Rodoula Demetriades

Member Association: Volt Cyprus

Gender: Female

What strategy would you implement to recruit and retain highly specialised volunteers for the functional teams, for example in communications, policy, or data, over a full Board term? 

Volt Europa already attracts many highly skilled volunteers. Therefore, I choose to focus on  retention through effective use of expertise.
1. Stronger integration with decision-making. Highly specialised volunteers remain more engaged when their work has visible impact. Functional teams should have regular touchpoints with the European Board and political leadership, ensuring that policy analysis, communications expertise, and data insights directly shape Volt’s strategy and campaigns.
2. Recognition and progression. Volt should build clearer pathways from volunteer expertise to leadership, allowing contributors to grow into team leads, campaign coordinators, or advisory roles. Public recognition of contributions and opportunities to present work at European events can further strengthen motivation.Ro
By improving influence, and progression, Volt can better retain its highly specialised volunteers and maintain strong functional teams.

Non-executive Board members must both support and challenge the executives. Describe a situation where you would publicly back the Co-Presidents, and one where you would publicly dissent. What guides your choice?

As a Non-Executive Board member of Volt Europa, my responsibility is to ensure both effective oversight and collective leadership. Supporting and challenging the Co-Presidents are not opposing roles—they are both essential to good governance.
In practice, most key decisions, including strategy and budget, are approved collectively by the Board. This makes the Boardroom the primary space for scrutiny and constructive challenge. If the Co-Presidents propose a strategic direction or organisational change that raises concerns, I would actively request clarification and kindle a new discussion. Robust internal debate strengthens the quality and legitimacy of outcomes.
Once the Board has agreed on a strategy, however, it becomes a shared responsibility. At that point, I would publicly support the Co-Presidents and the decision, even if the internal discussion had been difficult or I had argued for a different approach. Public unity is important to signal stability, coherence, and trust to members, volunteers, and external partners.
Public dissent should remain exceptional. It would only be justified if agreed governance processes are bypassed, if implementation significantly deviates from what the Board approved, or if fundamental principles such as transparency, internal democracy, or fairness between chapters are at risk. In such cases, speaking out is necessary to protect institutional integrity.
My guiding principle is: rigorous challenge internally, unity externally.

What would you do if you believed the Board was making a decision that conflicted with Volt Europa's core values?

This is an unrealistic scenario since the board is democratically elected by the GA. In addition, for the Board to arrive at a conflicted decision a majority of 5 board members would have to agree. This is unlikely.
Issues may arise when decisions are interpreted or implemented away from the original intent. If I believed a decision or its implementation risks conflicting with Volt’s values, I would first seek clarification within the Board: to ensure that my understanding of the decision is accurate and aligned with the collective intent. I would check whether the perceived conflict stems from wording, scope, or subsequent operational interpretation rather than from the decision itself. If ambiguity remains, I would advocate for refining the decision or issuing clearer guidance to those responsible for implementation. My focus would be on ensuring fidelity between Board intent and execution, rather than assuming a breach of principles.
If a genuine, unresolved misalignment with Volt’s values persisted after full clarification would I escalate the concern through formal channels, ensuring transparency and accountability. My guiding principle would be to protect both the integrity of decisions and trust in Volt’s governance.