Trustees are chosen to become members of the board on a range of criteria. They need to believe in and share ActionAid's values, vision, mission and strategy, and should be able to work at governance or policy-making level. They should have demonstrated ability to function effectively as part of a diverse international group, and have specific functional expertise of relevance to the organisation, such as poverty, human rights, governance, gender, media and communications, fundraising, finance management, IT or government.

The key responsibilities of the Board are:

• to ensure the charity's activities are within the law and charitable objects  
• to approve strategies and policies to ensure that the charity's properties, assets and other resources are protected and managed effectively  
• ensuring that ActionAid is managed effectively  
• support the management team in achieving ActionAid's mission  
• approving strategic and policy documents  
• to prepare and submit accounts, reports, audits and annual returns which all account for the way in which the govern ActionAid and for the resources they have been given  
• to act as specialist volunteers advising staff and the rest of the Board on their areas of expertise