Governance

The Deep

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is a charity registered in England and Wales, number 200051.

Trustee Board

The Foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees who meet six times each year to set and oversee the delivery of the Foundation’s strategy. A number of Trustee committees support the work of the Foundation throughout the year.

Meet our Trustees.


Committees

Audit and Risk Committee

The Audit and Risk Committee reviews and recommends to the Trustee Board systems of internal control on financial and governance issues and oversees risk management.  It also reviews the draft annual report and accounts and meets with the Foundation’s external auditors.

Finance and Administration Committee

The Finance and Administration Committee reviews and recommends to the Trustee Board annual budgets, staff remuneration and benefits and oversees major property, IT, governance and other projects.

Investment Committee

The Investment Committee formulates investment policy, oversees its implementation, manages overall asset allocation, monitors investment performance and reports to the Trustee Board.

Nominations Committee

The Nominations Committee makes recommendations to the Trustee Board on the appointment of new Trustees.

Funding decisions

  • The Executive Committee takes decisions on grants up to £90,000.
  • The Approvals Committee comprising Trustee and Executive members take decisions on grants and awards of up to £250,000 and social investments up to £500,000.
  • The Trustee Board takes decisions on grants and awards of over £250,000 and social investments over £500,000.

TASK Fund: Trustee Areas of Specialist Knowledge

Each Trustee at Esmée has an annual TASK budget of £90,000 to be used for donations within the charitable purposes of the Foundation at the individual Trustee’s discretion. Learn more about the TASK Fund.

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Annual reports

See our latest annual report to see the Trustees report. It also includes the current membership of each committee.

Find out more