Trustee Week – “Everyone Deserves A Beautiful Life”
This guest blog was written by our Trustee Dianne Danquah as part of Trustees Week, which celebrates the contributions of volunteers like Dianne. Even before joining in June, Dianne made huge contributions through being a youth advocate.
I became a trustee at the Equality Trust earlier this year because I believe everyone deserves to live a beautiful life. From a very young age, I was aware about the inequality in society and the impact on communities locally and globally. This led me to study Sociology with a specialism in race and global politics in university, where I began to critique the larger systems that cause drastically different life experiences. Since leaving university a few years ago, I have worked in the charity sector supporting young people to use their voice to speak about the issues they face and the solutions they need.
Last year, my journey with the Equality Trust began through a youth advocate project. I worked with other young people from across the country to collect the experiences of other young people through community reporting, a peer-to-peer storytelling method. This project was inspiring, as we did not only hear what is wrong in society but it gave space for reimagination. It also gave me confidence in my own activist skills. After this project, I stayed connected with the Equality Trust and saw the recruitment for new trustees.
As I am still early in my journey, I was unsure of whether I could be a trustee. In my mind, trustees were people who had a wealth of knowledge and experience from other roles. However, the Equality’s Trust trustee application and staff were very encouraging, so I took the leap and applied.
I have been a trustee since June and already learnt so much about charity governance. I have also learnt that I do have something to contribute even though I don’t have years and years of experience, which has been empowering. I think to be a great trustee (regardless of experience), you have to want to see the charity thrive. I want to see the Equality Trust continue challenging the roots of inequality.
One of my favourite quotes is “We must choose either champagne for a few or safe drinking water for all” by Thomas Sankara. I believe that The Equality’s Trust mission and values align with this. I hope we achieve ‘safe drinking water for all’ and that the work of this charity is able to contribute to this change.
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