Ampleforth Abbey Trust makes Director of Governance appointment

Jenny Share joins Ampleforth Abbey Trust from Leeds Beckett University, where she held the position of Secretary and Registrar.

In her new role she will be responsible for maintaining high standards of governance at the Trust. She will hold a strategic position at the heart of operations within the organisation and will act as a point of communication between the different trustee boards and Ampleforth’s executive management.

Ampleforth Abbey Trust is based around a Benedictine monastic community which has made its home at Ampleforth since 1802. As well as the prayer and community life of the monks, the monastery is responsible for a number of religious and educational works, including Ampleforth College and its feeder school St Martin’s Ampleforth, a thriving Hospitality and Pastoral Services Department based at Ampleforth, a number of parishes in Lancashire and beyond, and St Benet’s Hall, Oxford. These are run in full partnership with lay people, who collaborate with the monks at every level of the Trust.

Society conducted a wide-ranging search that spanned the education sector (including schools, FE colleges and universities), the private sector, the not-for-profit sector, and faith-based organisations. Candidates not only needed to demonstrate close familiarity with the effective governance of complex charities/trusts, but also the ability to engage successfully a wide range of people and stakeholders.

Jenny, who will take up post in April, said “I am very excited soon to be joining colleagues at Ampleforth and look forward to bringing my experience of governance to this new role in such a beautiful and unique setting”.

Jenny was born in the West Midlands and studied in Leeds, first at the University of Leeds for a BSc in Maths and Music, then at Leeds Polytechnic for a postgraduate qualification in Information Administration. She has almost 30 years of experience of leadership and governance in the Not-For-Profit sector, mainly in Higher Education Institutions, from both Russell Group and post-1992 Universities. Most recently, Jenny was Secretary and Registrar at Leeds Beckett University, a large and complex organisation with a turnover of £220 million, around 30,000 students, 3,000 staff and three subsidiary companies.