Author - Centre for Sport and Human Rights

The Centre for Sport and Human Rights is a human rights organisation for the world of sport. 

The Centre’s Nominations Committee invites you to consider joining our Board and investing your experience and expertise in a voluntary capacity as a Director. 

Join us to help sustain and grow this unique organisation and support our role in pursuing a world of responsible sport.

Read more about the Centre, the role of Director and the application process below and in the Terms of Reference for the Board of Directors.

The Nominations Committee welcomes applications from all candidates in order that the Board reflects and demonstrates awareness of all aspects of diversity relevant to the global mission of the Centre and the diversity of the world of sport itself.

You can apply here. The deadline for applications is 4 April 2025 (at midnight Central European Time).

Background

Our vision is a world of sport that fully respects human rights. In pursuing this vision, we have a mission to ensure the prevention of human rights harms from occurring, access to effective remedy where harms have occurred, and that a positive human rights legacy is promoted from sport and sporting events.

We convene and harness the best available expertise and bring it to bear on collectively solving some of the toughest human rights challenges affecting people in sport and impacted by sport - and involving them in the solutions. Sport has incredible power to create positive change. We believe that this potential can only be fully realised if sport governs transparently and with full engagement of stakeholders.

We invite you to consider joining us and investing your experience and expertise as a Director.

Through our Advisory Council, we bring together an unprecedented alliance of intergovernmental organisations, governments, sports bodies, athletes, hosts, sponsors, broadcasters, civil society representatives, trade unions, and employers and their associations. These organisations have come together united in the understanding that there is a generation of work to be done to fully align the world of sport with the fundamental principles of human dignity, human rights, and labour rights.

You can read more about the Centre and what we do in key documents, including our strategy Convergence 2025 and information about our governance. 

Interested candidates should be familiar with the Sporting Chance Principles, and if appointed will be required to commit to our Code of Conduct and Policy Statement on Safeguarding. 

The Centre’s broad portfolio of work is comprehensively reviewed in our recent publication Going the Distance.

What we are looking for

The Centre’s inaugural independent board - appointed in 2021 - included exceptional individuals committed to working at the forefront of the sport and human rights agenda. This current board comprises a group of highly skilled individuals, acting in their personal capacities, who embody collective action and have the skills and experiences to build trust with the diverse range of stakeholders on the Centre’s Advisory Council and beyond.

Following learnings from its inaugural Board, the Centre seeks to continue to augment a strong cross-section of skills to support the effective governance of the Centre with a strong focus on inducting new candidates with relevant expertise in good governance and the responsibilities of non-profit boards. 

In appointing new Directors, the Centre is therefore seeking to appoint exceptional individuals committed to working at the forefront of the sport and human rights agenda. While the Centre seeks to achieve a broad range of relevant skills and expertise in its governance, especially in navigating the business and human rights agenda, it is particularly interested in candidates with extensive experience in: 

1. fundraising and resource mobilisation
2. chairing boards, 
3. financial management,
4. human resource management, 
5. risk management and legal or compliance management. 

These duties, as with all other board responsibilities, are collectively shared amongst the board. Some candidates may be strong in more than one of these competency areas - this will be taken into consideration by the Nominations Committee as they make a holistic recommendation for appointments - as well as aligning skills and profiles on the Board to be complementary, while promoting and ensuring diversity in all respects. 

It is important that Directors not only support the Centre’s mission, but also its specific role within the broader sport and human rights movement as a multi-stakeholder convenor, technical expert, and thought leader on sport and human rights.

Experience working in the field of sport and human rights, or within complementary or overlapping areas is preferred but not essential as the Centre benefits from world-class thematic and subject matter expertise through the organisations represented as Governing Members, in the Centre’s Advisory Council, and via the expertise of its staff. Applications from current or former athletes and sports officials who bring first-hand experience of sporting competition are very welcome. 

The Centre’s current Directors are eligible to apply for reappointment directly to the Nominations Committee, who will take continuity and prior service into account when composing a new Board that comprises a balance of new applicants and reappointments.

All candidates are expected to have the integrity, independence and broad experience required of any non-executive director of a high profile and standards-setting international organisation. In particular, all candidates will be committed to the Centre’s Sporting Chance Principles and to working with all actors involved in sport to build capacities, share knowledge, and promote collective action. 

All candidates should have a strong commitment to the mission, vision and values of the Centre, a solid command of international human rights principles and a passion for the global human rights agenda. 

Directors do not represent any one stakeholder group or institutional perspective, and should at all times prioritise the Centre’s interests. Directors are ultimately accountable to the beneficiaries of CSHR’s global work in the public interest and the ethical considerations conveyed with this trust.

Prior experience as a non-executive director or trustee is strongly preferred, though outstanding first-time directors will be considered. All candidates will be expected to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the role of a non-executive director, including a commitment to good governance, financial reporting and risk management. This includes a familiarity and appreciation for the specific role of a fiduciary board within the structure of a non-profit organisation.

The Centre has worked hard to create a positive internal environment with a culture that is open, supportive and encourages collaboration, including a commitment to inclusion and diversity at all levels. The Centre encourages all candidates to apply and the Nominations Committee will actively seek to recommend the appointment a board that reflects and demonstrates awareness of all aspects of diversity relevant to the global mission of the Centre, the multi-stakeholder nature of its work and sport ecosystem itself, including but limited to:

• gender;
• geographical location and/or origin;
• ethnicity and cultural background;
• age;
• disability;
• sexual orientation;
• professional or other lived experience in different sectors of the sport ecosystem, specifically including as athletes or sport officials.

Terms Of Reference

The Board of Directors has ultimate oversight of and responsibility for the business of the Centre, using its collective expertise and experience to provide oversight, advice and guidance to achieve its mission and demonstrate its values.

The Board should provide a positive vision for the development of the organisation and its mission, overseeing the success of its strategic plan, stewarding its commitment to embodying the diversity of global sport, and ensuring its long-term sustainability as a critical element of the movement for sport and human rights.

Within the framework of its powers and responsibilities, the role of the Board of Directors is to provide advice, guidance and oversight of the management of the Centre, working with and through the Chief Executive to whom operational management and decisions are delegated in accordance with the Centre’s policies and procedures. 

Directors are expected to promote and foster effective working relationships with fellow directors, the Centre’s Governing Members, and the Chief Executive, Deputy Chief Executive, and the team.

Directors fulfil their obligations to the organisation under the Centre’s Articles of Association and their duties as Directors in law.

Full details of the role and responsibilities of Directors are listed in the Terms of Reference.

Governance

When it launched, the Centre was a wholly owned subsidiary of its parent charity IHRB, and met its goal with its inaugural board of becoming part of a fully independent Swiss-based non-governmental organisation in the form of an association in July 2021. 

The Swiss Association was established by founding institutions including the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Labour Organization, the International Trade Union Confederation, the International Organisation of Employers, the Commonwealth Games Federation, the World Players Association, and IHRB. 

The Centre’s current operating entity is a UK-registered charity which is a subsidiary of the Association. 

Candidates are directed for information to the most recent regulatory filing of the UK charity, outlined in the official report for 2023. 

Directors of the Association will also be expected to become Trustees of the UK charity, subject to regulation by the UK Charity Commission, which requires six essential duties of a Trustee:

• To ensure the Centre is carrying out its purposes for the public benefit
• To comply with the Centre’s governing document and the law
• To act in the Centre’s best interests
• To manage the Centre’s resources responsibly
• To act with reasonable care and skill
• To ensure the Centre is accountable.

Selection Process

Appointments will be made by the Centre’s Governing Members on the recommendations of a Nominations Committee that includes representatives of the broad range of stakeholders in the Centre’s Advisory Council. 

The Nominations Committee is responsible for longlisting, due diligence and shortlisting of candidates.  Candidates recommended for appointment will be invited to a due diligence interview by a panel composed of members of the Nominations Committee.

It is planned that the new appointments will be confirmed in mid-2025. Incoming Directors will receive a comprehensive induction prior to formal appointment.

How to Apply

Applications will take the form of a CV and a motivation letter addressed to the Chair of the Nominations Committee, Minky Worden and submitted via this form. 

We request that CVs are limited to not more than 4 pages and motivation letters are limited to not more than 3 pages. 

The Terms of Reference for the Board of Directors are available here.

All applications will be treated confidentially.

Deadline: 4 April 2025 (at midnight Central European Time)

Planned Period for Interviews: 5-16 May 2025 
Planned Date for Appointments: 25 June 2025

Any queries related to the application process can be addressed to James Brown (Head of Operations and Governance) and Mweene Chibbonta (Operations and Governance Manager) in their capacity as secretariat to the Nominations Committee via [email protected]