Page 5 · Independent Oversight

Ethics & Safety Board

An intention we are building toward, an independent body to review serious grievances and hold Heart iQ accountable. This page describes the direction; the Board itself is not yet in place.

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Current status: an intention, not yet a body

An Ethics & Safety Board does not currently exist. This page describes the kind of independent oversight we are moving toward over time. Today, concerns are reviewed by Heart iQ leadership under the Grievance Process. The direction of travel is what you see below.

Why an Independent Board

Self-policing has obvious limits. An organisation investigating its own senior people, by itself, is an organisation that eventually gets caught out. The Heart iQ Ethics & Safety Board exists to close that gap: to hold the serious end of the grievance process in hands that are not our own, and whose findings we are bound to accept.

The Board is convened as a standing body, meets on a regular cadence, and has standing authority to review policy and practice even when no specific grievance is active. Its core function is oversight, not cheerleading.

Composition

The Board will comprise between five and seven members. At the time of formation, the ratio is set so that a majority of members have no prior commercial, student, or personal relationship with Heart iQ Network LLC or Christian Pankhurst. Members serve three-year staggered terms with a two-term cap.

We are specifically seeking members who bring:

Clinical background in trauma-informed practice, psychotherapy, or somatic work
Safeguarding or complaints experience in regulated professional settings
Legal or ethics expertise relevant to adult educational and retreat contexts
Lived experience of participating in, or raising concerns about, experiential programs
Perspectives beyond the dominant demographic of our current participant base

At least one seat is reserved for a former participant or community member who has experienced a grievance process, ours or elsewhere, first-hand.

What the Board Does

Reviews escalated grievances

Any grievance involving alleged sexual misconduct, significant safeguarding failures, coercion, financial impropriety, or a pattern of concern is referred to the Board. The Board reviews evidence, may hear from the parties, and issues written findings with recommendations.

Recommends remedy, which Heart iQ is bound to enact

Board recommendations (including suspension, termination of contract, restrictions on role, required supervision, financial remedy, or policy change) are binding on Heart iQ leadership. Where Heart iQ declines to enact a recommendation, that refusal and its reasoning are published.

Audits policy and practice

On an annual cadence the Board reviews the Facilitator Code of Conduct, Participant Agreements, the Grievance Process itself, and the aggregate pattern of reports received. Policy updates come back to the organisation for revision.

Publishes an annual transparency note

Each year the Board publishes a summary of the number and nature of reports received, how they were resolved, and any policy updates. Individual cases are never identified.

Receives direct communication

Reports may be sent directly to the Board, bypassing Heart iQ leadership, where the reporter feels this is necessary. A dedicated email address is established on Board formation.

How Independence Is Protected

Board members are paid an independent honorarium per sitting, funded from a ring-fenced account and not contingent on findings or renewals.
The Board chair is elected by Board members, not appointed by Heart iQ leadership.
Removal of a Board member requires a two-thirds vote of the Board itself, with an appeal pathway for the removed member; leadership cannot unilaterally dismiss a member.
Board records are held independently by the chair, with a legal deposit for anything the Board designates as significant historical record.
A conflict-of-interest register is maintained and published in the annual transparency note.

While the Board Is Forming

Until the inaugural Board is seated, oversight of serious grievances is held by:

Heart iQ leadership, under the Grievance Process, with every report read by a named person
Existing supervisors and accrediting relationships of the facilitators concerned (see Supervision & Accreditation)
An interim external ethics advisor retained on consultancy basis for matters requiring independent review; contact details available on request

Interested in serving on the Board?

We welcome expressions of interest from practitioners, ethicists, safeguarding specialists, and community members with relevant experience. Selection is by nomination and independent interview.

Write to connect@heartiq.org