The MemberWise Network is unique as being the only Network led by association and membership professionals. A core part of our team are the MemberWise Ambassadors; a group of practising membership professionals specialising in a specific area that we consider core and crucial to the world of membership such as engagement, recruitment and value.
In recent years, we have branched out into complementary areas such as governance, leadership, AI, communications and PR, and people/volunteer management in order to show how the membership role requires broader business insight and experience.
We are now pleased to announce that we have appointed a new Ambassador in the area of Governance: Alex Taylor, Head of Strategic Engagement at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (The IET).
Let’s get to know Alex (and the high profile membership body she currently works for) who’ll be championing this crucial/developing area of activity…
About The IET…
The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is one of the world’s largest engineering institutions with membership of more than 156,000 engineering and technology professionals in 148 different countries. Our charitable purpose is to ‘promote the general advancement of science, engineering and technology and to facilitate the exchange of information and ideas on these subjects’. We do this by working with industry, academia, individual practitioners, and society in general. We drive professionalism, standards and ethics through activities like professional registration and chartership; We facilitate learning and knowledge sharing via our books, courses, and communities; We seek to be a trusted advisor to government and policymakers offering independent advice relating to engineering and technology; We offer research solutions as a learned society through our journals and analytic databases; We inspire children and young people to embark on exciting careers in engineering.
About Alex’s role/team…
My team consists of 34 people, based in UK, India and Hong Kong, but we support our members located all around the world. We sit within the IET’s Governance and External Engagement area.
About Alex’s responsibilities…
In my current role I have a diverse portfolio of responsibilities, but all focused on empowering our members to help us achieve our strategic goals in ways that motivate them. This could be through one of our communities of members around the world who are grouped by their location or their area of technical specialism, but all are united by their passion for engineering technology and driven to share that knowledge through programmes of activities designed to form new networks. I also lead the Policy team which is supported by a community of expert members helping raising awareness with UK government about the importance of engineering technology in tackling societal challenges from sustainability and climate change to emerging technologies. It is the members’ expertise that provides the credible evidence base that makes us a trusted advisor able to influence public policy.
Throughout the work of each area of my team we are focused on improving the experience of our members who choose to volunteer their time and expertise to help us. We put their needs at the heart of what we do, and ensure that they are involved and that their voice is amplified throughout the work of the IET.
All our activities where members volunteer their time are supported by governance from other members. Having peer-to-peer support, understanding, and oversight from other members who have first-hand experienced is incredibly powerful. It also provides a strong experiential pipeline of talented members who often go on to govern the Institution via our Council and Trustees. Providing inclusive and accessible pathways for our members to help us govern and guide our work is essential, I am also working to ensure that our talent bank of empowered members is as diverse as we aspire our membership to be.
Alex’s Experience within the Membership/Association Sector…
I have been at the IET for 16 years. Throughout that time, I have had several different roles and been asked to help them tackle a variety of challenges, always with member empowerment as the golden thread running through everything. My roles at the IET have also meant I’ve been lucky enough to work closely with peers from other professional engineering institutions too – we try to share our best practice and experiences where we can, and I’m always interested to understand the member perspective from as many different angles and circumstances as I can.
Alex’s Recent Achievements…
In 2023 my team achievements included:
• 27% increase in Young Engineer Ambassadors – our community of early career members helping advocate the benefits of membership and volunteering to their peers.
• 3,500 empowered members actively volunteering their time to support the vision, mission and goals of the IET.
• 88% of our empowered members understand how their work is contributing to the overarching strategy, an increase of 17% year on year
• Member audiences in over 70 different countries engaged through our community activities, delivering nearly 1k events.
• Generated 2,500 membership leads through our community activities.
• Strengthened the governance for our policy and insight activity by creating a new strategic oversight committee, two policy ‘centres’ focused on our strategic themes of sustainability and digital futures, underpinned by a community of experts drawn from across the IET membership.
We asked Alex how she ‘Got into Membership’…
I got into membership by accident! I interviewed with the IET for practice as I was starting a job search, I had no idea about the uniqueness of working with a membership organisation. 16 years later I have not regretted any of it. Working with members means no two days are the same, it is wonderfully challenging and hugely rewarding, and I have met amazing people from all over the world.
Here’s how Alex about here recent involvement with the network…
I feel foolish saying that I’m only recently appreciating how diverse the MemberWise network is. I’ve been a consumer in the past – attending events, receiving news, but hadn’t appreciated the resources available in the hub, or the online community. I’m really hoping I can help people explore the breadth of offering far quicker than I did and be more proactive in my involvement!
Alex’s Current Goals and Challenges…
In the IET as a whole we are focused on improving our member value proposition. Within my area we are intent on supporting that effort by providing more opportunities for members to volunteer with us in ways that develop their skills and feed their ambition. We want to improve experiences by providing flexible opportunities that are inclusive and accessible to all members. One of the most exciting pieces of work we’re undertaking is a review of our governance structure and I’m committed to ensuring we have a multiplicity of perspectives and voices to help lead us.
How Alex will champion Governance within the Network…
Good governance is essential for membership organisations to thrive. I want to dispel any stuffiness and demonstrate that governance can be dynamic, diverse, and an exceptional opportunity for members to hone their leadership skills and help secure exciting futures for their organisations.
We asked Alex if she had one recommendation to someone ‘coming into membership’ what would it be?
Listen to your members, don’t make assumptions about what you think they want. Build in as many opportunities to engage with them as possible – it will never be wasted. Your members are your super power.
Finally, we asked Alex something about herself that not many people know…
Don’t tell anyone, but I really love spoons – I realise this makes me sound a bit eccentric, but when you find a good spoon, with a well-balanced handle and the perfect bowl it is a thing of beauty.
You can find out more about our growing cohort of MemberWise Ambassadors here…
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