We received support that required minimal resources from our pro bono partner yet brought an invaluable external perspective to our work, making it far more powerful than anything we could have put together ourselves.
– Ed Marsh, The Tutor Trust
Pro bono supporter: Egon Zehnder
Partner: The Tutor Trust
Project type: Board advisory
The Tutor Trust was set up in an “over the kitchen table” moment, with a mission to subsidise tuition and level the playing field for young people from less affluent areas in the country. The charity grew into an organisation with a turnover of £3.5m, doubling in size during the pandemic, but the “kitchen table” board culture and structure remained. Thus, as the organisation prepared for its next strategic phase, it became clear the board’s structure and role needed to be clarified.
Egon Zehnder provided The Tutor Trust with pro bono support, centered on clarifying the role of the board and its chair, who had been in position since its inception.
Led by Partner Çağla Bekbőlet, the Egon Zehnder team began by collecting insights through a questionnaire to the board and executive team, and by introducing a new technology service to efficiently collect this data. This data highlighted what was working and what the pain points were, creating a hypothesis to test in follow-up conversations which shaped a roadmap for improving the board.
The Tutor Trust has made important structural changes to the board. More in-person meetings are now held in regions where the charity operates and where board members are based - improving both organisational culture and efficiency.
Further, board recruitment is now guided by a clearer mapping of skills. Before the pro bono project, board members held different levels of familiarity with the education landscape, which created a sense of disconnect in meetings. However, with a more careful mapping of skills, the board now includes members with early years expertise and greater representation from areas such as the North East. This has helped ensure the board are well equipped to help the organisation take their next strategic step forward.
For me it was an amazing learning opportunity, both as a professional at Egon Zehnder but also in my extracurricular activities.
- Çağla Bekbolet, Egon Zehnder
For Çağla, the project offered valuable personal insights. For instance, as chair of another charity, she found conversations - particularly one with The Tutor Trust’s chair about the difficulty of applying recommendations - both honest and rare. What began as strategic advice turned into an open conversation about leadership identity and how Chairs can grow amidst the loneliness of the role. This kind of honest, impactful conversation is rare, yet it shone throughout the pro bono project.
