Bond members elect new trustees and adopt safeguarding principle

At Bond’s Annual General Meeting on 20 November, leaders from across our membership elected two new trustees to the Bond board, Zoë Abrams from the British Red Cross and Marcus Missen from WaterAid.

Members also voted to adopt a new principle around safeguarding into the Bond Charter and heard from Gerard Howe, head of DFID’s Inclusive Societies Department.

New board members

Zoë Abrams is the executive director of communications and advocacy at the British Red Cross, where she leads an award-winning marketing and influencing team. She has previously worked at Barnado’s and spent a decade in Whitehall and parliament, including a substantial amount of time at the Foreign Office.

“In these challenging economic and political times, Bond has a key role in helping its members to both build their brands and develop their people, so that they are able to thrive as they fulfil their purpose,” says Zoë.

“Moreover, Bond also has a crucial role in bringing together its members in coalition to encourage the UK government to continue to invest in international development and to live up to the promises of both the Grand Bargain and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”

As director of communications and fundraising at WaterAid, Marcus Missen has developed a culture of innovation within the organisation, including moving from a fundraising to an engagement strategy, and has built new partnerships with the private sector and the public. He sits on the steering committee of the Aid Coalition and on advisory panels for two major fundraising events. He is also a trustee of the International Broadcasting Trust.

“With a continued uncertain future, now more than ever the strong leadership Bond provides is crucial – from championing the highest standards across all aspects of our sector’s work, to representing all members of all sizes as our advocate,” he says. “I firmly believe in the essential role Bond will continue to play well into the future, adapting to these changes we all face.”

Bond Charter principle on safeguarding

Members voted to adopt a new principle around safeguarding into the Bond Charter yesterday. The amendment requires all members to ensure consistency and high quality in their safeguarding practices by taking collective action and implementing sector-wide solutions. These actions will be guided by our commitments to change brought to DFID’s Safeguarding Summit.

“This year has seen a lot of soul searching by the NGO sector on safeguarding and Bond has been working with its membership to drive up standards on how sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment are handled, reported and acted upon. Revising the Bond Charter is an important step to reflect the step change we are seeing across the sector, and the Board is pleased that Bond’s members have fully supported this significant amendment,” says Caroline Nursey, Bond’s chair and CEO at BBC Media Action.

Find out more about the Bond board.