Thank you to everyone who expressed an interest in becoming a staff membership representative!

Campaigning is now underway and you can read each of the candidates' manifestos below.

If you're a staff member, you're eligible to vote for your next representatives. You will be sent a prepaid envelope and ballot paper in the post at the start of September. Please return this to us no later than Friday, 17 September 2021.

Have questions about the process? Scroll down for a handy set of FAQs. Still not sure about something? Get in touch.

If you’d like to meet with (and quiz) this year’s candidates, you can join us at an upcoming Meet the Candidates event:

Friday 10 September 2021, 11am to 12pm
NAViGO Coffee House, 3-7 Brighowgate

If you can’t make it in person but would still like to attend and contribute, join us on Zoom!


The candidates

*Please note that Susan Popoola and Gertrude Wadieh are standing in the new BAME staff representative position, and as such only BAME members of staff will be able to vote for their preferred BAME staff representative candidate.

The rest of the candidates are campaigning for one of the four remaining staff representative positions.

For more information read the FAQs below.


Frequently Asked Questions

Staff representatives encourage membership involvement so representation of staff members is as broad as we can make it.

They also have a direct influence on how we develop our services, challenging decisions and making suggestions based on the feedback they’ve received from you – the membership.  They sit on Membership Board, vote on decisions that are taken there and can directly influence the direction of NAViGO.

Their roles are wide-ranging, but include:

  • Raising awareness about current conversations and developments across NAViGO
  • Encouraging people to be involved in the membership and its activities
  • Having a broad knowledge of those they represent to effectively relay their views and opinions

No. Staff members are employees who have chosen to become shareholders by completing an application form.

All NAViGO employees have the option of becoming a staff member when they join the organisation.

If you are not a staff member, you are not eligible to stand in the staff representative elections. You are also ineligible to vote for your preferred candidates.

If you would like to join the membership or want to check if you are a staff member, call us on (01472) 583053 or send us an email.

Five staff members will be elected as staff representatives this year.

The BAME staff representative will automatically take up a non-executive director (NED) role at CIC Board.

The remaining four staff representatives will then decide as a group which of them will fulfil the role as the other staff representative NED on the main NAViGO board, CIC Board.

The NEDs have voting rights at CIC Board where more decisions about the direction of the organisation are made. There will be one additional NED this year with the addition of the BAME representative position on the main board.

Staff members vote to decide which of the nominees are elected as staff representatives.

Non-BAME staff members can vote for up to four candidates, though they do not need to use all these votes if they don’t wish to. You can only vote for each candidate once.

BAME staff members can vote for the BAME staff representative position in addition to the four remaining staff representative positions.

Not necessarily. And here’s where it gets a bit complicated, so bear with us!

The five staff representative seats on the Membership Board are divided into three categories:

  • BAME representative
  • Band 6 and below
  • All staff members

One of the seats will be reserved for the candidate of BAME background who achieves the highest number of votes from staff members that are shareholders of BAME background.

The successful candidate will become a member of NAViGO’s BAME network within one month of appointment, if not already at the time of the election.

The next two seats will be allocated to the candidates at Band 6 or below who have the first and second highest number of votes.

After this, the two remaining seats on the Membership Board will be allocated to the candidates with the highest number of votes regardless of their band.

We’re committed to inclusion and diversity, and ensuring that we have equal representation across the membership and at board level.

The new reserved position for a staff candidate of BAME background will guarantee representation for a sizeable proportion of NAViGO’s workforce who are not currently taking an active role in the membership process.

Introducing the additional BAME representative will give us a unique focus on the specific issues that BAME staff members are concerned about and give them the platform to raise these concerns.

All staff representatives serve a term of two years.

After this, they can decide to nominate themselves for another two-year term. If elected again, they must step down after a four-year period.

Unfortunately, expressions of interest are now closed.

All staff members had the chance to put themselves forward as a staff representative between Wednesday 7 July and Tuesday 10 August. The next election will be in 2023, so make sure you’re signed up to the membership if you’d like to stand.

You will be sent a prepaid envelope and ballot paper in the post, which will contain the names of all staff representative candidates.

If you are a BAME staff member, you will receive a second ballot paper with the names of the candidates for the BAME representative position.

Complete the ballot by placing a ‘X’ next to the candidates you want to vote for. 

Once you’ve made your choices, place the ballot paper(s) in the prepaid envelope provided and then drop this into a postbox. Alternatively, you can pop it into the internal post or deliver directly to NAViGO House.

We must receive your completed ballot paper by the deadline on Friday, 17 September, 2021.

The results of the staff representative elections will be revealed at our Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, 28 September, 2021.

You can join us at Grimsby Auditorium for a day of activity or watch online via our YouTube channel.

Shortly after, we’ll confirm the results on the website and our social media channels.