Jillian van Turnhout CDir IDP-C
The Irish Government put out the below video for St. Patrick’s Day 2022, with this message:
Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine”
“We live in each other’s shelter”
On this #StPatricksDay #Ireland stands in solidarity with the people of #Ukraine.
We are thinking of you today
Jillian recently stepped down as Member and Vice-Chair of the Board of the European Movement Ireland, a position she held since 2008. In the November-December Issue of the EMI Members’ Newsletter, Jillian was put in the spotlight.
Jillian talks about the highlights in her role, the success of the European Youth Forum (she was one of the co-founders), her time as a member of the European Economic and Social Committee (1998-2011), her recent meeting with the Vice-President of the EU (Maroš Šefčovič)and leadership and empowerment of young women and girls, and the future of female leadership across Europe.
For Charity Trustees Week 2021, The Wheel and Carmichael organised a webinar to discuss the sensitivities and difficult situations of when things go wrong between the Chair/board and the CEO.
Jillian van Turnhout was invited to be part of the expert panel along with Justin Kilcullen, Debra Allcock Tyler and Diarmaid Ó Corrbuí. It was chaired by Deirdre Garvey.
It proved to be timely and topical debate. People tend to join a registered charity to change some part of the world for the better. Whether we are the paid CEO or the unpaid Charity Trustee sitting on the board, we believe that we take a wholly professionally approach to our respective roles. But what happens when things go wrong, behaviours are bad and people get hurt?
At the core of ‘governance’ is a balancing act of ‘power’ between the board and the CEO. Like any relationship of power, the optimum way to manage it well is through clarity and the mutual understanding of roles, authorities and the availability and regular use of channels for both communications and feedback.
This builds trust and constructive relationships. But these methods need to be used and worked well in order to bring about a productive working environment. Issues around authority, responsibility and accountability are too often obscured in charities through the lack of clarity, understanding and the absence of well worked channels for communications and feedback.
Additionally, the ‘magic ingredients’ for any relationship to work well (i.e. emotional intelligence, empathy and self-awareness) can be missing or only one-sided. The result far too often is that trust breaks down, people get hurt and even seriously traumatised by their experience. This applies to both CEOs as well as Charity Trustees (most often the Chair).
The panel shared their many years of experience of dealing with people in these really difficult situations where it gets personal. With almost 200 attendees, and a lively discussion, Carmichael and The Wheel have committed to continue to identify supports and work with Boards and CEOs.
In addition, Jillian has developed a training course on “Boards, Chairs and CEOs: Roles, Relationships & Boundaries” as part of the Carmichael schedule training programme. There are two courses coming up in February 2022 and May 2022. You can find out more here:
“The Lancet” is a weekly medical journal. It is one of the world’s oldest and best-regarded scientific medical magazines. It was founded in 1823 by Thomas Wakley. Lancet is another name for a scalpel, a surgical instrument.
Jillian van Turnhout, CDir co-authored an article that was published in “The Lancet” on 28 June 2021. The other authors are:
Anja Heilmann, PhD
Anita Mehay, PhD
Prof Richard G Watt, PhD
Prof Yvonne Kelly, PhD
Prof Joan E Durrant, PhD
Prof Elizabeth T Gershoff, PhD
The title of the article is “Physical punishment and child outcomes: a narrative review of prospective studies”.
Physical punishment is increasingly viewed as a form of violence that harms children. This narrative review summarises the findings of 69 prospective longitudinal studies to inform practitioners and policymakers about physical punishment’s outcomes. Our review identified seven key themes. First, physical punishment consistently predicts increases in child behaviour problems over time. Second, physical punishment is not associated with positive outcomes over time. Third, physical punishment increases the risk of involvement with child protective services. Fourth, the only evidence of children eliciting physical punishment is for externalising behaviour. Fifth, physical punishment predicts worsening behaviour over time in quasi-experimental studies. Sixth, associations between physical punishment and detrimental child outcomes are robust across child and parent characteristics. Finally, there is some evidence of a dose-response relationship. The consistency of these findings indicates that physical punishment is harmful to children and that policy remedies are warranted.
You can purchase the full article on the website of “The Lancet”:
I am sharing this press release from the Irish Girl Guides from Monday 15 February 2021 with you.
– Almost 3,000 Irish Girl Guides’ members have earned a Europe badge since its launch in partnership with European Movement Ireland in May 2019 –
Members of Irish Girl Guides (IGG) were thrilled to hear today [Monday 15 February 2021] that the organisation has been chosen to receive the European Citizen’s Prize in recognition of its exceptional achievements in promoting awareness of the European Union (EU).
Since launching its Europe programme in partnership with European Movement Ireland (EMI) on Europe Day (9 May) 2019, 2,957 of IGG’s youth members have earned a Europe badge. To earn the badge, girls and young women take part in age-appropriate activities that help them gain an understanding of the EU and how it affects the lives of Irish citizens.
The youngest members (Ladybirds aged 5-7) learn to recognise the EU flag, learn greeting customs from other EU countries and make rubbings of Euro coins. Brownies (aged 7-10) learn about other cultures and the role of MEPs while Guides (aged 10-14) learn about the formation of the EU and the advantages of being an EU member. They also celebrate international cultural festivals and invite politicians to talk to them about the EU.
The European Citizens’ Prize is given to organisations and individuals around Europe that contribute to European cooperation and the promotion of common values. Thirty awards were announced today with two for Ireland – the other recipient being Family Carers Ireland.
Jenny Gannon, IGG’s Programme and Training Commissioner, said, “We are thrilled to win a European Citizens’ Prize. We were delighted to get the opportunity to work with European Movement Ireland when putting the criteria and resources together for the Europe Badge, so a big thank you to them. The Europe Badge is a welcome addition as members of all ages get the opportunity to learn more about the European community they belong to, while encouraging them to be empowered and take action in the European movement.”
“We in IGG strive to develop programmes that are responsive to our girls’ needs and the needs of our society. We have developed mutually beneficial partnerships with a number of organisations in recent years, including EMI, and we are always on the lookout for partners to develop badges with that will add to the depth and breadth of our programme.”
Jillian van Turnhout, a volunteer with IGG and former Chair of the IGG board as well as former Vice Chair of EMI, said, “I am ecstatic the work of Irish Girl Guides’ volunteer leaders and girls to earn the Europe Badge has been recognised through the awarding of the European Citizens’ Prize. From its launch, the leaders and girls have demonstrated their quest to learn more about the European Union, and they have clearly shown they wish to influence and shape the European project.”
Noelle O’Connell, CEO of EM Ireland and Vice President of European Movement International, said, ‘Almost 3,000 Irish Girl Guides’ members from age five-plus have gained Europe badges and learnt about our shared European home and Ireland’s EU journey. It is a great tribute and testimony to their hard work and accomplishments that it is being recognised by the European Parliament through the awarding of the European Citizens’ Prize. EM Ireland was delighted to partner with the Irish Girl Guides in helping so many girls and young women influence Ireland’s European project.”
Deirdre Finlay, member of the Irish national jury for the 2020 European Citizens’ Prize, said, “The 2020 entrants for the European Citizens’ Prize from Ireland were of a very high standard, representing the realities of EU citizens in current times. I am delighted to see the Irish Girl Guides Association and Family Carers Ireland announced as winners and wish them continued success in their work.”
Irish Girl Guides welcomes members from age 5+ and volunteer leaders from age 18+. To find out more, see www.irishgirlguides.ie or tel: 01 6683898.
Irish Girl Guides – Guiding started in Ireland in 1911 and operates throughout the 26 counties with 1,600 volunteer leaders providing an informal educational programme of fun and challenging activities that foster confidence and leadership skills in girls and young women, enabling them to develop to their full potential and to become responsible citizens. Girls from age 5+ can choose to earn a wide range of badges, including Aviation, Community Action, Cultural Diversity, Disability Awareness, Drug Awareness, Engineering, STEM, Science Investigator, Climate Action and Global Traveller. www.irishgirlguides.ie
The European Citizens’ Prize – Each year the European Parliament awards The European Citizens’ Prize for exceptional achievements in the following areas: projects promoting better mutual understanding and closer integration between citizens of the Member States or facilitating cross-border or transnational cooperation within the European Union; projects involving long-term, cross-border or transnational cultural cooperation contributing to the strengthening of a European spirit; projects linked to the current European Year; projects giving concrete expression to the values enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
Citizens, groups of citizens, associations or organizations can apply for the European Citizen’s Prize for projects they have carried out, or can nominate one other citizen, group, association or organisation for the European Citizen’s Prize. Each year, a National Jury prepares a shortlist of up to five nominations. The Irish National Jury for 2020 consisted of: Ciaran Cuffe MEP (Dublin), Billy Kelleher MEP (South), Chris MacManus MEP (Midlands North West), Deirdre Finlay (The Wheel/Learghas) and Jean-Marie Cullen (National Youth Council of Ireland). National shortlists are considered by the European Citizen’s Prize Chancellery which made the final decision on the Awards at its meeting on 9 February.
The 2020 Award was delayed by the pandemic. The 2021 Prize will be launched at the start of March and the deadline for applications will be 15 April 2021 (23:59, Brussels time).
European Movement Ireland – Founded in 1954, European Movement (EM) Ireland is the longest established Irish NGO working on European affairs. A non-partisan, independent, not-for-profit, membership-based organisation, EM Ireland works to develop the connection between Ireland and the rest of Europe. For more information, visit www.europeanmovement.ie
Photos taken at the launch of the Europe badge in May 2019 by Conor McCabe Photography Ltd. info@conormccabe.ie
As part of Charity Trustees’ Week, The Chartered Governance Institute Ireland is hosting a webinar on 18th November in partnership with Carmichael.
The topic is ‘Virtuous circle of good charity governance’ and the session will discuss the benefits of good charity governance from the perspective of a virtuous circle that delivers for a range of stakeholders.
The speakers are Louise Thomson, Head of Policy (Not-for-Profit) at ICSA: The Chartered Governance Institute, Jillian Van Turnhout, highly experienced corporate governance consultant and Diarmaid Ó Corrbuí, CEO of Carmichael.
Visit https://www.icsa.org.uk/ireland/events/upcoming-events/virtuous-circle-charity-governance for more information or to register for the free event.
I am honoured to be one of the panel of trainers for the Charities Regulator to deliver online training for charity trustees. The training is designed to support charities to apply the six core principles and meet the 32 core standards contained in the Charities Governance Code.
As a trainer, it is energising to “meet” such dedicated volunteers.
All training is of course delivered via Zoom from my dedicated home office.
If you are involved in a charity, ensure you are signed up:
As we all adjust to this new reality, we need to find new ways to connect and ensure good governance of our organisations whilst supporting the government’s public health advice. One way is to utilise Zoom video conference.
If you have don’t have a subscription, you will have to limit your time to 40 minutes – although Zoom have lifted this limit for some groups and organisations. I have had a subscription for the past year and have found it good value – even more so in recent weeks. As a first step, you need to set up a Zoom account basic (up to 40 minutes) or a pro account (€13.99 per month) or business (€18.99 per month).
The next step is to sign in to Zoom and ‘Schedule a Meeting’. Zoom gives instructions on how to do this, but here are some tips:
• Allow others to join before the host (recommend you use a password)
• Mute all participants
• Put video on for all
• Consider using the option to add a password for entry or enable a waiting room
• Ensure you give the meeting a name relevant to all, e.g. Organisation Name Board meeting
• Under ‘Audio’ ensure you add the option for a dial-in from Ireland (default is set to the USA only)
I would strongly encourage the use of video where possible as it helps the dynamics of the meetings and allows for increased engagement. If a Board member(s) can only join via audio, then use the chat feature to alert the chair you wish to speak.
If everyone uses video, with your mic on mute, it cuts down on background noises. When you wish to speak, raise your hand or take the mic off mute. Using video is handy as it allows for Board members to nod in agreement with the chair or a member can raise their hand to input.
Like any board meeting, ensure you have a clear agenda, front load items needing decision and be clear about the purpose for each agenda item. It is good practice, if the chair at an early point in the meeting, does a ‘tour de table’ as this allows everyone to be comfortable with how the meeting will operate. Set a definite start and end time. If needed, schedule an additional meeting.
When you get more advanced you can change your background, you can record the meetings (ensuring you have meetings permission) and you can share files via Dropbox and make presentations. Within weeks, I imagine we will all be experts and adjust to this new way of work. I encourage organisations to give it a good and am happy to chat one-to-one if I can help or assist anyone with your initial steps.
Jillian van Turnhout has jumped all the hurdles and passed all the tests: she is now a Chartered Director. If you are seeking an expert on governance – she has the credentials to add to the experience.
“I am honoured to be appointed to the National Screening Advisory Committee by Minister for Health, Simon Harris TD. This Committee will provide independent expert advice in evaluating the evidence for population-based screening programmes in Ireland. I hope our work can result in significant population health benefits. I look forward to working with such eminent committee members.”
Below is the text of the press release from the Departement of Health:
Minister for Health announces membership of Screening Committee.
Minister for Health Simon Harris TD has announced the appointment of the membership of the National Screening Advisory Committee (NSAC). The appointments follow an expression of interest for the expert roles which form the membership of the Committee.
Welcoming the announcement, Minister Harris said:
“This is an important milestone in the continued evolution of population screening programmes in Ireland. I would like to thank each member of the Committee who are volunteering their time and expertise to ensure our screening programme is scrutinised in accordance with international best practice. This Committee intends to work closely with their UK counterparts and other European colleagues, and I am confident that this will ensure that we have a process that is robust, transparent and inclusive and which will ensure that screening programmes in Ireland have a strong supporting evidence base.
“Screening has faced a number of challenges over the past year and the work of the screening committee will play a vital role in helping us to educate the population about screening, its limits and ultimately increasing our screening rates across the country. Screening saves lives.”
The Chair of the Committee Prof. Niall O’Higgins said:
“I welcome the appointment of the members of the Committee. They will bring a range of knowledge and experience to ensure the provision of independent advice on population-based screening programmes. A distinctive element is that the members have been appointed on the basis of their expertise and not because of representation or affiliation.
“The Committee will consider new proposals for screening and also revisions to existing programmes. Recommendations will be based on internationally-accepted evidence and verified standards of current best practice. Among the first functions of the Committee will be to establish a methodology for accepting applications and setting out a prioritisation process for recommended programmes.
“I am confident that with the strong support of the medical profession and the Department of Health the Committee can contribute to efforts to restore and sustain public trust and confidence in population health screening in Ireland.”
The National Screening Advisory Committee will begin its important work with its inaugural meeting on 18 November 2019.
Chair of the National Screening Advisory Committee
· Prof Niall O’Higgins, Professor Emeritus of Surgery, University College Dublin.
National Screening Advisory Committee Members
· Dr Abigail Collins, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, National Cancer Control Programme
· Dr John Ward, Consultant Radiologist, University Hospital Galway
· Dr. Mary Codd, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, UCD
· Dr Sheelagh McGuinness, Reader in Law, University of Bristol Law School
· Dr Velma Harkins, General Practitioner, Offaly
· Professor Andrew Green, Consultant in Clinical Genetics and Professor of Medical Genetics, Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital.
· Dr James O’Mahony, Assistant Research Professor, Centre for Health Policy and Management, School of Medicine, Trinity College
· Martina Fitzgerald, Journalist
· Irene Regan, Chief Medical Scientist, Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital
· John Gleeson, Solicitor and former partner in Mason Hayes and Curran Solicitors
· Dr Susan Kent, Assistant National Director, HSE and former Deputy Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health
· Dr Keelin O’Donoghue, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Cork University Maternity Hospital
· Dr Ellen Crushell, Consultant Paediatrician with a special interest in Inherited Metabolic Disorders, Temple Street, Children’s University Hospital and Our Lady’s Children Hospital
· Dr Paul D’Alton, Associate Professor Principal Clinical Psychologist, St Vincent’s University Hospital.
· Dr Paul Kavanagh, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, HSE.
· Anne Burke (Public Voice)
· Jillian van Turnhout (Public Voice)
· Professor Michael Rigby, Professor Emeritus of Health Information Strategy, Keele University.
· Prof Ciaran O’Neill, Professor of Health Economics, Queens University Belfast.