GuideStar UK and Civil Society Systems Board's joint statement on merger
The boards of two UK charities, GuideStar UK and Civil Society Systems are pleased to announce their merger to form GuideStar International.
The merger marks the beginning of an exciting period for the new organization and for the Guidestar movement. It combines GuideStar UK's advanced technological and charity reporting systems and Civil Society Systems' global GuideStar development programme. GuideStar International will now provide these advanced technologies and support capabilities to national GuideStars throughout the world. The merger will also enable the most effective use of charitable resources by combining the organisations' similar activities into one efficient operation.
GuideStar International will continue to operate and relentlessly improve the highly successful free UK website at guidestar.org.uk. As more and more users rely on Guidestar's web service, it is important to make sure it stays responsive to the needs of stakeholders in the UK's third sector. To help achieve this, Guidestar International has also established a new Advisory Council, chaired by Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive of NCVO, which will ensure GuideStar UK's progress in meeting the needs of the UK's citizens and institutions for information about the voluntary sector, in promoting better charity-reporting and in enabling more confident, generous and pro-active philanthropy.
The boards also welcome the capital investment generated by the merger, which will allow GuideStar International to establish a distinct, Community Interest Company called GuideStar Data Services (GDS). This social enterprise will respond to demand for value-added charities' information services by institutional audiences.
CSS trustee Hilary Browne-Wilkinson, a founder of GuideStar UK as well as founder of the London-based Institute for Philanthropy, said, "This union establishes a resourceful and cohesive initiative to bring the benefits of informed philanthropy and non-profit practice to the UK and the world. I see it as a fitting and exciting evolution of the work we began in London exactly five years ago.
GuideStar International Trustees
Buzz Schmidt
Buzz is the founder/president of London-based GuideStar International (GSI). He founded GuideStar in the US in 1994 and led it for 8 years. In 2003, he co-founded GuideStar UK. Memberships include the Boards of the F.B. Heron Foundation and Institute for Philanthropy.
Hilary Browne-Wilkinson
Hilary trained as a lawyer and practised as a solicitor in London with two law firms - Charles Russell and Allen & Overy. After retiring, she became the first director of the Institute for Philanthropy which she had helped to set up. One of the objectives of the Institute was to identify ways to increase philanthropy. Independent, accurate information for the sector was seen as a vital need and the Institute helped to incubate GuideStar in the UK
Mathew Cherian
Mathew is Chief Executive of Help Age India. He has held prominent positions in international development agencies and is founder of CAF India, the Association of Third Sector Researchers in India; Resource Mobilisation Network in India; Campaign for Human Rights (Dalits and Tribals) and Credibility Alliance. Mathew is also on the Advisory Committee for GuideStar India.
William M. Dietel
Bill is the chair of the GSI board. He has combined careers in educational, philanthropic and nonprofit sector leadership spanning more than 40 years. From 1961 to 1970 he was Principal of the Emma Willard School in Troy, New York. In 1970 he joined Rockefeller Brothers Fund and served as its President from 1975 to 1987. He played an instrumental role in the formation of both GuideStar in the U.S. and the U.K.
Luc Tayart de Borms
Luc has been Managing Director of the King Baudouin Foundation since 1996. The King Baudouin Foundation supports projects and citizens that promote justice, democracy and respect for diversity. It pursues a number of operating and grant-making programs to these ends in Belgium, Europe and across the Atlantic.
Dr. Virginia Hodgkinson
Virginia is a Georgetown University professor and leading non profit sector researcher. She is also a board member of GuideStar in the United States and played a criticial role in the development of the U.S. service.
Dr. Diana Wells
Diana is co-president of Ashoka, Innovators for the Public, an international association of the world's leading social entrepreneurs, established to create a global competitive citizen sector by sourcing and supporting system-changing solutions to the world's most urgent problems.
Brian Smouha
Brian was the founding and sole chair of GuideStar UK. Brian is a former partner at Deloittes specialising in auditing and advising financial institutions, governments and central banks. Currently he is Deputy Chairman of Dawnay, Day International Ltd. Brian is also a Director of British Maritime Technology and is a trustee of the Bulldog Trust and the Institute for Philanthropy.
Martin Thomas
Martin was a board member of GuideStar UK. He is non-executive Chairman of Lancashire Holdings Limited and a trustee of several other charities. A solicitor for 16 years, he has worked as a senior official of the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, and on the staff of the European Commission.
Stuart Etherington
Stuart Etherington was appointed Chief Executive of NCVO in 1994. NCVO is a membership organisation that represents the interests of charities and voluntary bodies. Previously he was Chief Executive of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, a major UK charity. Stuart is a trustee of Business in the Community, the Chair of the BBC Appeals Advisory Committee and a member of the Community and Social Affairs Committee of Barclays Bank.
His recent Government appointments include the Treasury's Standing Committee on Euro Preparations and the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit. He has also served on the Cabinet Office Performance and Innovation Unit's Advisory Board on the Voluntary Sector and HM Treasury's Cross Cutting Review on the role of the Voluntary Sector.
GuideStar UK Advisory Committee
GuideStar UK's Advisory Committee will ensure that GuideStar UK continues to respond to the evolving information needs of its stakeholders.
The Advisory Committee will be led by Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive of The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO). The full membership of the new Advisory Committee will be announced shortly.