The Church of England’s chief finance officer Ian Theodoreson will stand for election as chair of the CFDG in September and is believed to be the favoured candidate among the board.
Theodoreson has been co-opted as a trustee as a short-term replacement for Charles Nall, who has relinquished his position early.
Members will be asked to vote in favour of him joining the board for a full term starting in September, and should that happen, his fellow trustees are likely to appoint him as chair.
CFDG chief executive Caron Bradshaw said: “Ian has been co-opted to the board, and hopefully our members will agree with us and name him as a trustee.”
However, she emphasised that the appointment was not a foregone conclusion, and that members would have the opportunity to nominate candidates for available trustee roles in the next few weeks before voting on who takes the posts.
Theodoreson, a founder member of the CFDG, joined the Church of England in February 2009, having previously been UK director of corporate resources at Barnardo's for 14 years and finance director at Save the Children for seven years.
He could not be contacted at the time of going to press.
Nall departs early
Nall had not had full-time involvement with the charity sector since August last year, when he left his role as finance director of the Children’s Society to join Moorfields Eye Hospital, although the latter role does include responsiblity for Moorfield Lions Korle Bu Trust.
Roger Chester has now taken over the chair role on an interim basis following Nall's early departure.
He takes over until 6 September, with Gill Gibb stepping up to the deputy role.
Chester confirmed the news via his Twitter account, saying: “It seems like I am chair of the Charity Finance Directors' Group for a couple of months. No pay. No perks. Lots of fun and lovely people.”
He later told civilsociety.co.uk: “Charles has resigned in the best interests of the organisation, to smooth the path to the next chair.
“I shall keep things moving on and stick to the strategy, although I’m sure something will happen before then that none of us are anticipating.”
Tully named in policy role
Meanwhile, Jane Tully has been named as CFDG’s new head of policy and public affairs, starting in the role today.
Tully was formerly senior policy adviser at the Charity Commission, and led the review of the CC14 guidance on investment.
She has also worked in public affairs, policy and research roles for the NSPCC, local government and European Commission.
She said: “After working at the charity regulator which shapes policy, it will be an interesting new challenge to work for a charity that helps influence policy.
“Having been involved with CFDG during my work at the Charity Commission I know about the important work they do and I’m very excited to become part of this.”
