Meet the Digital Trustees: Tandy Nicole

Charities that recruit trustees with digital skills can tap into their expertise to enhance their digital presence, develop effective strategies, and ultimately achieve their goals more efficiently. Tandy Nicole is a prime example of the benefits that such trustees can bring to third sector organisations, and was kind enough to discuss her experiences with Third Sector Lab.

Tandy has a diverse professional background that spans over 15 years in healthcare and tech. She started as a qualified mental health nurse and CBT specialist, before transitioning to tech two years ago. In her current role at Golden Charter, Tandy was responsible for building funeral plan products and life insurance.

In terms of her involvement in the third sector, Tandy has worked with several organisations in the Glasgow area. Her first trustee role was as a non-executive director with Govan Community Project, an organisation that supports diverse communities and people seeking asylum across Glasgow. Tandy is also involved in Mental Health Network Greater Glasgow. They are a charity that works with the NHS to provide resources and services for people living in the community.

Benefits to the organisation

Although Tandy was a candidate with valuable digital experience, neither Govan Community Project or Mental Health Network Glasgow were initially searching for someone with her skillset. Tandy was recruited to their boards as someone with community engagement skills, as well as relevant professional and lived experience with mental health nursing and asylum seeking. Once in post, Tandy found multiple areas where her digital expertise and network meant she could help where perhaps no-one else could:

“I’m not only going to come in and help, I’m going to bring a network.”

When Tandy joined the board at Govan Community Project, she discovered that the charity’s social enterprise, which was a digital platform, required some work. The board was looking for someone to understand how the social enterprise worked, and Tandy took accountability for it. She conducted research and data analytics and realised that the social enterprise would benefit from a digital strategy. Tandy proposed recommendations to the board, and they approved a digital transformation for the social enterprise.

At Mental Health Network, Glasgow she is currently helping the charity improve their website and teaching them how to speak to service users to showcase their stories and projects. Tandy believes that charities should be proactive rather than reactive, and should focus on engaging and empowering service users to see impact, rather than just reporting to funders. She emphasises the importance of collecting feedback regularly to show impact and engaging with service users to create impactful projects.

Benefits to the Digital Trustee

Tandy’s volunteering has given her confidence, and has had a tangible effect on her career path: “As a digital trustee, I started receiving opportunities.” Because of her active volunteering, Tandy was nominated to her role as an Advisory Board Member at the Scottish Government on mental health strategy and human rights policies. She has also had a chance to be a part of the grant making process and projects such as the Open Philanthropy Funding project, and is approached by recruiters regularly with new opportunities.

Overall, Tandy’s background and expertise have allowed her to make significant contributions in both the private and third sectors. Although she was initially not recruited as a digital trustee, Tandy’s digital skills combined with her lived experience and innovative personality have had a real impact on her chosen charities.

Becoming a digital trustee, or recruiting one, could be easier than you think – why not check out our Digital Trustees Matchmaking Events?