Kirsty Wark
Journalist

Kirsty Wark is one of the UK’s trailblazing female news journalists. She presented BBC’s Newsnight for 30 years, stepping down after the 2024 General Election. Her long career on Newsnight has seen her holding politicians and public figures to account with her formidable interviewing skills. She made her reputation as a journalist and producer on BBC Scotland, memorably reporting from the scene of the Lockerbie bombing, before joining BBC 2’s arts strand The Late Show as a presenter, moving on to Newsnight in 1993. Kirsty continued to span both arts and news/current affairs, hosting The Review Show for over a decade, as well as a range of BBC Arts series and documentaries. Over the years she has had memorable encounters with everyone from Margaret Thatcher to Madonna, Harold Pinter to Pete Doherty, Damian Hirst to George Clooney and the likes of Toni Morrison, Donna Tartt and Philip Roth. Kirsty hosts Radio 4’s long-running flagship series The Reunion, and regularly presents of Start the Week. She continues to present arts programmes on TV and Radio, cultural history series such as The Women Who Changed Modern Scotland and Panorama specials. Kirsty has won several major awards for her work including BAFTA Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting, Journalist of the Year and Best Television Presenter. In 2024 she was honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the RTS Journalism Awards.

Faith Abudu
Founder and Director, Diversity and Inclusion in Construction

Naz Ahmed
Deputy Director of Strategy, Poplar HARCA

Jacque Allen
Chief Executive Officer, Your Housing Group

Scott Bache
Lead Product Manager, Housemark

Matt Baird
Founder and Recruitment Partner, The Social Housing Roundtable and Avalon

Matt has over 13 years of experience supporting the social housing sector. He has served as Board Co-Chair for Spring Housing and St Annes Hostel and founded The Social Housing Round Table, a platform connecting thousands of sector stakeholders. On a day-to-day basis he recruits staff for the sector nationally in partnership with Avalon Recruitment with his clients nicknaming him “the ethical recruiter”. As an advocate for change and authentic dialogue, Matt champions the needs of tenants and professionals within the social housing space, believing that it’s only through open discussion that true change can occur.

"With the incredible success of last year’s conference, it’s fantastic to be involved with putting together a programme that is focused on what the sector has requested and needs. Being a part of this panel provides the opportunity to share ideas of those that we work with to create a conference that those who truly care about making things better can be proud of."

Sam Barker
Relationship Manager, Aico

Linsay Baverstock
Head of People and Resident Experience, Settle Group

Dr Eve Blezard
Policy Lead, Chartered Institute of Housing

Emily Bond
Project Co-ordinator, West Lindsey District Council

Tony Boyle
Regional director for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England, AICO

Helen Briant
Partner, Trowers and Hamlins

Pedro Cameron
Head of Engagement and Founder, Tenants Information Service and The Equality in Social Housing Podcast

Pedro Cameron is the Tenant Participation and Engagement Manager at the Tenants Information Service (TIS), where he supports tenants across Scotland to influence decisions and shape housing services. He has a decade of experience in the housing sector, with a particular focus on the needs of older and disabled people, and a strong commitment to advancing equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Pedro was previously Head of Engagement at Housing Options Scotland, working to ensure that people with additional needs could access the right housing in the right place. He is the co-creator and co-host of the Equality in Housing podcast, winner of the inaugural Marion Gibbs Award at the CIH Scotland Awards in 2023.

Ashley Campbell
Policy and Public Affairs Manager for Scotland, Chartered Institute of Housing

Diane Carney
Senior Consultant, DTP

Diane has considerable experience in social housing provision across a range of housing and property services with both housing associations and local authorities. She has expertise in consumer regulation, specialising in supporting housing organisations through compliance with the Regulator of Social Housing’s consumer standards which can include providing independent external reviews of self-assessments against the Consumer Standards, advising on the effectiveness of new and established customer committees, as well as providing Board, Committee and Staff training on a wide range of matters relating to consumer regulation. Diane also works with clients to provide more detailed support relating to the wider services linked to the Consumer Standards, including reviewing strategy and approaches to complaints and the Tenants Satisfaction Measures.

Paul Carroll
Director of Housing and Community Development, Fingal County Council

Anne Chapman
Assistant Director – Governance, Risk and Compliance and Company Secretary, Golding Homes

Having extensive governance, strategic and legal experience, Anne is the corporate lead for governance and compliance matters and the Company Secretary for housing association, Golding Homes. Anne has held many non-executive board positions and is currently the Vice Chair of Eldon Housing Association, an independent member of the Audit and Risk Committee at the Chartered Institute of Housing and a trustee of the homelessness charity, Porchlight.

Caritas Charles
Senior Policy and Insight and Innovation Manager, Tpas

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.

“I am delighted to be asked again to be on the Advisory Panel for the Housing Community Summit. The inaugural event was a huge success demonstrating the passion, commitment and dedication that is out there in our sector and the amazing work we do when we all come together. 2024 set the bar high, I cant wait to see what we can put together for 2025.”

Anthea Chilton
Sector Development Lead, Housing Ombudsman Service

Anthea Chilton is a Sector Learning and Development Lead at the Housing Ombudsman Service. Anthea is part of the Quality, Engagement and Development (QED) department and the team delivering the Housing Ombudsman Service’ Centre for Learning (CfL). The CfL provides landlords with access to a wide variety of learning resources to enhance their complaints management and drive a positive complaint handling culture.

Nicki Clarke
Head of Housing, Standing Together Against Domestic Violence

Nicki is the Head of Housing with Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse, working 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. In 2020 Nicki wrote and presented a Domestic Abuse training video for repairs and maintenance contractors working in social housing to recognise and report the signs of domestic abuse.

In her personal life Nicki has been a member of the Experts by Experience Group working with Surviving Economic Abuse since 2017. 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.

Sonny Cook
Associate Partner, Baily Garner

Jayne Cornes
Customer Experience Manager, Walsall Housing Group Limited

Kathleen Cottier
Chief Executive, Fold Housing

Kath has over 20 years of experience working in the Irish Housing Association sector; leading development, property and housing teams. Prior to her role as CEO at Fold, at Executive level in Clúid Housing, she was responsible for front-line services and working to lead the organisations strategic development and growth as well as contribute to strengthening the Housing Association sector. She is the current Chair of the Board for CIH Ireland.

Rachel Cox
Director of Property Repairs, Believe Housing

Fiona Creighton
Executive Director of Homes, Mosscare St Vincent

Ian Cresswell
Director of Technology, Magenta Living

Ian has worked in the housing sector for almost 30 years, and has implemented many innovative and transformative technology solutions during that time. He is currently responsible for delivering the technology roadmap at Magenta Living, a Wirral based housing association owning and managing around 13,000 homes.

Jon Daley
Head of ESG, G2M Group

Bronagh D'Arcy
Chief Operating Officer, Tuath Housing

Debansu Das
Business Development Director, ZED Pods

Stewart Davidson

Stewart Davison
Founder, Elehan Consulting

Stewart has had a diverse career including nearly 10 years in the British Army. Stewart has worked in the field of Social Housing and Proptech for over 25 years and is passionate about how technology can be a force for positive change, having worked in both front line social housing and for technology companies he strives to inform, educate and implement new technologies to improve the lives of tenants and residents across the UK.

Leanne Day
Head of Consortium Services for Procurement Hub, Places for People

With a career spanning both the public and private sectors, I have gained a holistic view and understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing procurement professionals. As Head of Consortium Services, I am responsible for driving innovation and strengthening Procurement Hub's services. My focus is on delivering exceptional value to our members and suppliers while nurturing collaborative partnerships. With social value and community at the heart of everything Procurement Hub does, I am committed to driving the procurement industry forward to ensure social value is embedded in all our solutions and throughout project delivery. I aim to position Procurement Hub as the most ethical and socially conscious procurement vehicle in the UK.

Philippe Demougin
Property Innovation Manager, Flagship Housing

Philippe is Property Innovation Manager at Bromford Flagship, where he leads cross-cutting innovation projects focused on improving the quality, sustainability, and performance of homes. His work spans retrofit strategy, environmental monitoring, compliance transformation, and the practical application of emerging technologies across housing services.

He is currently leading Bromford Flagship’s involvement in the Connected Homes research programme, which explores how smart technologies and data can support healthier, safer homes in the social housing sector. His wider portfolio includes work on damp and mould prevention, tenant engagement, asset data integration, and funding strategy — with a focus on designing solutions that are evidence-led, scalable, and grounded in the lived experiences of tenants.

With a background in research and service design, Philippe is passionate about bridging the gap between innovation and delivery to help the sector tackle its biggest challenges — from decarbonisation to compliance to customer trust.

Sarah Dunkerley
Director of Membership and Professional Development, Chartered Institute of Housing

James Feetham
Inclusive Service Team Leader, Great Places Housing Group

James is the Inclusive Services Team Leader at Great Places Housing Group. The role of his team is to understand who is living in the homes owned by Great Places, what their needs are and how Great Places as an organisation tailor their service offer to those who need it. James is a disabled wheelchair user who has grown up living in Social Housing, and has over 20 years of lived experience to recount upon when communicating with customers. James is passionate about driving forward Inclusion and Accessibility in Housing, and in June 2024 was invited to the House of Lords to support the launch of the #FitForOurFuture campaign with Foundations UK and Invisible Creations.

Chris Fleck
Chief Technology & Product Officer, Mobysoft

Emma Gilbank
Service Manager for Sustainability and Climate Change, Connect Housing

Emma joined the sector three years ago after graduating from the University of Leeds, and currently works for Connect Housing. She is passionate about driving positive change through collaboration, with a particular focus on justice and inclusion. She was a finalist for Young Achiever at the Women in Housing Awards and was named in the Climate Champions Power List by Unlock Net Zero. Emma is also a board member at CIH Futures, representing young housing professionals at a national level.

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.

Andrew Gray
Relationship Manager and Chair of Landlord Operations Committee, Fusion21 and Torus

Karen Gregory
Training Officer, Tenant, and Panel Member, Tenant and Trainer at Aster, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Karen is a tenant and training officer at Aster and is a member of the Social Housing Resident Panel for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and The 4Million Homes Panel. She is a Board Member for Transform Housing & Support where she is also the Safeguarding Lead.

Matthew Grenier
Business Development Director, HACT

Matthew Grenier is the Business Development Director at HACT, where he oversees the delivery of strategic partnerships, communications, marketing and engagement for the organisation. He works closely with senior leaders to address challenges and identify emerging opportunities, ensuring HACT’s initiatives align with the evolving needs of the sector. Matthew joined HACT in 2021, bringing a wealth of experience from a career that has spanned strategic leadership, marketing, and business development. His relationship with HACT dates back to 2006, with roles over the years that have deepened his understanding of the organisation and its mission.

Matthew previously successfully ran his own company, where he delivered comprehensive communication and marketing services across a wide range of sectors and propositions. Working with senior leaders, trustees, and teams, he focused on building brands that achieved business objectives efficiently and effectively.

Through his leadership, Matthew has helped HACT expand its impact through transformative solutions like the award-winning Retrofit Credits and Social Value proposition tools. His dedication to fostering collaboration and delivering measurable social value makes him an integral part of HACT’s mission to empower the housing sector to create sustainable and thriving communities.

Lindsey Gurrey
Lived Experience, Lived Experience Speaker

Lindsey's hobbies are limited due to her chronic fatigue syndrome which is further exacerbated by her experience of anti-social behaviour. Despite this, Lindsey enjoys gardening, attends Ward Panel meetings with the Safer Neighbourhood Team, and takes a keen interest in “Simon Reeve”, “Have I got news for you”, “Astrid: Murder in Paris", "Handmade: British Best Woodworker” and housing renovations. She has varied taste in music, but her preference predominantly being rock music. Her dream would be to see the “Foo Fighters” in concert at a small venue, or even hiring out the Lloyds of London Atrium and playing a gig there. Lindsey would love to spend more time travelling abroad, with her son when he is older. Lindsey takes a keen interest in politics.

Michelle Hallmark
Behavioural Scientist and Managing Director, Creative Bridge

Shaun Harley
Executive Director of People and Change, Lincolnshire Housing Partnership

Dan Hawthorn
Executive Director, Housing & Social Investment, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea

Dan has twenty years’ local government experience, for London boroughs and two Mayors of London, and currently leads Kensington and Chelsea’s work on housing and property. This includes building the borough’s first new council homes in a generation; the development of a new ‘social investment’ approach to municipal assets; and the wider transformation of services, strategy and culture following the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Before that, Dan was Director of Housing, Regeneration and Planning at Haringey Council; Head of the London 2012 team at the Greater London Authority; and former Mayor Ken Livingstone’s senior advisor on planning and development.

Ian Hembrow
Senior Consultant and Trainer, Creative Bridge

Dr Kelly Henderson
Founder and Managing Director, Addressing Domestic Abuse

Kelly is the founder and Managing Director of Addressing Domestic Abuse who undertakes research, evaluation and training on domestic abuse and works with housing providers to support them to improve their response to domestic abuse. Kelly co-founded the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance and has a range of housing experience including Director of Housing, roles in asylum, Supporting People Programme and housing policy and research. She has a Masters in Housing Policy and Management and a PhD on the role of housing in a co-ordinated community response to domestic abuse. Kelly is also a Non-executive Director of Believe Housing.

Natalia Hill
Board Member and Chair of Customer Service Committee, Walsall Housing Group Limited

Natalia was appointed to the whg Board in November 2020. She is Chair of whg’s Customer Service Oversight Committee and the Customer and Complaints Champion.

After working in business management, Natalia embarked upon a career change to bring together her passions for people development, business and law. She has worked at the University of Wolverhampton since 2015 where she is currently a Principal Lecturer and Head of Access and Widening Participation in the School of Nursing. Her previous roles included Faculty Registrar and Head of Corporate Governance.

Natalia has extensive experience working in a regulated environment and understands the complexities of adhering to multiple requirements and different types of legislation. A Governor at a local Hospital Trust, she is working towards achieving a PhD in Social Work and Social Care focussing on the transferable skills of single mothers.

John Hoarey
Senior Dispute Resolution Manager, Housing Ombudsman Service

Sue Hodgson
Resident and Member of Scrutiny Panel, Thurrock Council and Mears Group

Dr Fiona Holland
Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Derby University

Elly Hoult
Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive and President, Peabody and CIH

Elly has over 22 years' experience in the housing sector, working her way up from supported housing officer to executive level roles. Elly was previously the Group Director, Assets and Sustainability at Notting Hill Genesis.  Her earlier roles were Programme Director, leading the integration programme for Notting Hill and Genesis, and Director of Business Improvement as well as a range of roles at Orbit and A2 Dominion.  Elly sits on the National Housing Federation’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Group and is a member of the Green Spaces Advisory Board. She is the current President of the Chartered Institute of Housing,.

Peter Hubbard
Senior Partner, Anthony Collins

Peter is the Senior Partner of the firm, having worked at ACS for 25 years. He is a nationally recognised leader in the field of social housing and advises registered providers, local authorities and other social housing organisations on major projects as well as constitutional, governance and regulatory issues. Peter specialises in strategic support for executives and boards, where he advises them on growth and diversification, as well as group structures, corporate and governance matters. Peter is ranked as a Band 1 lawyer in Chambers and Partners 2020 for social housing.

Jennifer Hutchings
Group Wellbeing Manager, Places for People

David Jamieson
Assistant Professor (Practice) in Entrepreneurship Innovation and Strategy, Northumbria University

Evie John
Managing Director, Inner Circle Consulting

Sandy Jones
Environmental Health Officer, East Devon Council

Halisha Kaur
Chair, CIH Futures

Halisha joined housing through a graduate scheme in development following completing a degree in City and Regional Planning. Halisha’s passion for the sector drove her to volunteer for CIH Futures and become Chair. Halisha believes that “Housing is more than bricks and mortar, our jobs are about providing a safe, secure home and new life opportunities to allow our residents to thrive”. Halisha lobbies to make housing a career of choice for the next generation and to increase the diversity of voices heard within the sector.

Victoria King
Sector Learning and Development Lead, Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS)

Victoria King is the Sector Learning and Development Lead at the Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) and is part of the Quality, Engagement and Development Department. Victoria is part of the team who deliver the Housing Ombudsman Service’ Centre for Learning, which is where HOS share learning from complaints and drive positive complaint handling across the sector. The function also provides insight into service provision from themes and trends in complaints to facilitate sector learning and a positive complaints culture for landlords and governance.

Deirdre LaBassiere
Head of Governance and Company Secretary, Parasol Homes

Akshita Lakhiwal
Net Zero Engagement, TPAS Cymru

As Net Zero Engagement Officer at TPAS Cymru, Akshita drives sustainable transformation in the housing sector. Drawing on her broadcast journalism background, she combines creative storytelling with strategic communication to promote net zero initiatives. Akshita is an expert in community engagement and innovation, focusing on creating meaningful impact through effective communication strategies that inspire sustainable action and positive change.

Aoife Lawler
Senior Executive Officer, Fingal County Council

Mark Lawrence
Communications Manager, Housing Ombudsman Service

Mark Lawrence has worked in social housing for over 10 years and is the Communications Manager at the Housing Ombudsman, with responsibility for external publications, reports and sharing learning across the sector. Mark was previously Editor at 24housing magazine and also Senior Content Editor at HQN.

Sem Lee
Director and Founder, OURI Labs

Sem Lee is an urban strategist and social entrepreneur with over 11 years programme managing sustainability, communication and design projects. Deeply affected by our housing crisis founded OURI Labs, a practice specialising in participatory research and design working between urban planning policy and practice to help reduce the problem of the approximate £1.4bn cost to the NHS due to poor housing in the UK. Collaborators include Health Innovation North East North Cumbria, Greater London Authority, Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and UK Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.

"With the current challenges facing social housing delivery, this collaborative platform comes at a crucial time. I'm particularly passionate about social housing's vital role in addressing health inequalities, and I believe this summit will allow us to collectively explore creative solutions to meet ambitious housebuilding targets while ensuring we create homes that truly serve our communities' needs. The prospect of engaging with diverse perspectives and facilitating crucial, challenging discussions that will help shape the future of social housing makes this panel particularly exciting."

Sam Lister
Policy and Practice Officer, Chartered Institute of Housing

Sandy Livingstone
Executive Director of Property, Onward Homes

Sandy is the Executive Director of Property for Onward Homes, a developing housing association that owns and manages 35,000 homes across the North West. Sandy is responsible for the delivery of Onward’s development programme of 5,000 new homes by 2030, a £100m retrofit programme addressing some of Onward’s least energy-efficient properties, maintenance, and its strategic approach to asset management.

Mark London
Senior Partner, Devonshires

Fuad Mahamed
Chief Executive, Ashley Community Housing

Fuad founded ACH and Himilo to empower refugees and migrants in the UK to lead self-sufficient, ambitious lives while contributing to society and the economy. He is also dedicated to changing people's perceptions of refugees and migrants to ensure that human dignity is always put first. Working the last 15-years in this sector, Fuad has the ability to build relationships and bridges between the community on the ground and policymakers. He has an MSc in Management from Lancaster Business School and went on to become a Clore Social Fellow for Refugee and Migrant communities and a Churchill Fellow.

Shels Maguire
Tenant Board Member, Hedyn

Professor Vikki McCall
Professor of Social Policy, University of Stirling

Sarah McClelland
Associate Director, Sustainability, Turner and Townsend

Elaine Middleton
Head of Partnerships, The Social Housing Roundtable

Elaine has spent the last 18 years working in the housing sector in a range of roles, regulators, and senior leadership teams, and understands the complexities, challenges and opportunities social housings brings. A key champion for change, improvement and innovation, she works with social housing organisations and sector partners to use customer feedback, insights and technologies to build strategies and action plans that stay true to an organisation's vision and purpose, while balancing the changing needs of both residents and regulators.

Shurreen Miles
Housing Officer, Brighter Places

Oliver Mooney
Head of Category, Fusion21

Oliver has worked in the wider construction and built environment sector for over 15 years. Originally from a construction project management background, he has spent the past 9 years working in public procurement.

In his current role he leads a team focussed on the procurement of capital works contracts across a range of sectors, scale and complexity. Oliver is responsible for the development and implementation of Fusion21's framework products and ensuring that services meet the needs of members and supply chains.

He has been a chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) since 2018 and is currently completing a Masters in Public Procurement Law and Policy.

Stephanie Morphew
Policy and Practice Officer, Chartered Institute of Housing

Amanda Newton
Chief Executive, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing

Amanda took up her role as the new permanent Chief Executive of Rochdale Boroughwide Housing in September 2023. Her professional experience spans private and public sectors with her most recent experience being in senior roles in the social housing sector. This has spanned governance and business improvement, leading customer facing services and delivering high impact social investment programmes that make a huge difference to people being able to thrive. She is now leading RBH through its transformation back to regulatory compliance with a focus on shaping services for and with our customers whilst making it easy for the people in our business to deliver.

Amanda has a relentless focus on delivering great services that make a difference to the people living in our homes and communities. She believes that those people working in customer facing roles should be able to do so seamlessly and with a passion that makes a real difference to customers. She believes that our customers should be able to expect to live a warm, safe home and is focusing RBH on delivering this fundamental objective for social landlords.

Gerraint Oakley
Chief Development and Growth Officer, Platform

Gerraint is executive director of growth and development at Platform Housing Group, a 50,000-home housing association based in the Midlands.

His previous roles include managing director of Curo’s house-building business in Bath and regional managing director of Keepmoat Homes South West. He has over 35 years of experience in property, real estate, asset management, development, and urban regeneration.

Gerraint joined Barratt Developments Plc in 2008 where he worked throughout the UK in Barratt and David Wilson Homes Divisions. Prior to joining Barratt, he worked for Vodafone for 10 years where he was a global strategy director specialising in real estate and development. He is a board member and chair of the development committee at Ongo Homes.

He has a passion for developing affordable homes, creating opportunities for apprenticeships, graduate programmes, and access to employment for those who would otherwise find it difficult to access such opportunities. He also undertakes coaching and mentoring for people starting out in their careers or those looking to develop in their careers.

Gerraint is a keen long-distance cyclist, which he does to raise funds for children’s charities.

Rev James Olanipekun
Chair, London Borough of Tower Hamlets Safer Neighbourhoods Board

Reverend James Olanipekun has lived in Poplar since 1991. He has been a member of Tower Hamlets Council’s overview and scrutiny committee; Chair of London Borough of Tower Hamlets’ Safer Neighbourhood Board (Mile End Ward); is a trustee of Tower Hamlets Street Pastors, Raine’s Foundation Trust, and Christ Apostolic Church.

He is also the immediate past vice-chair of Poplar housing and regeneration community association board in East London and is the current chair of one of the estate boards in Poplar Harca stock. Reverend James Olanipekun was a pioneer member of the Housing and Diversity Network London Region steering board.

Reverend James Olanipekun is a trained teacher, author of six published books on Christian topics. He has been a volunteer Pastor for over twenty years for a diverse congregation and was a recipient of the 2015 LBTH Civic Award for Outstanding Services to the community. Reverend James Olanipekun is happily married to Jummy and blessed with children who are also involved in the community positively.

Ayo Onibokun
Resident Support Lead, L&Q

Ayo was living in an L&Q Property in 2019 when she joined L&Q as a Homeownership Customer Service Advisor. She was keen to get on the property ladder, but unfortunately the property did not qualify under the Right to Acquire nor Right to Buy Scheme. Ayo then purchased her shared ownership property in 2020 from Golding Homes but following a recent strategic disposal the property is now managed by Southern housing and the new landlord is New Arch. In 2022, Ayo started her current role as Resident Support Lead.

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.

Abbie Peel
Communities and Place Making Manager, Home Group

Dewbien Plummer
Associate, Housing Diversity Network, Co-chair, HouseProud and Strategic Lead for Housing Complaints, Lewisham Council Housing Services

Dewbien has decades of operational experience in the sector, (local authority and housing association), with a background in leasehold and repairs and maintenance.

Niki Pullen
Head of Organisational Development, Abri

Jen Radcliffe
Head of Partnerships, Places for People Thrive

Jen Radcliffe is Head of Partnerships for PFP Thrive which is part of Places for People. Jen brings over 20 years of experience working with social housing partners in the recruitment and training sectors. She’s widely recognised for her knowledge of the sector, keeping up to date with emerging trends, legislation, and industry developments.

Jen is also a passionate advocate for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, working closely with clients to promote equal career opportunities. Most recently, she has been involved in the CIH’s ‘Choose Housing’ campaign and sits on the board of Women in Social Housing (WISH) Northwest, where she champions women’s career progression in the sector.

Annemarie Roberts
Interim Director of Operations, SOHO Housing

Julie Robinson
Executive Director, Greatwell Homes

Matthew Scott
Policy Officer, Chartered Institute of Housing

Helen Scurr
Executive Director, ARK Consultancy

Helen leads ARKs People division; she has a keen interest in personal development and has been instrumental in leading cultural change and transformation programmes. She works with organisations to create powerful and empowering cultures that ensure their overall success, supporting their organisational development and improving performance. She also heads up the ARK Academy which offers innovative – and bespoke - training and personal development solutions to organisations and their staff.

Helen is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing, who has influenced housing policy and practice as a former Trustee on the CIH National Council and Regional Board Chair. She has extensive non-executive experience joining the boards of training and JV companies and supporting boards, committees and supporting members across a wide range of organisational structures.

Helen has worked at executive and senior level with several RPs during the last twenty-five years as well as leading and managing a range of diverse services.

Nick Sedgwick
Associate Director, ARK Consultancy

Elly Shepherd
Head of Housing Policy, Assurance and Performance, London Borough of Camden

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.

Paul Smith
Director, Foundations

With over 30 years’ experience in housing, Paul works with local authorities, housing associations and central government to improve how home adaptations are delivered. He was part of the independent review of DFGs in 2018 and co-authored the national guidance published in 2022.

Paul leads several national initiatives to improve delivery and standards across the sector—including the Trusted Assessor programme, the DFG Quality Mark, and the Home Adaptations Installer Network.

He brings a practical, person-centred approach to system design, focused on speeding up delivery, reducing complexity, and supporting people to live well at home.

Tom Sowerby
Customer Relationship Director, Wates Group

As an active member of CIH East Midlands, Tom is passionate about maximising the resident benefits of the net zero carbon transition. Tom works alongside a range of social housing providers on a daily basis to bring added value and innovation to scheme delivery. Responsible for retrofit delivery to over 12,000 social homes nationally, he is able to draw from WPS’ broad experiences to share lessons learnt across a range of projects.

Emily Spurrell
Police Crime Commissioner, Merseyside Police Force

Emily is in her second term as Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Merseyside. She was first elected in May 2021 and re-elected in May 2024 with 61.7% of the public vote.

As PCC, Emily has prioritised preventing crime, tackling Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG), improving police scrutiny and transparency, and supporting victims of crime. These are encapsulated in Emily’s Police and Crime Plan for the region, which focuses on three key pillars:

• Fighting Crime and ASB;
• Supporting Victims;
• Preventing Harm.

Emily is the Chair of the national Association of Police and Crime Commissioners enabling her to be part of national conversations in relation to police reform and bring best practice back to the region.

Prior to being elected, Emily was Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, and she served as a Liverpool City Councillor leading on Community Safety.

Alison Stewart
English for Speakers of Other Languages Teacher and Member, Learning and Work Institute and Women of Newport

Emily Stockford
Sustainability Strategy Manager, Stonewater

Jez Sweetland
Project Director, Housing Festival and Bristol City Council

Jez has initiated and managed strategic development in a variety of settings. His previous positions include CEO of Guildhall Barrister’s Chambers, and CEO of a charitable national skills training organisation. He founded the Bristol Housing Festival in 2018 and believes collaboration is the key to lasting social development. Jez lives in Bristol with his wife, Joanna and his three children.

Jonathan Tan
Chief Executive and Founder, Greater Change

Jan Taranczuk
Independent Consultant, National Social Housing Fire Strategy Group

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

Natalie supports communicators in the housing sector to frame their communications so they build public understanding of why our homes matter. Natalie leads on the Talking about Homes project, which is co-funded by the Nationwide Foundation and Joseph Rowntree Foundation. She has over 20 years’ experience working in housing communications, across internal and external communications, policy and campaigns.

Ceri Theobald
Chief Executive, Lincolnshire Housing Partnership

Stacey Thwaites
Building Safety Advisor (Customer Engagement and Communications), Gentoo Group

John Wallace
Director of Procurement, Clarion Housing Group

John began his career in the brewing industry becoming a qualified Master Brewer. Having spent 10 years in brewing production, John moved onto various brewing procurement roles prior to spending 2 years in the food sector working for one of the country’s leading chilled food producers. In 2006, he joined the NHS being involved in the growth and development of two regional procurement organisations before moving to Housing with senior procurement roles at Anchor, MTVH and now Clarion Housing Group.

Rebecca Ward
Senior Housing Standards & Enforcement Officer, West Lindsey District Council

Ian Wardle
Chief Executive, A2Dominion Group

Ian joined A2Dominion in September 2022, having previously been Chief Executive at Thirteen Group since 2016. Prior to this, Ian was Managing Director of Reading Borough Council, Director of Regeneration Services at Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, Project Director for the Sunniside Regeneration Project in Sunderland, and Development Director at Taylor Wimpey.

Anne Waterhouse
Chief Executive, Wandle

Anne became Wandle Housing Association’s Chief Executive in April 2023 and is a Co-optee to Wandle’s Board.

Anne joined Wandle from A2Dominion, where she had been for 16 years, holding a variety of senior roles – including as interim CEO in 2021/22, and most recently as Deputy CEO and Executive Director (Central & Financial Services).

Anne has a proven track record within the housing sector and will be responsible for undertaking the delivery of Wandle’s corporate strategic plan to 2028, to ensure that Wandle continues to support people across south London who need a home.

Heidi Waters
Strategic Lead for Housing and Climate Change, Calderdale Council

I have worked in housing since joining Calderdale Council (based in Halifax, West Yorkshire) in 1994. I spent my first five years working on various housing estates across the borough as a Housing Officer, before moving into housing strategy and enabling work. During my 30+ years in housing, I have worked in a range of roles, including project management, homelessness and supported housing. I am currently Strategic Lead for Housing and Climate Change, which includes managing the housing service, including: affordable warmth; home improvements; retrofit work; empty homes; strategic housing; development of new homes; work with Registered Providers; and providing homelessness services.

Our Homelessness Service includes our Housing Options team, homelessness prevention, Temporary Accommodation and Support Service, Young Person’s team, the Migration and Resettlement team, Homes for Ukraine and Women’s Refuge Support team. We manage a women’s refuge and a temporary accommodation facility, along with a number of dispersed temporary accommodation units.

In addition to my housing responsibilities, I also lead on climate work, which includes sustainable travel, air quality and making homes sustainable and energy efficient. I have also managed a number of other services during my time at the Council, including Environmental Health, Pest Control and my favourite – becoming Chief Bin Lady for the borough whilst managing the Waste Management service, which meant being responsible for both waste collection and disposal.

I am also Chair of Trustees at Calderdale’s Citizen’s Advice service, Chair of Governors at a school in Halifax and a governor at another school.

Helen Watkinson
Resident Panel Member, Housing Ombudsman and Tenant Scrutiny Panel Member, EMH Homes

I’ve always had an interest in being part of the community and making a difference, so when the opportunity arose to become an engaged resident I was keen to get involved.

My personal experience of the complaints procedure at emh gave me insight on the issues faced by residents and once things had been resolved, I began to think about how I could stop this happening to other residents.

I joined the Scrutiny Panel as I felt my skills were really suited to the role, with my main enthusiasm focused on compliance and the delivery of a good service, and I am in my 3^rd year of holding the position of Chair.

The panel has an important role in identifying areas of the business that need improvement and we work on investigating then making recommendations in these areas, ensuring the best interests of both residents and emh.

Subsequently seeing how things have changed and improved because of customer influence has been really satisfying.

The Regulator’s inspection was my first experience in this type of highly focussed audit and I found the experience both exciting and nerve wracking at the same time, especially with the new Consumer Standard which was to be assessed.

Whilst we didn’t attain a C1 this time round and were awarded a C2, everyone is pulling together as a team on our journey “Pathway to C1” to make it happen.

One of the observations from the Regulator cited a gap in hearing the resident voice at Group Board level, so the Scrutiny Panel have been closely involved in the consultation of an engaged resident redesign, which is currently being developed.

We are looking forward to the new engagement structure being delivered in the very near future and with that a stronger resident voice across the whole business.

Rachael Williamson
Director of Policy, Communications and External Affairs, Chartered Institute of Housing

Rachael Williamson interim Director of Policy, Communications and External Affairs at the Chartered Institute of Housing, where she’s worked since 2021. Prior to this she worked for the civil service for over 10 years in a number of government departments (Ministry of Housing, Cabinet Office, Defra), as well as for Citizens Advice.

Morris Williams
Procurement Manager, L&Q

David Wilton
Chief Executive, TPAS Cymru

Laura Wood
Founder and Director, Invisible Creations