to recognise you during the election.