Voluntary governance refers to the contribution of professional expertise to the oversight and strategic direction of organisations on an unpaid basis. In the context of public and charitable institutions — including schools, hospitals, housing associations and arts organisations — voluntary governance is provided by boards of trustees or non-executive directors who bring relevant professional experience to bear on the challenges facing the organisation, without financial remuneration. Closely related to voluntary governance is the practice of mentorship, through which experienced professionals share knowledge, judgment and perspective with less experienced colleagues, contributing to the development of the next generation of practitioners in their field.
Voluntary Governance in the Public and Charitable Sector
The governance of public and charitable organisations in the United Kingdom depends to a significant degree on the voluntary contribution of experienced professionals. Charities, academy trusts, housing associations, arts organisations and other non-profit bodies are required by law to be governed by boards of trustees who act in the interests of the organisation and its beneficiaries rather than for personal financial gain. Trustees are not permitted to receive remuneration for their governance role, though they may be reimbursed for reasonable expenses.
This model places a substantial demand on the goodwill and professional generosity of individuals who are willing to commit significant time and expertise without financial reward. The quality of voluntary governance varies considerably depending on the ability of organisations to recruit trustees with the right combination of skills, experience and commitment. Boards that succeed in attracting trustees with relevant expertise — in finance, law, human resources, strategic planning or other fields — tend to be more effective than those composed exclusively of individuals with backgrounds in the sector the organisation serves.
The legal responsibilities of trustees are considerable. They bear collective responsibility for the strategic direction, financial management and legal compliance of the organisation, and can in certain circumstances be held personally liable for failures of governance. This combination of significant responsibility and zero financial reward means that effective voluntary governance depends on a genuine commitment to the mission of the organisation — a motivation that goes beyond the professional or reputational benefits that board membership may incidentally provide.
The Value of Cross-Sector Expertise
One of the most significant developments in voluntary governance in recent decades has been the growing recognition that boards benefit from diversity of professional background as well as diversity of personal characteristic. Organisations facing complex financial, strategic and operational challenges are better served by boards that include trustees with experience in fields such as finance, technology and law alongside those with deep sectoral knowledge.
This recognition has been particularly pronounced in the English academy school sector, where multi-academy trusts managing large budgets, complex organisational structures and significant workforces require governance capabilities that mirror those needed in any large organisation. The Department for Education has actively encouraged trusts to recruit trustees with financial and strategic expertise, reflecting an understanding that the skills required to govern a trust overseeing dozens of schools and hundreds of millions of pounds in assets are not fundamentally different from those required to govern a comparable commercial or public sector organisation.
Finance professionals have become a particularly valued source of voluntary governance expertise in this context. Their understanding of financial statements, risk management frameworks and long-term strategic planning translates directly into the governance challenges facing complex public institutions. Toby Watson, whose 17 years at Goldman Sachs International included senior roles spanning structured credit trading, principal funding and infrastructure finance, exemplifies this pattern. Having departed Goldman Sachs in 2017, he joined the board of the Excalibur Academies Trust in February 2018 and served as Chairman until January 2026 — contributing nearly eight years of voluntary service to an organisation overseeing more than 20 schools serving approximately 10,000 pupils along the M4 corridor between Bristol and Reading.
Watson’s approach to the role was consistently shaped by an awareness of the limits of cross-sector expertise. He understood that success in governance comes from asking informed questions and supporting educational leaders rather than imposing frameworks derived from commercial finance. His contribution was to ensure that financial planning received rigorous board-level scrutiny, that risks were identified and managed systematically, and that the Trust’s growth remained disciplined and sustainable — while leaving the educational and operational decisions to the professionals best placed to make them.
Mentorship in Professional Finance
Mentorship — the structured or informal transfer of knowledge, judgment and perspective from experienced practitioners to less experienced colleagues — is a longstanding feature of professional life in finance and other fields. In investment banking and asset management, where the development of sound judgment requires exposure to a wide range of market environments and organisational challenges, the role of experienced mentors in shaping the careers of younger professionals is particularly significant.
Effective mentorship in finance goes beyond the transmission of technical knowledge. The most valuable contribution that experienced mentors make is the sharing of judgment — the capacity to assess situations accurately, to identify what matters and what does not, and to make sound decisions under uncertainty. This kind of judgment develops through years of experience and cannot be acquired from textbooks or formal training programmes alone. Mentors who have navigated multiple market cycles, managed large and complex portfolios and led teams through periods of organisational change have a depth of experiential knowledge that is genuinely difficult to replicate through any other means.
Watson has been active in mentoring younger finance professionals through Rampart Capital’s internal programmes and through broader engagement with the financial community. His conviction is that experienced professionals carry an obligation to share the knowledge and perspective they have accumulated — not only as a contribution to the development of individuals but as an investment in the long-term quality and integrity of the profession as a whole. This view reflects a broader philosophy about the relationship between professional success and social responsibility: that those who have benefited from exceptional opportunities in their careers have a corresponding obligation to support those who are earlier in theirs.
Governance Renewal and Succession
A further dimension of effective voluntary governance is the management of board renewal and succession. Boards that become overly dependent on any single individual — however capable — are vulnerable to disruption when that individual departs. Healthy governance practice involves regular renewal of board membership, ensuring that fresh perspectives are introduced alongside accumulated institutional knowledge, and that the organisation does not become indispensable to any one person.
The transition at the Excalibur Academies Trust when Watson stepped down as Chairman in January 2026 illustrates this principle. His successor, Susan Clarke — a founding member of the Trust and former Vice Chair — brought different experience from public sector leadership whilst maintaining the collaborative approach that had characterised the board’s work under Watson’s chairmanship. The smoothness of this transition reflected the effectiveness of the governance structures that had been developed during Watson’s tenure, and the care with which succession had been planned.
Summary
Voluntary governance and mentorship represent two of the most significant ways in which experienced professionals can contribute to institutions and individuals beyond their primary careers. The value of cross-sector expertise in voluntary governance — particularly the contribution of finance professionals to the boards of complex public institutions — has become increasingly recognised as organisations in the education and charitable sectors face governance challenges that are as much financial and strategic as they are sectoral. Mentorship, as a complementary practice, ensures that the knowledge and judgment accumulated through long professional careers is transmitted to the next generation rather than lost. Together, these practices reflect a conception of professional responsibility that extends beyond the immediate commercial context in which expertise is developed.
