An Introduction
We are introducing a new committee with the aim of better representation and opportunities for formal input from Black, Asian, and ethnic minority community members into the operation of QuidditchUK. This follows discussions both internal and external, with members of the quidditch community, current and previous QuidditchUK volunteers, and representatives from other international quidditch governing bodies.
The purpose of the committee is of a communicative nature, where underrepresented members of the community will have direct access to our Executive Management Team (EMT).
Members of the committee will be able to influence and input on national programmes, sporting policies, media, and operational decisions made by QuidditchUK in relation to the wider sport, to better provide opportunities for growth and development.
Importantly, we aren't looking for individuals just to come in for simple tasks such as proof-reading social media, nor are we expecting those to come in and take on the broad responsibilities of fixing the range of issues that effect the sport. Ultimately we're looking for a group of people that can collaborate with QuidditchUK staff on projects and/or advise and input as they see fit on decisions at all levels of the sport, from club guidelines all the way up to international policy.
Committee Recruitment Timeline
QuidditchUK will make a public release recruiting a committee chair and members across the QuidditchUK website, social channels, and correspondence email to all teams.
A chair will be selected by the Volunteers Director, President, and Vice President following a series of informal discussions with each of the applicants around their thoughts on the EDI committee. The chair will then lead on the selection of the remaining committee members with assistance from the Volunteers Director. Members are to be selected from a wide range of teams of varying competitive rankings, location, experience, and club status.
- Applications of interest are open effective immediately for both committee chair and regular member positions. These will remain open and be advertised until the 31st of October. Applicants may apply by filling out the form at the bottom of this page.
- Following on from this, QuidditchUK will select and publicly announce a committee chair. The President, Vice President, and Volunteers Director will then meet with the committee chair to discuss what shape the committee will take, set initial goals, and decide what boundaries/expectations are appropriate to be set for the committee.
- The chair will then select the remaining committee members from those who submitted applications of interest. Members are set-up on QuidditchUK’s Slack and the committee is given a publicly available email address.
- In mid-to-late November, the committee will meet for the first time, independent of any QuidditchUK management. The Volunteers Director is responsible for informing the committee chair of relevant EMT activity on a weekly basis, and is their point of contact on EMT.
Structure and Function
The specific structure and size of the committee will be at the discretion of its initial members and the chair. While the primary point of contact for the committee chair will be the Volunteers Director, the committee as a whole will be able to communicate directly with EMT in a group Slack channel to discuss ideas, submit projects, and field queries.
The envisioned function for the EDI committee through bidirectional communication:
- The QuidditchUK Executive team may work with the committee as a sound board;
- The committee can address EMT directly with questions or concerns.
Members of the EDI committee are expected to input and comment on programmes or policies submitted by QuidditchUK. They are also expected to make recommendations of projects that QuidditchUK could carry out to improve the access and/or representation for Black, Asian, and ethnic minority community members. At the committee’s discretion such projects may be issued directly to departments, undertaken by the committee, or some combination of the two.
QuidditchUK recognises that volunteer burnout has been a serious issue previously. As part of its renewed effort to improve volunteer wellbeing, a member of the Volunteers Department will check in regularly with members of the EDI Committee to ensure those working on projects aren’t overwhelmed with responsibilities or otherwise overworked.
