In November we welcomed a new Chair, Jan Chmiel, to our Board of Trustees. Here are a few words from Jan by way of introduction:
“After a number of successful leadership roles in international business the second half of my career has been focused largely on leading ‘not for profit’ organisations in areas of sustainable energy, environment, health and safety and most recently supporting social enterprises working in the local community.
The breadth of my leadership experience has shown me the importance of maintaining a culture of openness, integrity and trust to delivering on organisational goals. This is particularly important in charities which are focused on improving lives through values based objectives. In that respect TDC represents, through its approach of supporting community-led solutions to tackling inequality, the very best example of such an organisation.
Strong and diverse communities are the foundational fabric of any healthy and thriving society. They can also be the solution to many of our current maladies; from loneliness and mental health, to addressing inequality, effective local services and sustainability. I believe the work of the Trust is ‘in the right place at the right time’ to play a major part in delivering on this most critical mission of our times.
I look forward to working with the other TDC Trustees, the wonderfully committed staff and many valuable volunteers in continuing this important work of supporting the communities across Brighton and Hove to strengthen and grow. Longer term I look forward to championing this model of support for communities as an example for other parts of the country, to showcase the power of positive bottom-up societal change.”
Jan Chmiel
16th December 2019