Gossica Anichebe
Social Housing Resident, Peabody and Group Member, G15 Residents Group, Peabody and G15 Residents Group

Gossica is a social housing resident who brings extensive lived experience to her role as an active member of the G15 Resident User Group. She works closely with residents across housing associations to strengthen engagement, share best practice, address common challenges and advocate for national policy changes that improve outcomes for residents. She has five years’ experience as a Non-Executive Director on Peabody’s Resident Experience Committee, where she champions residents’ voices at Executive and Board level. In this role, she helps ensure that feedback from residents’ shapes decision-making and drives meaningful policy and service improvements. Gossica also serves as a Trustee on the Peabody Communities Foundation Board, supporting initiatives that build stronger communities, with a particular focus on care in the community and improving outcomes for people, including those with disabilities. Alongside her housing work, Gossica has over 18 years’ experience in local government across communications, engagement, project management, complaints, policy, performance and service improvement. This breadth of experience enables her to navigate complex systems, influence decision-makers and deliver impactful change. She is passionate about housing and committed to promoting organisational cultures that reflect residents’ priorities, helping to deliver better services and outcomes for communities.

Ryan Barclay
Vice Chair and Housing Options Broker, CIH Futures and Housing Options Scotland

Ryan Barclay is a housing options broker at Housing Options Scotland, where his role involves providing housing options information and advice to older adults, disabled people, and members of the armed forces community across Scotland. He started his career as an equality, diversity and inclusion intern at Clyde Valley Housing Association in 2023. He then began his current role at Housing Options Scotland as a Housing Options Broker in April 2023. Since October 2025, he has been Vice Chair of the UK CIH Futures Board. CIH Futures advises the Chartered Institute of Housing on how to create a more diverse and inclusive housing sector and promote housing as a career of choice. In 2025, he was a finalist in the HQN Housing Next Generation 2025 Awards and was named a Top 30 Housing Champion by Housing Today. He is a chartered member of CIH, having graduated with an MSc in Housing Studies from the University of Stirling in 2022.

Dr Eve Blezard
Policy Lead, Chartered Institute of Housing

Nic Bliss
Campaign Director, Stop Social Housing Stigma Campaign

Nic Bliss is the Campaign Director for the Stop Social Housing Stigma campaign and the author of SSHS's Tackling Stigma Journey Planner, recently launched in Parliament as a flexible tool to help tenants and landlords work together to tackle stigma. As a former social housing tenant himself for thirty years and as the former Head of Policy for the Confederation of Co-operative Housing, Nic has worked with numerous tenants and landlords on various tenant involvement programmes.

Francis Burrows
Executive Director of Customer and Operational Services, Wandle

Francis Burrows leads all operational housing and property teams at Wandle, operating across South London. Additionally, Francis serves as Chair at Pioneer Group in Birmingham, bringing together expertise in operational and strategic leadership in housing.

Ashley Campbell
Policy and Practice Manager, Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland

Paul Cartwright
National Specification Manager, Aico

Paul has worked in various roles within Aico since joining the company in 2001, including Relationship Manager, National Account Manager, Head of National Accounts, and currently National Specification Manager. Paul’s role forms part of the sales and specification team within the company, supporting and mentoring the regional specification managers at national level, whilst maintaining and building relationships with our national clients and contractors. Paul represents Aico on the FIA FIRESA Council, which provides vital communication between the Fire and Rescue Services and their suppliers, as well as liaising directly with the government and other external bodies.

Caritas Charles
Head of Policy, TPAS England

Caritas has worked in the sector for 24 years in numerous roles at a frontline and strategic level . In his current role he works with Tpas members in informing on and helping to shape national housing policy and ensuring that people who live in social housing have their voices heard. A scrutiny geek he also facilitates the National Scrutiny Club. Keen to bring new ideas in engagement to the sector Caritas has written a guide to using deliberative engagement methods and is currently looking at global engagement best practice.

Richard Clark
Head of Neighbourhoods and Communities, Bromford Flagship

Richard has worked in housing for 19 years. Richard has held Community Safety based roles due to his background in the police. In 2011 he completed one of the final CIH Professional Housing Studies degrees at Birmingham City University, which gave him the opportunity to learn more about the sector and enter into housing management leadership roles outside of anti-social behaviour and community safety. After several management roles across the Midlands and London, in 2022 Richard joined Bournville Village Trust as Head of Housing and Neighbourhoods. BVT is an organisation steeped in history and matches Richard’s values of community building and creating thriving and sustainable communities for our residents to live.

Ryan Chivers
Housing Officer, Ipswich Council

Ryan is a dedicated housing officer with a background in community safety and engagement. He is passionate about building community cohesion, empowering tenant voices, and supporting community-led solutions that create safer, stronger, and more thriving neighbourhoods.

Cerys Clark
Policy and Public Affairs Manager, CIH Cymru

James Clark
Director of Housing and Vice-Chair, Sheffield City Council and CIH Policy Advisory Committee

Nicki Clarke
Head of Service – Housing and Criminal Justice, Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse

Nicki works with local authorities and housing providers to implement the Whole Housing Approach and achieve DAHA accreditation to ensure that domestic abuse survivors can access safe and secure housing. Nicki also sits on the National Domestic Abuse and Housing Policy and Practice Group, working with partners across the sector to influence national policy. Prior to this Nicki spent more than 13 years working frontline in various roles within social housing and as the Domestic Abuse lead for Westward Housing she successfully guided them to achieve DAHA Accreditation in 2022. As a survivor of domestic abuse Nicki now uses her personal knowledge and understanding to raise awareness of domestic abuse and ensure that the housing response for survivors is always informed by the survivor voice.

Andrew Cooper
Head of Business Development and Fundraising, Sovereign Network Group

Evie Copeland
Vice president CIH and Director of Customer and Communities,, Berwickshire Housing Association

Jonathan Cox
Chief Data Officer, Housemark

Jonathan has over 15 years of experience providing data analysis and business support to the social housing sector. He previously worked for two large London Housing Associations before joining the Housemark data team in 2012. Jonathan has delivered a range of data consultancy projects, and recent clients include Catalyst Group, Trivallis, Solihull Community Housing, Stonewater Group and Aster Group.

Sarah Davis
Policy Manager, Chartered Institute of Housing

Stewart Davison
Managing Director and Founder, Elehan Consulting and Proptech Peer Group

Stewart has spent nearly three decades helping the social housing sector make sense of technology, without losing sight of the people it's supposed to serve. As principal of Elehan Consulting and founder of the PropTech Peer Group, he works as a strategic adviser to Tech businesses navigating the social housing market. Alongside his consultancy work, Stewart has served as a Non-Executive Director of housing organisations and is currently Vice Chair of Elim Housing Group, bringing a board-level perspective to the challenges facing the sector. He's a familiar face at sector events, a sceptic of AI hype, and a firm believer that the best technology makes the humans around it better at their jobs.

Kate Dodsworth
Deputy Chief Executive, Regulator of Social Housing

Kate started her career in housing 30 years ago in homelessness, working with rough sleepers in Birmingham and later managing homeless hostels in Brighton. After completing a Masters degree in Housing, she worked at the National Housing Federation for 10 years; latterly as Assistant Director covering London, the South East and East of England. She was Executive Director of People and Communications at Amicus Horizon and, post-merger, as Optivo. Kate was Chief Executive of Gateway Housing Association for three years until starting as Director of Consumer Regulation at the Regulator for Social Housing in July 2021. In 2023, she was appointed Chief of Regulatory Engagement at RSH, and in 2026 her role was re-titled Deputy Chief Executive.

Claire Donovan
Director, End Furniture Poverty

Claire Donovan is the Director of End Furniture Poverty, a campaigning charity which raises awareness of the reality of living without essential furniture, appliances and furnishings; carries out research to highlight its consequences and impact; and develops solutions to ensure that everyone has access to the essential furniture items that they need to lead a secure life. Focuses include furniture provision through local authority crisis support and furnished tenancies in social housing, including extensive support for landlords. Claire is a member of the MHCLG Flooring Working Group and works closely with the DWP on the implementation and monitoring of the new Crisis and Resilience Fund.

Craig Doyle
Technical Officer, West of Scotland Housing

Ashley Dunne
Relationship Manager for Merseyside, Aico

Aileen Evans
Vice Chair, Governing Board and Project Director, CIH and Church Housing Association

Aileen Evans joined the Combined Board in 2025 and Chair of the Customer Experience Committee from July 2025. She brings extensive experience in the housing, education and charity sectors, with more than 30 years at executive level. She was President of the Chartered Institute of Housing from 2019 to 2021 and is now Vice-Chair of its Board, where she also chairs the Governance, Ethics and Remuneration Committee. Following leadership roles at Leicester Housing Association, South Yorkshire Housing Association and Aragon Housing Association, Aileen was most recently Group Chief Executive of Grand Union Housing, leading a 400-strong team to deliver exceptional customer service, build new homes and provide support services. She has particular expertise in organisational transformation and employee engagement, and is a skilled speaker, chair, presenter and facilitator.

Dave Farquharson
Director of Partnerships, Lightning Reach

Dave is Director of Partnerships at Lightning Reach, the financial support infrastructure organisations rely on to deliver help faster, reduce admin, and increase impact at scale. He works with housing providers, local authorities, utilities, charities, banks and advice services to modernise how financial support reaches people in need. With a background spanning Beam, Sky and Optus, Dave has spent over a decade building partnerships that scale social impact through technology. His work has helped Lightning Reach support more than 400,000 people and unlock over £30 million in funding for individuals facing financial hardship.

Ron Fowler
Resident Representative Team, Red Kite Housing

Mary Gibbons
Chief Operating Officer, Abri

Mary is responsible for the strategic leadership of customer experience and all landlord services, including housing, repairs and maintenance, complaints, tenancy sustainment and community investment. Mary joined Abri after leading the successful integration of Octavia, and formation of Abri’s new London region, following the partnership completion in December 2024. Under her leadership, Octavia saw stabilisation of services, strengthened controls and processes, and improvements in customer services. Before joining Abri, Mary held senior leadership roles across the housing sector and was Chief Executive of both Hundred Houses Society and CHP. She was also Chief Executive of Moat Homes, a landlord of approximately 23,000‑homes where she led large scale operational and customer transformation. Mary is deeply committed to the positive impact that high‑quality, safe and affordable homes have on people’s life chances. She brings extensive strategic and operational experience to her role and is passionate about embedding a customer‑first culture and delivering consistently high standards of service.

Karen Gregory
System Training Partner, Aster Group and Social Housing Resident

Karen Gregory has been a resident in social housing for the last 12 years and, before that, lived in military housing. She has worked in social housing for Aster Group since 2015. Since working for Aster Group and living in social housing, she has become more involved as a tenant and colleague. She is a member of the Social Housing Residents Panel for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and a Board Member at Transform Housing and Support.

Chris Grose
Founder, Chris Grose Consultancy

Chris has had an interesting career in housing, having started in customer services at the age of 16 through to running a successful training and consultancy company at the age of 43. In those years, he held senior positions at local and national levels, working as a national advisor for the Chartered Institute of Housing and establishing an Advisory Service for a leading national law firm. He assisted and advised central government in developing national legislation, given evidence at the House of Commons and advised peers in the Lords. Chris is a regular speaker at regional and national conferences and events and was the Chair of the board at Ocean Housing.

Ian Hancock
Executive Director of Property, Cobalt

John Hannigan
Chief Executive and Chair, Circle Voluntary Housing Association and CIH Governing Board

John is CEO of Circle and a leading voice in social and affordable housing in Ireland. Since 2017, he has overseen Circle’s growth, securing major funding deals, expanding housing delivery, and building strategic partnerships. With 30+ years’ experience in housing, f finance, and non-profits, he has held senior roles at Respond, Sunbeam House, and top firms including KPMG and EY. In the UK, he held executive roles with large social landlords. John is also Chair of the Chartered Institute of Housing’s Governing Board, shaping policy across Ireland and the UK.

Paul Hassan
Partnership Manager, West of England, Ashley Community Housing (ACH)

Paul is a social entrepreneur with over 30 years’ experience in business, community, and economic development. He works as Partnership Manager for ACH - with a focus on developing long-term housing sustainability and successful integration for refugee and migrant communities across the west of England and the west Midlands. He has worked across a diverse range of social impact organisations from director of award winning Ujima Radio cic in St Pauls, Bristol to Southwest Development Manager for Locality. He recently served as a board member for Brighter Places Housing Association and currently sits on Bristol City Councils strategic Homes and Communities Board as well as holding the Chair role at Eastside Community Trust, located in inner city Bristol.

Julie Haydon
President, CIH and Director of Corporate Services, Wolverhampton Homes

Jennifer Hawthorne OBE
Director of Housing Services, Northern Ireland Housing Executive

Since joining the Housing Executive in 1978, Jennifer has worked in a number of roles, most recently as Regional Manager for Belfast. She has undertaken a variety of roles throughout her career, including Assistant Manager for the Shankill area and Public Relations Manager for Belfast. She also headed up the Community Cohesion division for ten years, with major accomplishments including the development of shared housing and peace wall barrier removal programmes. In 2015 Jennifer was awarded an OBE for her work with the transformation of post conflict communities.

Sophie Hayward
Customer Director, Portus Supported Housing

Sophie is a housing professional with 13 years’ experience spanning both supported housing and general needs.

She holds CIH Level 4 and Level 5 qualifications, as well as a CMI Level 7 Award in Strategic Management and Leadership Practice. Throughout her career, Sophie has specialised in delivering high-quality customer services, strengthening operational performance and ensuring customers receive the support they need to thrive. She is passionate about continuous improvement and building positive relationships with partners, colleagues and customers alike.

Outside of work, Sophie enjoys travelling, reading, eating out, attending gigs and exploring the great outdoors on walks with her partner and her dog, Jarvis.

Kate Henderson
Chief Executive, National Housing Federation

Kate is Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation (NHF), the voice of housing associations in England. Kate is passionate about tackling the housing crisis, inequality and climate change. She is a member of several government panels including the Rough Sleeping Advisory Panel and the Social Housing White Paper Expert Challenge Panel. Kate become a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2021. Prior to joining the NHF in 2018, Kate was Chief Executive of the Town and Country Planning Association.

Dr Kelly Henderson
Founder and Managing Director, Addressing Domestic Abuse

Kelly is a highly respected housing and domestic abuse specialist with extensive experience across the housing sector, public policy and multiagency partnership work. Her career spans senior roles including Interim Director of Housing for a London based organisation, alongside earlier experience in asylum services, local authority Supporting People Programmes, policy development and applied research. She holds a Master’s in Housing Policy and a PhD from Durham University, where her research examined the pivotal role of housing within a coordinated community response to domestic abuse. A sector innovator, Kelly cofounded the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA), leading national accreditation work and supporting housing providers to strengthen their organisational responses to domestic abuse. She has partnered with a major national property repairs organisation to embed domestic abuse awareness into frontline operative roles and played a key role in developing an industry standard for identifying signs of abuse during repairs visits. Kelly is a qualified Domestic Abuse Related Death Review Chair, a Non-Executive Director at Believe Housing, leading the Performance and Standards Committee and authored the national domestic abuse toolkit for housing professionals, commissioned by the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations.

Elly Hoult
Deputy Chief Executive, Peabody Trust

Elly is Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive at Peabody Trust responsible for repairs and maintenance, neighbourhood management, tenancy services, customer contact across Peabody's property portfolio providing 109,000 homes to more than 220,000 residents. Elly is the Executive lead for Town and Country Housing the Peabody subsidiary. Elly has over 27 years of experience in the housing sector, working her way up from supported housing officer to executive level roles. Elly was the former President of the Chartered Institute of Housing.

Ed Hughes
Executive Director of Care and Support, ClwdAlyn

Ed joined ClwydAlyn in 2017 having spent eight years working for the Riverside Group in Liverpool, one of the largest Housing Associations in the UK. Having joined ClwydAlyn as Head of Resident Services, Ed was promoted to the role of Executive Director in October 202 0 and now has responsibility for Care & Nursing Homes, Extra Care & Supported Living, Health & Safety, Building Compliance & Affordable Homes. Ed has considerable experience of partnership working across Housing, Health, Local Authority & the Third Sector. Ed has a BSc (Hons) from Cardiff Business School, is a qualified Prince2 practitioner and also has a Level 5 qualification in Health & Social Care management. Ed is a Non-Executive Director for Aura Wales and in his spare time can be found coaching mini rugby at Mold Rugby Club. Ed has lived in North Wales all his life and is passionate about improving housing and support services within the region.

Kai Jackson
Tenant Board Member and Associate, Black Country Housing Group and TPAS

Kai Jackson is the Special Membership Project Lead at Tpas England, where she drives national work to strengthen tenant voice and create more inclusive, representative engagement across social housing. A long-standing social housing tenant herself, Kai brings lived experience together with professional expertise to champion meaningful participation and challenge structures that exclude underrepresented communities. Kai is the author of Is There a Seat at the Table?, a landmark Tpas report exploring the barriers faced by ethnic-minority tenants in engagement and scrutiny. Her work focuses on turning research into action — supporting landlords to redesign engagement models, broaden participation pathways, and embed equity into decision-making. Before joining Tpas, Kai built a career in health and social care, including senior roles supporting people with complex needs. She has also volunteered with organisations focused on rehabilitation, inclusion, and children with SEND, deepening her commitment to social justice and community advocacy. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Psychology and Counselling, accredited by the British Psychological Society. Recognised for her insight, warmth and practical approach, Kai works closely with tenants, councils, housing associations and policymakers. Her mission is simple but powerful: to ensure every resident feels welcomed, heard and genuinely able to shape the services and decisions that affect their lives.

Matt Jarratt
Director, Procure Plus

Elaine Johnson
Director of People, Great Places

Matt Jones
Executive Director, Customers, MSV Housing Group

Matt has worked in the housing sector for nearly 30 years, initially specializing in ASB and community safety before moving into generic housing management. He played a key role in the West Salford stock transfer and held a variety of senior roles at City West Housing Trust, where he worked for 10 years, most recently as Managing Director. Matt joined MSV just before the pandemic and has held the role of Executive Director (Customers) ever since. He has been instrumental in improving key customers services, improving performance, embedding customer voice across all services and played a key role in a recent consumer standards inspection as the Consumer Standards senior lead.

Mica Joseph
Assistant Director of Operations, London and Group Member, Riverside and CIH Futures

Mica is passionate about communication and stakeholder engagement being key factors in delivering great services. A previous panellist at sector conferences, she has progressed through housing roles driven by passion and intrigue - learning from those who’ve led her, as well as from her own experiences, to drive continuous improvement across the sector. Named as a Forty Under Forty by Inside Housing and a Top Thirty Housing Today Champion, she brings strong sector credibility alongside a thoughtful and practical approach to improving services. In her downtime, Mica travels and explores new places as a way to re‑energise and create space to think differently. She is a CIH Futures board member, working alongside other volunteers across the sector to support and shape the future of housing.

Joe Kane-Smith
Associate Director, South West, PPL

Joe is an Associate Director at PPL, where he leads national work with local authorities and partners on housing, homelessness and supported housing reform. He has over 13 years’ experience delivering transformation across local government, social care and the voluntary sector, including previous roles at Crisis and PwC. Joe currently leads PPL’s national supported housing strategic planning work and chairs Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole’s Homelessness Delivery Board.

Mushtaq Khan
Chief Executive, Housing Diversity Network

Mushtaq is Chief Executive of the Housing Diversity Network, helping organisations and people to develop inclusive and thriving businesses. He has worked for a number of housing and regeneration organisations throughout his career, as well as running his own consultancy business. He was previously Director of Commercial Partnerships at the Jigsaw Group as well as Director at Aksa Homes, providing services to mostly south Asian residents. He has also worked at a senior level in local authorities for the over fifteen years, including working for large metropolitan councils such as Oldham, Trafford and Lambeth.

Sem Lee
Founder, OURI Labs

Sem is an urban research consultant and Founder of OURI Labs working at the intersection of housing, urban planning and public health. Sem has worked with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, various local authorities across England, and health innovation agencies to help systematically integrate health into policymaking and practice.

Sam Lister
Policy Manager, Chartered Institute of Housing

Dave Loudon
Founder, Digital Bark

Dave is a well-known consultant and advocate of digital adoption and innovation in social housing. Having worked with over 120 landlords, Dave has extensive experience and is a believer that digital technology can, if done right, make considerable improvements to a landlord’s operations, but also, more importantly the customer experience. Dave was a Director for Corporate Services with a landlord, before founding a number of consultancies and is currently a Partner at Triple Value Impact, a leading public sector consultancy where he has built the sectors first Housing Digital Blueprint and leading the charge for landlords to see technology as a force to realize efficiencies. He is also a board member for Muirhouse HA, a regular columnist for Housing Executive magazine, a regular event host, speaker and judge at many sector awards.

Ellie Marlow
Group Member and Marketing and Communications Officer, CIH Futures England and The Regenda Group

Simon Martin
Community Ambassador Project Officer, Richmond and Wandsworth Council

Catherine Max
Co-chair, Health and Housing Impact Network

Catherine is an independent consultant helping public and voluntary sector organisations improve wellbeing and reduce health inequalities through policy, strategy and action on social and environmental sustainability, place-making and urban design. She is the joint convenor of Future of London’s cross-sector Health and Housing Impact Network and a wellbeing expert member of Brent’s Quality Review Panel. Catherine is regularly invited to speak and write about place and wellbeing for different audiences and blogs on the subject here. She has been a trustee of several health, environmental and arts charities and an NHS non-executive director.

Professor Vikki McCall
Professor of Social Policy, University of Stirling

Vikki is Professor of Social Policy at the University of Stirling, teaching on the MSc/Diploma in Housing Studies. She brings expertise in reflective practice, co-production, and values-led professional development. Vikki leads major UK-wide projects that focus on embedding reflective approaches in housing organisations to tackle systemic challenges, including inequality and stigma. Her work bridges academic insight and frontline practice, championing inclusive and empathetic housing services that 'future-proof' housing.

She has worked in partnership with housing providers, national bodies and community researchers to influence practice and policy. As co-founder of Socialudo, she uses innovative methods, like serious games, to make research and learning more engaging and accessible. Vikki is a member of the Professional Standards Committee for the CIH and is committed to supporting housing practice that is grounded in reflection, empathy, and real-world impact.

John O’Sullivan
Head of Tenant Experience, Respond

Lucy Owen
Communications and Fundraising Manager, Trident Group

Danny Pardoe
Apprenticeships Growth Manager, Birmingham City University

Jaz Pugh
Housing Officer, Barcud

Jaz Pugh is the Housing Officer at Barcud and a member of CIH Futures Cymru. She specialises in managing complex cases, including anti-social behaviour, safeguarding concerns, domestic abuse, addiction, and tenancy sustainment. I’m passionate about frontline housing management, tenant relationships, and improving the sustainability of housing officer roles across Wales.

Jaz's work focuses on supporting communities and advocating for housing services that are proactive, person-centred, and built around meaningful relationships rather than constant crisis management.

Niamh Quinn
Housing Services Co-ordinator, Tuath Housing

Alex Rogers
Head of Partnerships, Tapi Carpets & Floors

Alex specialises in building and scaling partnership-led businesses within the housing, property and retail sectors. As Head of Partnerships at Tapi Carpets & Floors, he works closely with housing providers and contractors across the UK to deliver practical, customer-focused flooring solutions that support better homes and stronger communities. With more than 15 years’ experience in commercial partnerships and business development, Alex has developed a strong track record of creating collaborative solutions that balance operational efficiency, resident experience and long-term value. His work focuses on helping organisations simplify complex service delivery while improving outcomes for customers and frontline teams. Alex is passionate about the role suppliers can play in supporting the wider housing sector and is a regular attendee and contributor at housing and social value events across the UK.

Matthew Scott
Policy Manager, Chartered Institute of Housing

Matthew Scott is policy manager for net zero, sustainability, and climate resilience at the Chartered Institute of Housing. He holds a PhD from Newcastle University, and has written and spoken widely about the implications of climate change and extreme weather for social housing providers in the UK. He is also a regular contributor to the UK Housing Review and continues to work with academic colleagues to develop new research into the links between housing, energy, and climate policy.

Rohini Sharma Joshi
Diversity and Inclusion Consultant and Chair, CIH EDI Board

Rohini Sharma Joshi is a long-standing passionate advocate for equality, diversity, and inclusion. Now an equality consultant and is part -time Diversity and Inclusion Manager at Age Scotland. Rohini has worked in the housing sector for over thirty years and led and managed an award-winning Equality Programme with projects and initiatives which are recognized as examples of Good Practice. Currently she is chair of the CIH EDI board set up in 2025 to promote EDI n the Housing Sector. She participated in many equality advisory committees and operated at a strategic level, engaging regularly and effectively with government representatives and other bodies with a remit on equality and diversity issues. She was awarded the “Robina Goodlad Woman Achievers in Housing Award” in 2012 and “Outstanding Contribution to Scottish Society” by the Scottish Asian Woman Association in 2013.She was recognised for her work in the Queens New Years Honours List and awarded an OBE for promoting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in 2022.

Gareth Sinnet
Income Services Manager, Bournville Village Trust

Gavin Smart
Chief Executive, Chartered Institute of Housing

Prior to becoming CEO Gavin served as both Deputy CEO and, before that, Director of Policy and Practice at the CIH. Before joining CIH Gavin worked at the National Housing Federation (NHF), latterly as Assistant Director for Research and Futures where he led the NHF’s research and analysis function, it’s future facing thinking and it’s policy work on finance and government investment. Gavin joined the NHF from a spell working for the UK civil service commissioning research and analysis into a variety of housing policy areas. He began his career as an academic researcher at the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol.

Dave Smith
Chief Executive, Stepping Stone

Gavin Smith
Housing Services Manager, Fife Council

Gavin is an experienced housing professional with over 30 years of service in the sector. His career in housing began through the Skillseeker programme, and he has since become a respected voice in the field. He currently serves as Service Manager for Housing Access at Fife Council, where he is responsible for homelessness services, housing access, and service commissioning arrangements. Gavin has held various strategic roles across housing policy and service delivery, demonstrating a long-standing commitment to improving housing outcomes in Scotland. He is also the former Chair of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Scotland Board, having previously served as Vice Chair and as a board member since 2019. His role with CIH Scotland reflects his dedication to professional development and sector advocacy. In addition to his role at CIH, Gavin is the former Chair of Ore Valley Housing Association, where he contributed to community-focused housing initiatives.

Peter Smith
Resident Commiteee Chair, ClwdAlyn

Jenny Spoor
Director of Operations, Havebury

Jenny is director of operations for Havebury. She’s executive lead for all landlord services, including asset and housing management, repairs, compliance, customer experience, engagement and complaints. She also has communications, ESG and sustainability within her remit. Jenny chairs the National Housing Federation’s Housing Management and Customer Experience national group, and sits on their Quality of Homes group.

Andy Sutton
Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer, Sero

A chartered architect and past RSAW president, Andy has been delivering low and zero-carbon homes for nearly 30 years. His experience spans leading the design and construction of award-winning schemes, a decade with the BRE (Building Research Establishment), advising government across standards and delivery schemes, co-founding Sero, and leading some of the UK’s biggest Net Zero research projects. He’s also co-chair of the ARC (Association of Retrofit Consultants) and advisory board member for CIH (Chartered Institute of Housing) Cymru.

Ian Swift
Deputy Corporate Director and Director of Housing Operations, Islington Council

Ian is currently the Director of Housing Operations at Islington Council in central London. Ian is responsible for the management of 36,000 Islington Council properties, the management of the largest number of homeless decisions in Lonon for a council, the management of the No Recourse to Public Fund services, and the strategic/performance/tenant empowerment/ improvement services for all housing services. Before joining Islington Council Ian worked at another central London Council (Southwark Council) for eight years. Ian has worked in social housing for the last 40 years and is committed to ensuring Islington Council Domestic Abuse services is seen as the best in England.

Sally Trueman
Resident, Riverside and Member, G15 Resident Group, Riverside and G15 Resident Group

Sally is a Riverside resident of 17 years and a passionate advocate for social housing and the people who live in it. Drawing on her own lived experience, including as a disabled resident, she challenges negative perceptions and works to show the reality of social housing as home to people from all walks of life. Based in the Northeast, Sally understands first-hand how social housing supports people at different stages of their lives. She champions social renting as a positive choice, highlighting its role in providing security, affordability and responsive services. Sally brings strong strategic and governance experience to her work. She sits on the Riverside Homes Committee and is Vice Chair of a small housing association in the Northeast. She has previously served on the Riverside Group Board and the Riverside North Tenants and Residents Federation Executive, helping to ensure resident voice shapes decisions at the highest level. She is also a member of the G15 Residents’ Group, where she works with others to influence housing policy and strengthen the role of residents in national decision making. She contributes to the MHCLG floor covering working group, supporting work to promote dignity for new and existing tenants. Alongside this, Sally is Secretary of Stop Social Housing Stigma and has worked with residents and landlords across the country to develop the SSHS Journey Planner, grounding it in lived experience to tackle stigma in practice. With a background in teaching and a strong commitment to volunteering, she brings insight, compassion and a clear focus on making systems work better for residents and communities.

Jerome Tsui
Director, 1828 and Non-Executive Director, Jigsaw Homes and Havant Housing Association, 1828, Jigsaw Homes and Havant Housing Association

Jerome is the Founding Director of 1828, a specialist in accessibility design, professional standards, and conflict mediation. He is passionate about advancing equity and strengthening inclusive communities. Having served as a Director of EDI in higher education, he applies this experience to working with tenants, police, and local authorities in Anti-Social Behaviour conflicts and mediations within social housing. A former auditor with KPMG, he has advised international organisations on governance, technology risk, and transformation initiatives. He is a Trustee of the Chartered Institute of Housing, a Non-Executive Director of Jigsaw Homes, and an Independent Member of Citizens Advice’s Equity Advisory Group.

Samantha Tullock
Assistant Director of Strategic Assets, Believe

Samantha is Assistant Director of Strategic Assets at believe housing, one of the North East’s largest not‑for‑profit housing associations with more than 18,000 homes. With almost 20 years’ experience in social housing, she leads on asset management, compliance, and the organisation’s decarbonisation agenda. Her role focuses on planning and prioritising investment in existing homes, ensuring they remain safe, well maintained and fit for the future as standards and expectations change. Samantha works to balance regulatory requirements, customer needs, and business priorities, helping shape long‑term programmes that improve the quality, comfort and energy performance of homes and support future‑proofing. She ensures investment benefits customers, including warmer, healthier homes, lower energy bills, and reduced fuel poverty, and plays a key role in securing and maximising government funding to support investment in homes and communities at scale. Samantha is also a trustee of Community Campus, a Tees Valley charity supporting people experiencing homelessness through accommodation, training, and employment.

Michael Verrier
Vice Chair, G15 Resident Group and Chair, LGBT+ Resident Forum, L&Q, G15 Resident Group and L&Q

Michael is Co-Vice Chair of the G15 Resident Group with a focus on stigma and ED&I. He has lived in social housing for 42 years and has been an ‘active’ resident for 40 years, both as a local authority Tenant and latterly, as an L&Q resident. As a tenant of L&Q he has served as a member of the Stock Transfer Board, the Customer Services Committee, Resident Services Group, Complaints Panel, Chair of the Neighbourhood Committee and Resident Board, he was also Chair and Founder of the LGBTQ+ Forum. Alongside this Michael is member HouseProud/Stonewall Housing LGBTQ+ Pledge Partnership Board. He was also a Board member and the Vice-Chair of Tamil Community Housing Association for 12 years. He is a community activist and has worked with Crime and Disorder partners tackling hate crime and domestic abuse. He was Co-Chair of the Domestic Abuse Forum for his local Authority and is MARAC accredited. He was a founding member and Co-Chair of Broken Rainbow LGBT domestic violence service. Michael also has a background in Equalities, diversity and inclusion and as a trainer. He was a Metropolitan Police Service community advisor following the 1999 Nail Bombings and provided training to Family Liaison Officers and Critical Incident senior officers as well as Chairing the Critical Incident group and hate related Murder Reviews. As Vice-Chair of G15 Residents’ Group Michael is supporting the group in its networking to promote and drive the groups success and ensure that residents’ voices are at the heart of influencing and strategic decision-making within social housing.

Lili Vetter
EDI Specialist and Co-chair, Wythenshawe Homes and House Proud North West

Laighton Walters
Embassy Support and Resettlement Manager, Embassy Village Manchester

Laighton is an experienced housing professional and community advocate with over a decade of frontline work supporting individuals and families facing complex challenges. Holding a CIH Level 5 qualification, he combines strong sector knowledge with a deeply relational, people-first approach to housing and support.
Laighton has been part of Embassy from the start, where he initially led the Support and Resettlement team, helping individuals transition out of homelessness and rebuild their lives. 7 years on, he now leads Embassy’s Operations, overseeing the delivery and development of services that prioritise dignity, stability, and long-term outcomes for residents and is part of the Senior Leadership Team helping to shape the future of the organisation. Laighton is committed to developing high standard housing solutions that are compassionate and sustainable, ensuring that people are not only housed, but truly able to rebuild their lives and contribute back into society.

John Wickenden
Research Manager, Housemark

John has over 20 years’ experience in the social housing sector covering local authorities, ALMOs, housing associations as well as membership and trade bodies. John’s research covers all aspects of social landlords’ work, with up-to-date analysis of key policy issues and how they affect day-to-day operations. He is an expert in how to measure the work of landlords in the social housing sector, with a deep understanding of English Social Housing Regulation. John’s recent projects include creating a set of building safety compliance measures, understanding how and when the sector will achieve carbon net zero and developing a forecasting methodology for housing costs, performance and satisfaction.

Lorna Wilson
Chief Executive, Barrhead Housing

Lorna spends most of her time working with great people to try and make housing services simpler, more human, and genuinely helpful to the communities they serve. Her career has taken her through consultancy, government and housing associations, in both executive and non-executive roles. Along the way, she’s developed a strong belief that the best work happens when people feel connected to a shared purpose, to each other, and to the communities they’re part of. Lorna is a recent addition to the CIH Scotland Board and an external examiner on the Housing Studies programme at the University of Glasgow. She has an MPhil in Housing Studies and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing.

David Wilton
Chief Executive, TPAS Cymru