Victoria Derbyshire
Journalist and broadcaster

Victoria Derbyshire is a multi-award-winning journalist and broadcaster, who presents current affairs on both TV and radio. Currently lead presenter of BBC’s Newsnight, Victoria has previously led her eponymous two-hour news programme which was broadcast each weekday on BBC 2. Before that she spent 16 years presenting the morning programme on Radio 5 Live, where she became a trusted confidante to listeners as they shared their own personal experiences with her on national radio.

Steve Allcock
Group Business Transformation Director, Riverside Group

Steve passionately believes in the value of technology, data and digital services and how they can deliver modern, convenient services for customers and colleagues, whilst delivering cost efficiency and wider benefits for business to thrive. Steve is qualified in Managing Strategic Programmes (MSP®) and has spent most of his career delivering transformation, covering technology, people and cultural change.

Nick Atkin
Chief Executive, Yorkshire Housing

Nick has a track record of leading organisations through transformational change, driving performance improvement, with a focus on maximising the untapped potential from businesses and people. Born and brought up in Doncaster he joined Yorkshire Housing in 2019. Since this time, he’s delivered transformational change throughout the business to meet the future opportunities and challenges. Nick has previously introduced a fully flexible/ remote working approach. He also led the move to 90% of customer led transactions to be delivered through online self-service channels. He is a keen advocate of innovation and uses digital as an enabler to drive fundamental change in how businesses operate. He is also a disruptor in the ‘future of work’ debate and has been paperless for 19 years.

Joanna Averley
Chief Planner, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC)

Joanna took up the role of Chief Planner at MHCLG in 2020. She is a town planner with 30 years’ experience working across government, major projects and with local authorities. She has been involved in all aspect of planning research, policy, practice and project delivery. Prior to this role she was at HS2 where she led on how the railway interfaces with its context with plan making and consenting processes. Until taking up the role of Chief Planner she was a London Mayor’s Design Advocate and Chair of the London Borough of Wandsworth’s Design Review Panel. Joanna has worked on major regeneration and masterplanning projects from Manchester City Centre to the London Olympics. Joanna has held a number of senior roles as Senior Manager for Growth and Development for Crossrail 2 at TfL, Deputy CEO and Director of Design and Planning Advice of CABE, CEO of Centre for Cities, CEO of LandAid and Director of Design for the Olympic Delivery Authority. Joanna has held a number of non-executive roles including Trustee of MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology).

Roseann Ayton
Resident Board Member, Hexagon

Roseann has worked in the Social Housing sector for 30 years during which time she has managed Local Government Business Units including Homelessness and Housing Needs services. Roseann has written a range of Corporate Strategies including Housing and Inclusive Growth. Roseann also worked as the LGA Policy Advisor supporting the 2nd stage of GovUK Syrian Refugee Resettlement Programme. Roseann is a freelance Housing Trainer specialising in : Complaint Handling , 'Case notes and Record Keeping' and 'Professional Boundaries' respectively. Roseann has designed and delivered her 'laugh out loud' Record Keeping workshops to over 250 frontline housing staff to date. Roseann is a certified Business Performance Coach and Personal Development Coach and has delivered leadership coaching to Local Government Heads of Service in support of wide scale transformation programmes. Roseann also designed the unprecedented Complaint Handling Guidance for all Train Operating Companies on behalf of the UK Office for Rail and Road.

Matthew Bailes
Group Chief Executive, Paradigm Housing

Matthew Bailes became Chief Executive of Paradigm Housing Group in 2015. Paradigm is based in Buckinghamshire and owns over 13,500 homes, offering a wide range of tenures. Before then, he was Executive Director of Regulation at the HCA and the Tenant Services Authority where he oversaw the introduction of the new Regulatory Framework and major improvements in the Regulator’s capacity and operational approach. Prior to this, Matthew was Head of the Affordable Housing Division in the Communities and Local Government Department following a career in the civil service which included roles in corporate finance, policy on the Fire and Rescue Service, regional government, regeneration, and a spell in the Ministry of Defence.

Mike Bainbridge
Senior Manager, Customer Innovation Programme Team, Amazon

Paula Barker
Labour MP for Liverpool, Wavertree and co-chair, APPG for ending homelessness

Paula Barker is the Labour MP for Liverpool, Wavertree, and has been an MP continually since 12 December 2019.

Mel Barrett
Chief Executive, Nottingham City Council

Mel is responsible for providing policy advice to elected councillors and providing visible leadership to the council’s 6,000 staff delivering vital public services, securing economic growth and improving life chances. He was previously Chief Executive of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and has a successful track record in the management of large scale customer facing services, organisational change and transformation initiatives, and the delivery of large scale regeneration and development projects. Mel is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and an alumnus of the City University, London MBA Programme, as well as a Commissioner for the Commission for Creating Healthy Cities.

The Lord Best OBE DL
Member, House of Lords

Lord Best is an independent in the House of Lords. He is a past chief executive of the National Housing Federation and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. He was President of the Local Government Association for nine years, Chair of Hanover Housing Association and of The Property Ombudsman, for eight years. He is currently Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Housing and Care for Older People and of the Commissions on Affordable Housing organised by the Centre for Social Justice and the Smith Institute. He chaired the MHCLG’s Regulation of Property Agents Working Group. Lord Best has successfully piloted five Private Members Bills through the House of Lords, the last being the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018.

Richard Blakeway
Housing Ombudsman

Richard was appointed as Housing Ombudsman from 1 September 2019. He has extensive experience in the housing sector, with previous roles including Deputy Mayor of London for Housing, chair of the Homes for London board, and a non-executive director of Homes England. During his eight years at the Greater London Authority, Richard was responsible for housing investment and land regeneration programmes. He also led the creation of the first team at City Hall to address rough sleeping, commissioning around £10 million of services each year, as well as the first Social Impact Bond on homelessness.

Richard is a former board member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and has been an election observer in Somaliland and the Ukraine. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and sits on the Administrative Justice Council. Richard also chairs the Ombudsman Association and is a board member of the British Library.

Stephen Bush
Associate Editor, Financial Times

Stephen is an associate editor and columnist at the Financial Times. He writes a daily newsletter, Inside Politics, charting the course of politics and policy in the UK, and a wide-ranging weekly column.

David Cleary
Managing Director and Head of Housing, Lloyds Banking Group

David is responsible for Lloyds Banking Group’s relationships with clients in the house building and social housing sectors. Having joined Lloyds Bank in 1989, David undertook numerous roles across Retail and Commercial Banking before joining the Capital Markets division in 2000. David was instrumental in the development of the Bank’s Capital Markets business in both the public and private debt markets in the UK, USA and Europe. In 2017, David returned to relationship banking to create a new team with responsibility for UK Housing. David has a passion for sustainability and in 2021 became a Board director of Sustainability for Housing and joined the Executive Committee of NextGeneration, both of which focus upon developing sustainability reporting standards and frameworks in the rental and new build markets. He also supports Regeneration Brainery which focuses on the putting the ‘S’ in ESG.

Judith Comber
Housing Account, Salesforce

Jude is an Account Executive and joined Salesforce at the end of 2021 to support housing providers in delivering first-class resident experiences with the latest technology. She is passionate about social housing and helping the people it serves. She spent 10 years at what is now the Abri Group working in Customer Services then IT, before providing housing technology solutions across the UK, Ireland & ANZ.

Cllr Kaya Comer-Schwartz
Leader, London Borough of Islington

Kaya was appointed Leader of Islington Council in May 2021, previously working as Executive Member for Children, Young People and Families. Kaya’s achievements since becoming Leader include providing laptops to all care leavers and year 7s who need them to tackle the digital divide, investing in tackling the climate emergency by improving air quality and the biodiversity in the borough and championing early intervention, in particular in the areas of physical and mental health. She has pioneered a Community Power approach to leadership in Islington, running the biggest engagement exercise in the Council’s history and planning a series of Citizen’s Panels. Her commitment is to create an Equal Islington for all who live and work in the borough.

Professor Sir John Curtice
Political Scientist and Professor of Practice Policy, University of Strathclyde

Professor Sir John Curtice is Professor of Politics at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland, and Senior Research Fellow, National Centre for Social Research and the ESRC’s ‘The UK in a Changing Europe’ initiative. He has written extensively about voting behaviour in elections and referendums in the UK, as well as on British political and social attitudes more generally. He has been a co-editor of NatCen’s annual British Social Attitudes reports since 1994 and is a regular contributor to British and international media coverage of politics in the UK, including as co-host of the ‘Trendy’ podcast.

Helia Ebrahimi
Economics Correspondent, Channel 4

Channel 4 News' Economics Correspondent Helia Ebrahimi reports on the big changes in the economy and the public finances - and how they'll influence the world you live in.

Mike Emmerich
Chair, Torus

As Chair of the Board, Mike oversees and ensures high standards of governance, and provides appropriate levels of challenge and support to the Executive Team. Mike is an entrepreneur. He combines senior leadership experience across the public and private sectors with his extensive strategy and economics knowledge. He has applied this to start ups in the private, public, academic, and not-for-profit sectors for over twenty years. He is also an experienced national-level Non-Executive Director in the education, health, heritage, real estate, and culture sectors. As the Founding Director of Metro Dynamics, a specialised consultancy for local authorities, Mike plays a significant role on many major projects including the devolution deals in the West Midlands and North East which give more local responsibility for housing and infrastructure. He has also spent significant time working with local authorities and combined authorities within the Liverpool and Greater Manchester City Regions.

Noa Fux
Director and Lead Analyst, International Public Finance, S&P Global Ratings

Noa Fux is a Director and a Lead Analyst in the International Public Finance team at S&P Global Ratings, covering public and not-for-profit sectors, focusing on housing associations, universities, and local governments across the UK. Based in London, Noa joined S&P in 2015 as an analyst in the Tel Aviv office, moving to Frankfurt in 2018, covering local and regional governments as well as social housing providers in Israel and Central Eastern Europe. Prior to joining S&P Global Ratings, Noa worked as a senior economist at the economic research department for the Manufacturer’s Association of Israel. Noa holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration and Bachelor degree in Bachelor of Science Agriculture, Agricultural Economics and Management, both from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Helen Gauder
Managing Director, SafeNet

Oona Goldsworthy
Chief Executive, Brunelcare

Oona became Chief Executive of Brunelcare, a Bristol based housing association providing homes and care, in late 2109. She was previously the CEO of United Communities housing association where she remained at the helm for 16 years, growing the organisation from its inception to become one of the leading providers of affordable homes in the City. Oona is a Board member of the National Care Forum, Care and Support West and Trustee of Second Step housing association. She is also Co-Chair of the Bristol Homes and Communities Board.

Sophie Gordon
Principal Communications Strategist, Frameworks

Sophie works with mission-driven organisations to reframe social issues. With a background in writing and branding, specialising in the UK not-for-profit sector, she is passionate about harnessing words and storytelling to communicate for good and change hearts and minds. Sophie worked as the lead writer and Creative Director for the UK’s largest child protection charity, the NSPCC, before joining FrameWorks in early 2022. There, she worked on campaigns and messaging spanning a range of issues affecting children and families, such as early childhood development, online safety, and preventing child abuse. She has a BA in Graphic Design from Edinburgh College of Art (Edinburgh University).

Rose Grayston
Director, On Place

Rose has 10 years of experience in providing research, policy and communications services to progressive campaigns and their leaders. Rose has managed and led successful campaigns to reduce borrowing rates for local authority house-building, reform English planning rules to incentivise the delivery of affordable homes, and to build political and public support for reform of England’s broken land and house-building systems. Previously Policy Manager at Shelter, and Senior Programme Manager for Housing at the New Economics Foundation. She also co-authored the recent report of the Create Streets Foundation’s No Place Left Behind Commission with Toby Lloyd.

Miranda Hawtrey
Domestic Abuse Development Coordinator, SafeNet

Kate Henderson
Chief Executive, National Housing Federation

Kate Henderson 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.

Mark Henderson
Chief Executive, Home Group

Mark previously ran his own business before joining Home Group, before that had worked with the RDA as Operations Director and a variety of regeneration and economic development jobs across the country in local government, most recently as Chief Executive of one of the largest County Councils in the country. He is a former Chair of Homes for the North.

Andy Hulme
Chief Executive Officer, Hyde

Andy was appointed CEO of the Hyde Group in 2021 having previously spent 20 years in consumer organisations. Immediately prior to joining, Andy was the Global Managing Director of Real Estate and Housing at Lloyds Banking Group (LBG). He also spent time as the Lloyds Bank Mortgage Director and Group Head of New Mortgages and Managing Director of The Equity Businesses. He worked with the UK Government to bring Help to Buy to market and led strategy, products and propositions to support LBG in maintaining a market leading position in key segments such including First Time Buyers, New Build and Buy to Let. During his time at Lloyds Andy was the CEO founder of the Housing Growth Partnership, a private equity investment fund, which supports SME housebuilders in accelerating the delivery of new homes and was a lead for Diversity & Inclusion. Prior to LBG Andy held a number of senior roles in leading UK brands including Direct Line, Virgin Money, Direct Line, RBS, NatWest and Tesco.

Kai Jackson
Chair of Residents Scrutiny Voice Panel, Black Country Housing Group

Kai completed her BSc (Honours) Psychology and Counselling degree and achieved a British Psychological Society (BPS) accreditation. She has been the chair for her tenant's scrutiny panel for over two years. In that time, Kai has carried out three reviews, been involved in stage 2 complaints, assisted shaping policies, interviewed potential staff members, panel members and been a part of the wider reshaping of the culture of her housing association. Kai has been very vocal in her support for tenants to be more involved with their housing provider and working together to accomplish change, which can be achieved. She has spoken at two conferences with the National Housing Federation (NHF) and most recently became a Tpas Associate and speaking at their customer conference. Kai is very dedicated to tenant involvement, being diverse, without stigma, and heard.

Philip Jenkins
Executive Director Development, Peabody

Philip joined Peabody with the Catalyst merger having been the Group Director of Development. With a property development career spanning more than three decades across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, he brings a wealth of housing experience. He’s also worked for companies including Taylor Wimpey, CityWest Homes, The John Lewis Partnership and SPAR.

Dr Susan Khan
Business Psychologist

Susan Kahn is a business psychologist, a speaker and an academic. She is a chartered psychologist, coaching psychologist and supervisor with the British Psychological Society and a Fellow of the Association of Business Psychologists. She works as an executive coach, consultant, mediator, and an observer of working life. She has a particular interest in the behaviour of people at work and below the surface dynamics in organisations. She studied organisational consultancy using psychoanalytic methods at the Tavistock and did her PhD at Birkbeck, University of London where she teaches coaching psychology. She also works as a group relations consultant. Her research interests embrace leadership, coaching, change and vulnerability at work. She uses psychoanalytic observation as a research method and has written books about the psychoanalysis of endings (Death & the City) and resilience (Bounce Back) and psychological insights to transform your work life (Reinvent Yourself). She is a board member of This Can Happen: empowering workplace mental health, ISPSO and OPUS.

Paul Kissack
Group Chief Executive, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF)

Paul is the Group Chief Executive of Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRHT). Paul started with us on the 1 September 2020, and was previously a Director General in the UK Government working on the national response to the COVID-19 crisis. He has held Director General roles at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Education. He was Deputy Chief Executive for Policy and Organisational Strategy at the Ministry for Children in New Zealand. Paul has also held senior roles at HM Treasury, the Cabinet Office, and a local authority. He has worked throughout his career on economic and social policy issues and public service reform.

Martina Lees
Senior Property Writer, The Times and The Sunday Times

Martina has won more than 10 awards, including a British Journalism Award, for her Sunday Times campaign on the building safety scandal exposed by the Grenfell fire. She was first to reveal that it trapped 700,000 people in dangerous homes, left up to 1.5 million flats unmortgageable and got Micahel Give to finally admit that the government shares the blame for Grenfell. Her work has been quoted many times in parliament, was credited by a housing secretary as "instrumental" and helped spur the government into changing the law to make companies pay for profiting from unsafe homes.

Toby Lloyd
Housing policy consultant, former No 10 special adviser and Chair, No Place Left Behind Commission

Toby Lloyd is a housing and regeneration policy expert. He has been a Special Adviser to Prime Minister Theresa May, head of policy at Shelter, and is now an independent consultant.

Fiona MacGregor
Chief Executive, Regulator of Social Housing

Fiona became Chief Executive of the standalone Regulator of Social Housing in October 2018 having been Director of Regulation at the Homes and Communities Agency from November 2015. The Regulator is responsible for the regulation of registered social housing providers. Previously, as Director of Programmes, she was responsible for HCA’s Affordable Housing and Help to Buy programmes. Fiona has over 25 years housing experience, covering development investment, programme delivery and policy development. She has worked at the HCA since it launched in 2008, before which she was Deputy Director of Investment at the Housing Corporation, and prior to that, Head of Development at London & Quadrant.

Mairi MacRae
Director of Campaigns, Policy and Communications, Shelter

Clare Miller
Group Chief Executive, Clarion Housing Group

Clare has been the Group Chief Executive since 2018. She is a chartered accountant with almost 30 years’ experience in the housing sector. Clare joined the Housing Corporation in 1992 as a financial regulator. Over the next 18 years progressed to become its Director of Regulation. She then became an Executive Director at the Tenant Services Authority, with responsibility for housing association regulation. In 2010 Clare joined Affinity Sutton as Group Director of Governance and Compliance. She took up the same role at Clarion in 2016, before taking on her current role two years later.

Rhys Moore
Executive Director of Public Impact, National Housing Federation

Rhys started with the NHF in October 2018, as Executive Director of Public Impact. Rhys oversees our policy, external affairs and communications work. Previously he was Director of the Living Wage Foundation where he worked with government, business and civil society to build a national movement of responsible employers. Before that, he helped to establish the London Community Foundation, which supports grassroots community groups in the capital. Rhys is a board member of the Carers Trust.

Craig Moule
Group Chief Executive, Sanctuary

Craig has been with Sanctuary for over 30 years, serving as Chief Financial Officer before becoming its Group Chief Executive 5 years ago. During his tenure as Group Chief Executive Craig has successfully overseen the acquisition of Swan Housing Association and Johnnie Johnson Housing Trust, and seen Sanctuary grow to managing around 125,000 homes nationally, 14,000 team members and becoming a £1 billion turnover organisation. Craig is an ex-officio member of the Group Board. Sanctuary Group is a founding member of the Greener Futures Partnership, a collaboration of like-minded housing associations, seeking to help the social housing sector address the green agenda. Craig is a member of the CEO group for this initiative.

Bibicha Muhima
Resident and Neighbourhood Advisor, ForHousing

Bibicha has worked in the housing sector for five years and supports with allocating and letting homes. After a severe illness and her husband’s redundancy, she was faced with falling behind on rent. She got help from Forhousing’s Tenancy Support & Sustainment Team (TSS), who supported her through her challenges and helped her apply for her current role. Her personal circumstance has instilled within her a profound empathy for tenants facing adversity and financial hardship. Bibicha would like to progress into a role that offers tailored one-to-one support for tenants who need it, in a role within the TSS team where her journey began. Not only does she bring her experiences as a tenant and an advisor but also her beliefs in the power of diversity to create a more promising future for organisations and tenants.

Priya Nair
Chief Executive, The Housing Finance Corporation (THFC)

A senior executive with over 25 years’ experience in financial services, infrastructure and housing, Priya is passionate about leveraging sustainable, long-term investment to help deliver positive economic and societal outcomes in the affordable housing sector. Before joining in March 2024, Priya was a Senior Director at abrdn in its infrastructure team. With a focus on infrastructure and housing, Priya was responsible for financing, capital raising and deal strategy across all its flagship infrastructure funds and investments. Prior to that, Priya spent over 13 years at the Royal Bank of Canada in their global private markets team and seven years at Citi.

In addition to leading THFC, Priya acts as a senior advisor to organisations working across government, infrastructure and technology where she provides counsel on corporate finance, governance, risk management and investment strategies. She is a Non-Executive Director and the Chair of the Investment Committee at the Port of London Authority and a Senior Adviser to Good Governance Capital. Priya also supports several non-profit originations and charities with a focus on sport and education. She is currently a Senior Trustee of community sports charity, Sported, the UK’s largest network of community groups supporting half a million young people through the power of sport.

Chris Naylor
Former Chief Executive, Birmingham City Council and Director, Inner Circle Consulting

Chris is a Director of Inner Circle, a boutique consultancy specialising in public service reform. He recently joined the firm after seven years as the Chief Executive of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham to focus on “reimagining public services and connecting them fully to the people who need them”. Under his leadership of Barking and Dagenham, the Council focused on inclusive growth, prevention, service re-design, public participation and equalities. In 2018 the authority was named “Council of the Year”. In 2020 Chris was seconded to Birmingham City Council to be their CEO, to support amongst other things their response to the pandemic and preparations for the Commonwealth Games. In 2020 Chris was named Municipal Journal’s Chief Executive of the Year. Chris is a Chartered Accountant and has a degree in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge, with a specialism in contemporary social theory. Chris was born and brought up in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

Seyi Obakin OBE
Chief Executive, Centrepoint

Seyi is responsible for the whole organisation. He works closely with the Senior Executive Team to ensure we achieve our vision of ending youth homelessness. He became chief executive in 2009, and since this time, he has developed a passionate concern for disadvantaged young people, especially those that are homeless.

Teija Ojankoski
Chief Executive, The Y-Foundation, Helsinki

Teija has over 20 years of experience in management and leadership. She is a professional in strategy processes and implementing strategies both in municipal and company environments. Her work history has given her in-depth knowledge of social housing and its financial systems and development and its clients.

Josie Parsons
Chief Executive, Local Space

Josie came to Local Space as Finance Director in 2018 with extensive Director experience in broad portfolio roles in the private and not-for-profit sectors. She took over the role of CEO in 2019. Josie has a wealth of experience of business modelling, development and new business appraisal and a track record of meeting all key targets. Her vision is to ensure that Local Space delivers its growth strategy and achieves the best possible customer experience over the coming years as well as being a great place to work by becoming a ‘people first’ organisation. Josie is committed to partnership, transparency, fairness and equality in every area of Local Space’s operations.

Bronwen Rapley
Chief Executive, Onward Homes

Since 2016, Bronwen has spearheaded the creation of Onward Homes from five separate housing associations, building a united organisation committed to the customers and communities it serves across the North West.

Under Bronwen’s leadership, Onward has achieved top governance (G1) and financial (V1) ratings from the Regulator and secured a top A1 (Stable) credit rating, ahead of a successful bond issue to support delivery of an ambitious Business Plan. Looking to the future, her priority for Onward is to work with customers to build thriving communities, supported by the security of good quality, green homes and places.

Bronwen has worked in housing and regeneration for 30 years, initially as a solicitor and then by delivering a number of large regeneration projects in the North West. Prior to joining Onward, Bronwen led the investigation and enforcement team at the Regulator of Social Housing.

Greg Reed
Chief Executive, Places for People

A purpose-driven senior executive, in his 30-year career, Greg has led major finance, partnership, marketing, customer service, and commercial functions in global listed companies including Bank of America and RBS Group. Before joining PfP, Greg was UK CEO for international home assistance business HomeServe. Greg is a native of Smyrna, Delaware. He graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a Batchelor of Science in Finance and then received a Juris Doctor from Delaware Law School.

Dr James Richardson
Chief Executive Officer, Climate Change Committee (CCC)

James was recently appointed CEO, having previously been the CCC’s Director of Analysis and Chief Economist, overseeing the CCC’s analytical programme on Net Zero and Climate Resilience. James joins from the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), where he has served for the last seven years as Chief Economist. In that role, he has overseen the UK’s first ever National Infrastructure Assessment and studies including managing the risk of drought, the role of economic regulators and engineered greenhouse gas removals. James currently leads the Commission’s work programme on Net Zero infrastructure. Prior to that, James served for 10 years in the Treasury, where he led on fiscal policy, public spending control and the Green Book. James was Deputy Chief Economic Advisor from 2012 to 2016.

Catriona Riddell
Vice Chair, Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA)

Catriona is an independent consultant providing professional support on a wide range of spatial planning issues but focuses on local plans and specifically, strategic planning, working with local authorities and their partners to develop different approaches to strategic planning, including governance structures. She recently authored two linked reports on behalf of the County Councils Network [Report calls for a new planning model, as two thirds of councils say the pressure on their infrastructure is ‘excessive’ due to housing – County Councils Network] to help inform the Government’s planning reforms and has contributed widely to the debates on devolution and levelling up. Previous roles include Head of Strategic Planning at Surrey County Council and Director of Planning at the South East England Regional Assembly where she was responsible for the Regional Spatial Strategy (The South East Plan). Catriona’s other professional roles include: Strategic Planning Specialist for the Planning Officers’ Society (POS) Vice-Chair of the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute’s (RTPI) England Policy Panel Visiting Fellow at Thinktank Local is In 2022 Catriona was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Oxford Brookes University for her services to Planning, was elected to Fellowship of the Royal Town Planning Institute and was included in The Planner’s list of top 50 Women of Influence in Planning. She is a regular columnist for both Planning Magazine and the TCPA’s Journal.

Campbell Robb
Chief Executive Officer, Nacro

Campbell joined Nacro as Chief Executive in 2019. Before joining Nacro, he was the CEO of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust from 2017. There he steered the organisation through a significant change and reform programme, introducing an outcome-focused approach to change, new values and focus on working alongside those with lived experience of poverty. Before this, Campbell was the Chief Executive of Shelter for seven years. As CEO he led the organisation through one of the most challenging periods in its history. This included building a sustainable, fundable model of integrated advice and support that is helping more clients than ever before, a growth in independent income and leading the organisation’s response to some of the biggest changes to housing and welfare policy in generations. Prior to joining Shelter, Campbell was the first Director General of the Office of the Third Sector, an adviser to The Treasury and was previously Director of Public Policy at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO). In 2017 he was awarded an honorary degree from York St John University.

Anna Rose
Head of the Planning Advisory Service and Chair, Public Practice

Anna is currently the Head of the Planning Advisory Service, delivering improvement in planning services across the country. Anna started her planning career advising NFU members on planning, transport and environmental law before moving to Rugby Borough Council and becoming their Head of Planning and Culture at Rugby. In 2014 she became Milton Keynes Council’s Director of Growth, Economy and Culture. Anna is a past President of the Planning Officers Society, a trustee of the TCPA, and sits as the practitioner on the RTPI accreditation boards for the planning courses at UCL and Birmingham City University. She is an active peer reviewer for the LGA and a regular speaker on strategic planning issues, growth focussed planning and improving the customer experience.

Steve Rotherham
Mayor, Liverpool City Council

Steve served as a Liverpool City Councillor in 2002 to represent the Fazakerley ward and as Lord Mayor of Liverpool during the city’s European Capital of Culture year of 2008-2009. In 2010, Steve was elected as the Member of Parliament for the Liverpool Walton constituency. A bricklayer by trade, he’d set up his own company by the age of 22 and later went on to work in various capacities in the construction industry. In May 2017, Steve was elected to become the first ever Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region – securing 59% of the vote – on a manifesto that is ambitious, fair, green, connected and that works together. Steve represents the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority on the LEP Board and is Combined Authority lead on Policy, Reform and Resources.

Lee Rowley
Minister of State for Housing, Planning and Building Safety, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Lee Rowley was appointed Minster of State (Minister for Housing) in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on 13 November 2023. He was previously Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities between 7 September 2022 and 13 November 2023. He was also Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury between 17 September 2021 and 6 July 2022. He was elected the Conservative MP for North East Derbyshire on 8 June 2017.

Vicky Savage
Group Director, Development and Sales, L&Q

Vicky joined L&Q in 2018 after four highly successful years as Executive Development at Network Homes. She worked the previous seven years at a senior level at Network Homes in development roles. Vicky trained as an Urban Planner, but housing was her main passion and so moved to post graduate Housing Studies at the London School of Economics. Previously Vicky has worked in a range of housing development roles for over 25 years including time at Origin Housing Group and English Churches Housing Association.

At L&Q Vicky has strategic responsible for all development growth activity including JVs/partnering, estate regeneration and sales in London. Vicky is also responsible for L&Q innovative in-house construction function. L&Q have an ambitious growth target of delivering 100,000 homes in the next 10 years. Vicky leads a multi skilled expert team of circa 600 staff. Vicky is L&Q’s lead Director in the innovative Build London Partnership Project. Developing new homes for small and BME Housing Associations.

Vicky is currently Chair of the London G15 Development Directors Group and plays an active role on this influential London forum. Vicky is particularly interested in achieving greater representation of women in the built environment sector and currently mentors several up and coming female development professionals.

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.

Alistair Smyth
Director of Policy and Research, National Housing Federation

Alistair joined the NHF in March 2023 on a 12-month secondment from The Guinness Partnership, where he held the role of Director of External Affairs and Social Investment. Alistair has worked in the social housing sector for the last 15 years in a wide range of roles and organisations including a previous spell at the NHF from 2014 to 2017. Prior to that, he worked as a consultant on a range of neighbourhood and community empowerment projects. He also spent three years working in a customer-facing role as a Neighbourhood Manager and as Assistant Head of Neighbourhoods for Peabody. He is currently the Vice Chair of the Chartered Institute of Housing’s Policy Advisory Committee.

Leon Storer
Director of Technical Services, ARK Consultancy

Leon has more than 30 years experience across the social housing sector in key areas of partnership and collaborative working, namely strategic property asset management, decarbonisation, compliance, planned and reactive maintenance, contract procurement, risk management, major capital investment, regeneration and facilities management. He is highly experienced in delivering transformational change to strategic business planning and performance with organisations utilising in-house maintenance teams, external supply chain partners or a combination of both. Leon is aware of the significant changes that the sector needs to adapt to, with new decency standards, compliance, building safety, adopting and implementing ‘smarter’ technologies, addressing skills shortages and achieving the zero carbon agenda.

Naomi Sweeting
Director, Rise

Naomi has over 25 years’ experience as an insight, customer experience and strategy professional. She has worked across the public and private sector including positions at Lloyds Banking Group, Central Office of Information, The Research Factor and The University of the West of England. Naomi has worked in housing for the last six years, most recently as Director of Customer Experience at Grand Union Housing. During her time there she delivered the segmentation model she developed for a further 11 housing organisations. Naomi continues to deliver this work as a consultant and is also a Trustee for a mental health charity in Wales.

Natalie Tate
Project Lead for Talking About Housing, Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Natalie is the strategic project lead for Talking about Housing project, co-funded by Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Nationwide Foundation. She works with people and organisations that want to change the narrative about housing, moving it away from one of wealth towards one that helps people understand the need for, and importance of, decent and affordable homes.

Jean Templeton
Chief Executive, St Basils

Jean has been chief executive of St Basils in Birmingham since 2000. They were one of the Housing Corporation Gold winners for tackling homelessness in 2006 and currently the RSL Centre of Excellence in the National Youth Homelessness Scheme.

Helen Thompson
Deputy Chief Executive, Calico Group

The Calico Group is an innovative group of not-for-profit businesses and charities who provide social housing and a wide range of support services for those dealing with addiction, domestic abuse, homelessness and unemployment across the North West. Dedicating her career to supporting the most excluded in society, Helen has contributed to creating sustainable change through kindness, compassion and inclusion.

Ceri Victory-Rowe
Director, Campbell Tickell

Ceri is a governance and regulation specialist with particular experience in the social housing sector. She works with housing associations, local authorities and other social landlords to ensure their governance is robust and effective and that they comply with regulatory expectations. She takes an holistic approach to governance which recognises that people, culture, behaviours and relationships matter at least as much as structure and process; she is co-author of the NHF Code of Governance 2020.

Hattie Walker-Arnott
Chief Executive, AI-RE

AIRE is run by Hattie Walker-Arnott. From a global network of secret cultural venues to 60-acre regeneration sites to key worker housing across the UK, Hattie’s work spans an eclectic variety of real estate development projects. She has also worked in proptech as an investor and within businesses.

Jonathan Walters
Deputy Chief Executive, Regulator of Social Housing

Having previously been at Ernst and Young working in social housing consultancy, Jonathan has been at the Regulator since 2004. He has worked across the organisation and has extensive experience in dealing with funders, government and housing associations.

Mark Washer
Chief Executive, Sovereign

Mark joined Sovereign as Chief Executive Officer in June 2018, from his role as Chief Financial Officer at Clarion Housing Group. Mark has worked in the housing sector for 25 years and was, until recently, the Vice Chair of the National Housing Federation.

Selina White
Chief Executive, Magna Housing

Selina has led Magna Housing for six years, where she has championed innovative solutions for affordable housing across the South West. As the Chief Executive, she has spearheaded initiatives that prioritise community well-being, sustainability, inclusivity and growth. Selina’s unwavering commitment to affordable housing has made her a respected voice in the industry. She actively collaborates with stakeholders to address housing challenges. As the Chair of the National Housing Federation’s South West Leadership Forum, Selina plays a pivotal role in shaping housing policies and strategies in the region. Selina is also a dedicated member of Homes for the South West, a collaboration of the 12 largest developing housing associations in the region, helping to shape national housing policy and driving positive change.

Cllr Kieron Williams
Leader, Southwark Council

Councillor Kieron Williams became Leader of the Council in September 2020. Kieron was elected as a Labour councillor in Camberwell Green ward in 2014. He joined Southwark’s Cabinet in 2018, taking on the jobs, skills and innovation portfolio, and has served as Cabinet Member for Housing and Modernisation since 2019.

Dr Wei Yang
Chair, Wei Yang & Partners and Chief Executive Officer, Digital Task Force for Planning

Dr Wei Yang is an internationally renowned town planner and urban designer who champions a place-based, whole-systems approach to tackle the grand challenges of our times. She is an influential thought leader and a powerful advocate for climate action, nature-based solutions, health and well-being, and social equality.

Currently, Wei serves as Chair of the Construction Industry Council (CIC). She was President for 2021 of the RTPI and was named a Net Zero Hero by Digital Leaders in 2022. Wei is the Chairman of Wei Yang & Partners, an award-winning master planning firm in London, and also, co-founder and CEO of the Digital Task Force for Planning - an innovation led not-for-profit social enterprise with the mission to unlock the full potential of spatial planning in the digital era.

Through her leadership in various areas, Wei builds a bridge between research, development, and policy. Wei is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, a Fellow of the RTPI, and an Honorary Professor at University College London. Wei also holds several board-level and advisory roles across different sectors. Currently, a board member of the British Library, a representative of the Global Planner Networks (GPN) at the UN Habitat Profession Forum, and Professional Co-chair of the UN Habitat World Urban Campaign Steering Committee.