The Sustain food and farming alliance is seeking Trustees to help guide our work. We are holding our annual Trustee elections in October 2026, with up to five Trustee positions available, plus 'Trustee role-share' positions for younger people to gain experience in charity leadership. Please get in touch!
Sustain's Council of Trustees are highly valued advisors on our governance and strategic direction. They are elected by the Sustain alliance membership to form a governing body. Trustee positions are open to Sustain alliance member and observer organisations.
Sustain’s Council of Trustees meets quarterly with the senior leadership team to guide the work of the alliance. Some also work in collaboration with the Sustain team in other ways. We greatly appreciate involvement of Sustain alliance member and observer organisations in this way, to help guide our work.
The usual term of office is three years, after which Trustees either stand down, and often choose to stand again for re-election. Our AGM and Trustee elections will take place in the period October to November 2026.
Do you have the skills and experience we need?
This is an exciting time for the alliance. Serving Trustees, and those newly elected, will oversee implementation of the refreshed Sustain Strategy for the period 2026 to 2030, influencing our alliance’s priorities and activities, and what we will aim to achieve together for the next five years.
We are especially keen this year to welcome as Trustees people from the Sustain alliance who have expertise, connections and interest in the following alliance areas: nature-friendly farming; farmer-focused supply chains; environmental policy and nature conservation; solutions to household food insecurity; food in schools and early years. We would also welcoming Trustee nominations from people with skills and experience in: HR; fundraising; and organisational development.
Please note that as part of our formal alliance governance, full Trustee positions are open only to people representing Sustain alliance members and observers. For Trustee role-share positions, these would usually be from Sustain alliance members, but we can consider applications from young people from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds working with e.g. Sustainable Food Places food partnerships, closely involved in our work. Get in touch and we can discuss options.
Interested in standing for election as a Trustee? Download a Sustain Trustee election nomination form – you can use this for either a ‘registered Trustee’ or ‘Trustee role-share’ nomination (or both). Nomination deadline is 5pm on Thursday 15 October, but if you can get it in before that, all the better!
Want to find out more about being a Trustee or role-share Trustee? Get in touch with Sustain's Chief Executive Kath Dalmeny: kath@sustainweb.org
Trustee role-shares
We are also offering places as Trustee role-shares. The aim of this scheme is to welcome younger people – specifically those from ethnically and culturally diverse backgrounds under-represented in our sector – to gain experience in charity leadership and governance, and to contribute their unique perspectives. Is this you or someone you know? We’d love to hear from you!
Some people in Trustee role-share positions participate for around a year, to observe, learn and contribute in particular areas; others become more involved over a longer period, perhaps for one full Trustee term of office (three years), or perhaps for a longer period if they choose to stand again for re-election, either continuing in the role-share, or standing as a Sustain Trustee in their own right. We were delighted when three people in these role-shares became Trustees in their own right, and we welcomed their expertise, perspectives and ongoing contributions.
Read our guidance: Sustain’s Trustee role-shares for diversity in leadership: What are they for and how does it work?
Note: Sustain offers honorarium payments to people in Trustee role-share positions for some activities, to help value contributions and overcome barriers to participation. Note: These payments are not for attending quarterly Trustee meetings, in line with Charity Commission guidance.
Recruitment for diversity
Watch this short documentary film, sharing personal insights from current and former Sustain trustees Shefalee Loth, from Which?; Dr Kawther Hashem from Consensus Action on Salt, Sugar and Health (CASSH); Jyoti Fernandes, from Landworkers Alliance and Raksha Mistry, formerly of the Soil Association. They speak about challenges and opportunities in their roles and sectors, from access to land to perceptions of being a woman of colour, and touch on cross-cutting issues in food justice and public health.
“Every Sustain Council meeting I attend is like a masterclass in governance. This is building my understanding, my capacity as a potential future charity leader. I don’t think I would have got into board-level matters for quite a while if it hadn’t been for the role-share opportunity.”
Comment from a Sustain Trustee elected to a role-share for cultivating new talent and charity leadership, who went on to become a full Trustee in their own right.
Sustain is a majority female-led organisation, and has been since its founding in 1999. Across the past 25 years, there has always been a healthy balance of gender representation, and we have always welcomed people from diverse backgrounds and identities to take part, celebrating diversity and without prejudice, including people from a range of sectors, professions, cultural and ethnic backgrounds and people with a range of personal characteristics and identities.
Nevertheless, we acknowledge that across the first 20 years of Sustain, the leadership was predominantly White and probably not very diverse in terms of other personal characteristics. Sustain takes proactive steps to welcome greater diversity into our staff team and onto the Council of Trustees, with a priority commitment to recruitment for diversity.
As a result of these initiatives, (using self-declared information following Trustee elections that took place in November 2025), our Sustain Council of Trustees diversity profile was:
- 33% Black people, people of colour (BPOC) and people of mixed ethnic heritage (6 people out of 18) and 66% White (12 people out of 18).
- 94% female (17 people out of 18) and 6% male (1 person out of 18).
- People from a range of age groups, from in their 20s to in their 70s, the largest grouping (40% - 7 people out of 18) being in the age bracket 46-55 years of age.
- 28% people with disabilities (5 people out of 18).
- 33% people who have caring responsibilities for a dependent (6 people out of 18).
- People with a range of intersectional attributes, in terms of religious affiliation or cultural background, sexual orientation or identity, long-term health conditions or other protected characteristics.
Interested in standing for election as a Trustee? Download a Sustain Trustee election nomination form – you can use this for either a ‘registered Trustee’ or ‘Trustee role-share’ nomination (or both). Nomination deadline is 5pm on Thursday 15 October, but if you can get it in before that, all the better! Email to: kath@sustainweb.org
Sustain: Sustain The alliance for better food and farming advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity.
