The Dons Trust AFC Wimbledon Club OwnersAn update on adding to the Dons Trust board

Since our announcement on 6 April [here]  the board of the Dons Trust has had only eight http://heremembers, whereas our rules [here]say we need at least nine. We said then that we will be filling the vacancy at our meeting on Wednesday 20 April. Today we’re expanding on that announcement, to tell you more about what we’re doing, and to give you an update.
The Dons Trust AFC Wimbledon Club Owners
Sticking with the original plan, we will be filling the vacancy on Wednesday. The rules say that’s what we should do. If we weren’t below the minimum, we could consider taking the time to hold a by-election. But we have agreed that that would take too long for the current circumstances, leaving us unable formally to make major decisions in the meantime. The person we select will be in position until our AGM in December – that’s standard procedure for anyone the board chooses to add. If any appointed person wanted to continue on the board after that, they would have to stand for election.Over the last week or so, board members have been coming up with members who could potentially fill the vacancy. We’ve done that from our own existing knowledge and from talking to trusted colleagues and advisers. As well as wanting existing experience with the Trust, we’ve talked about the need to consider the board’s overall diversity and to find skill sets which complement and add to the board’s existing make-up.At the same time, we’ve talked about what lessons we can learn from being in this situation, and how we might increase the board’s resilience. In the short term, we are considering co-opting an additional member, again until the AGM in December, following the same process as above. This would mean that any sudden departure would not leave us in the same position. And no, we aren’t expecting any sudden departures. But recent history shows we can’t responsibly ignore the possibility.For the longer term, the board is also discussing a proposal to increase the number of elected board members to ten. Dons Trust members can of course hold the board to account for these decisions and any others – and also hopefully meet any new board members – at the upcoming SGM, on 25 May. Got a question? Members can Ask The Board direct on the DT ProBoards site at https://donstrust.boards.net – it takes only two minutes to sign-up.