Director’s Role Description
(Note: The Board of Directors is titled the Admin Board to better reflect its function.)
Co-operatives are legally required to elect a board of directors. To ensure democratic accountability, directors have limited executive power but provide an added level of scrutiny within the co-operative. As is the case with all co-operatives, the general membership- namely you- retain the ultimate power, holding the capacity to elect and un-elect all officials within the co-op.
Directors do not play an executive and operational role in the day to day, but function as an advisory group for oversight and consultation on longer term planning of activities and strategies. The role involves quarterly meetings and ongoing consultation and advice according to the needs of coordinators.
Election Process
Since our first AGM in march 2016 broad range of people put themselves forward to join the board, offering a wide set of skills and experience. A review of the board of Directors took place at our last AGM in march 2016 and the membership present was invited to elect the new Directors through a majority vote.
Elected directors
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In no particular order:
Mike Jempson
(since 2015)
I am a journalist, author & trainer and Hon Director of the journalism ethics charity MediaWise . I also teach as a senior lecturer at the University of the West of England.
Tessa Gleeson
A long-time Bristol resident currently studying on the year-long Shift course in Practical Sustainability and working as a Note-taker in numerous lectures at UWE. I hope to assist by sharing insights as well as my past contacts and trainings of group-work skills.
Noelle Rumball
Noelle has spent most of her career defining and measuring success in the public sector, but has also spent some time doing freelance social policy research for think tanks and academics.
Abdi Mohamed
I have years of valuable experience in project development, management, teaching, training and community development. I currently am Project manager (and co-founder) at Somali Media Group and Manager of a supplementary school.
Delroy Hibbert
I am a Project Manager for a St Pauls-based charity Full Circle which provides projects for young people and families in the community. I support and will work to ensure The Bristol Cable continues its unique commitment to giving voice to all sections of our city and provides the training as well as the vehicle to get their stories heard.
Drew Rose
Having helped set-up the organisation, being involved as a writer, editor and organiser, I have seen it grow and develop. In that time I also became founding UK editor and now Director of Operations of The Canary, an independent online news outlet with national and global coverage.
I believe my skills in this position can help with the development of the Bristol Cable. The next year will be an exciting and challenging time for the Cable and I look forward to bringing in new talent to the board to support the staff, help us overcome barriers and thrive for years to come.
Matthew Strange
I am the Director of the Jam Jar; a creative and social project at the Old Malt House in Easton and over the last three years we have developed into a diverse organisation, offering cultural events, creative services and material support to start ups or organisations in need of assistance.
Robert Triggs
After a languages degree, I trained as a lawyer. I advise on environmental/sustainability/climate change issues and renewable energy/low carbon projects. A vibrant journalism focused on the protection of the public interest is central to a healthy, democratic and reflective city and I wholeheartedly support the values and objectives of the Bristol Cable.
Kate Whittle
I have been working in and with co-operatives for nearly 30 years and I am a strong believer in the benefits of the co-operative business model for individuals and for our society. I have been impressed by the Bristol Cable’s achievements in the short period since it was set up and I would be honoured to contribute my skills, experience and knowledge to such an innovative, empowering and frankly, desperately needed media co-op.
Kate Oliver
I am keen that The Brilliant Bristol Cable has a long, healthy and successful life. To sustain its vision, energy and talent I would like to share my experience of governance, commissioning, income generation, management, policy and research in academia, strategic and local authorities, the voluntary sector and community activism. Erstwhile flexitime schooling national co-ordinator, foster carer of young unaccompanied asylum seekers and founder trustee at Bristol Refugee Rights, I am currently a founder director of Wernbrake Woodland social enterprise and the acting convenor for Bristol Walking Alliance pavements for pedestrians campaign.
Ben Sansum
I have worked in the advice sector for 19 years, working in a range voluntary organisations such as CABx in Bristol & London, Avon & Bristol Law Centre, and St Pauls Advice Centre. I currently manage the Information & Advice service in Bristol’s branch of Age UK, supporting 3 paid staff and 18 volunteers to deal with advice queries from approx. 2,000 people per year. This work has given me a good understanding of the voluntary sector, local and national government structures, funding & budgets, problem-solving within limited resources, and the role trustees & directors should play in the development and sustainability of voluntary organisations. I have also served on several management boards within the advice sector, and understand that these types of commitments should be taken seriously.
Alongside the above, I also have a long-standing interest in writing and local press (having written music reviews for many years, starting with Venue Magazine back in the ‘90s), and genuinely believe in the power of good journalism to influence the world for the better. I am a huge admirer of the work done by the Cable in its first four years, and would like to help contribute to its future.
Nathan Fitzpatrick
I grew up in Bristol, and moved back just over a year ago to take up a job with the Avon & Bristol Law Centre. Before this, I completed an MA in Multimedia Journalism, leading to a brief stint freelancing, during which it became increasingly clear to me that what I really wanted to write about was social welfare issues, and that I didn’t know enough to do this properly. This led to me volunteering in a local Law Centre, which in turn led me back to Bristol.
I care deeply about journalism, and am deeply concerned about the question of whether the media that we have is up to the task of challenging our current political systems. I believe narrative and analytical journalism is important, but that we are seeing too many comment pieces, and not enough reporting. The Cable seems to be an antidote to that, and rooted locally too. I want to support that. My journalistic studies were primarily focused on audio, and I am a big fan of podcasts, so I’d be very interested to see The Cable try out a project in this direction too, perhaps in collaboration with one of Bristol’s independent radio stations.