UKESF Appoint Two Graduated Scholars as Board Observers

As a growing charity, it is important that the UKESF has effective governance arrangements in place. Last year, our Board was strengthened with the appointment of two new Trustees, and we are delighted to have now appointed two Board Observers.

Joanna Taylor, Silicon Product Engineer at Graphcore, and Ricki Tura, Verification Engineer, Siemens Embedded Analytics, are both UKESF Scholars who graduated in 2017 and 2020 respectively and were awarded “Scholar of the Year”.

As Board Observers, Joanna and Ricki will attend UKESF Board Meetings to observe the proceedings and participate without the duties and rights of Trustees/Directors. The UKESF now has an alumni of close to 400 graduated Scholars and the Board is keen to ensure that we maintain close relationships with this growing community. The Board Observers will be able to contribute insight from their experience of the scholarship, as well as provide new points of view to benefit the Boards discussions and help to inform the UKESF’s strategic decisions.

Stew Edmondson, the CEO of the UKESF, said

“It is forward-thinking and progressive that the Directors have decided to appoint two graduated Scholars as Board Observers. The Chair and myself are delighted that Joanna and Ricki have accepted the invitation. They will be a great addition to our Board, and it should be ‘win-win’. For the UKESF, they will provide us with insight and input from a different and younger perspective. For Joanna and Ricki, it gives them an opportunity to continue their involvement with the UKESF, to make a positive contribution and to gain experience of charity governance”.

Profiles of Joanna and Ricki, the new UKESF Board Observers, can be found here.

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