Meet your event chair.
Kelsey Walker
Director, Housing Consultancy, SavillsKelsey is a director in Savills affordable housing consultancy team. She leads the strategic governance range of consultancy, including in depth assessment readiness; governance, risk and board effectiveness reviews; regulatory recovery and lessons learned; consumer standards reviews; partnership and merger support.
Kelsey joined Savills in September 2018 and has an in depth knowledge of the expectations of good governance. In her nine years at the Regulator of Social Housing, Kelsey was part of the senior leadership group and led a team working with large and complex housing providers assessing their performance against the economic standards. Kelsey helped develop the regulatory approach including in-depth assessments.
Prior to joining the Regulator, Kelsey was Business Assurance Director for a London-based housing association.
We are looking forward to welcoming the following speakers to the Royal College of Physicians on 19 June.
Sharon Amesu
Director, SA ConsultingSharon Amesu is a multi award winning Professional Speaker who started her career in Law. She was a Criminal Barrister for 16 years with a successful practice across the Northwest of England. Sharon now runs a Consultancy that supports organisations with Leadership Development and Diversity and Inclusion initiatives. As a Professional Speaker, Sharon is invited to speak to audiences around the Globe on Women in Leadership and Inclusive Leadership.
Sharon is a Founding Fellow of the Society of Leadership Fellows, St George’s House, Windsor Castle, an Honorary Industry Fellow of the University of Salford Business School and former Branch Chair for the Institute of Directors. Sharon was recently invited to join the Northwest Business Leadership Team and is a Board member of The Hallé Orchestra. A lifelong learner, Sharon has recently completed Advanced Studies in Executive Coaching with The University of Cambridge. She has also recently become a published instructor on the LinkedIn platform.
Matthew Bailes
Group Chief Executive, Paradigm HousingMatthew 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.
David Ball
Co-founder, Cornerstone PlaceEileen Barr
Associate Solicitor, TC YoungEileen Barr is an Associate Solicitor in TC Young’s Registered Social Landlord (RSL) team and has extensive experience advising RSLs in a wide range of matters. In particular, she assisted RSLs in their preparations prior to the implementation of FOI in Scotland and regularly advises on responding to information requests and other challenges surrounding their FOI duties. Eileen was commissioned by the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations to prepare FOI template documents and guidance for their members, and frequently speaks at housing sector events on FOI.
Paul Bayly
Head of Governance and Compliance, National Housing FederationPaul is the Governance and Compliance Manager for the Federation. He looks after the Federation’s internal risk and assurance processes and is responsible for advising members on governance matters. Paul also assists organisations looking to adopt the Federation’s Model Rules for Registered Societies.
Craig Budde
Business Account Manager, Chartered Governance Institute of UK and IrelandCraig Budde is the Business Account Manager at The Chartered Governance Institute. A key part of his role is to engage with employers, universities and tuition providers to raise the profile of the Institute and promote good governance throughout all sectors and industries in general.
The Chartered Governance Institutes main purpose is to champion good governance and develop the value, skills, and effectiveness of governance professionals because we believe that better governance drivers better decision-making, and better decision-making creates a better world.
Sarah Cameron
@PeabodyLDN
General Counsel and Company Secretary, PeabodySarah leads the Legal, Governance, Risk and Regulatory Compliance teams for the Peabody Group. She joined Peabody in 2014 as Director, Legal and Governance. Prior to joining Peabody, Sarah was Group Company Secretary of technology company, Smiths Group plc.
Sarah is a qualified solicitor, with considerable experience in commercial contracts, mergers and acquisitions, dispute resolution, governance and business ethics.
Lenna Cumberbatch
Board Member, Rooftop Housing GroupLenna’s work focuses on diversity and inclusion strategic change. Over 25yrs she has held operational and strategic roles such as Diversity manager, Trustee, Non-Executive Director, and Committee Chair at organisations including the University of Cambridge, the Royal Society, and the Wellcome Trust. Her current roles include organisations such as recruitment firm Goodman Masson, Rooftop Housing Association, the European Commission’s research executive agency, and the Grace Eyre Foundation which supports people with learning disabilities. She sits on the Ofcom Communications Consumer Panel and Advisory Committee for Older and Disabled People.
Lenna is committed to community and volunteers for organisations such as King’s Health Partners Haematology, Be the Business – small business advisors, and anti-bullying charity, Diversity Role Models. A member of the Chartered Management Institute and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, Lenna is a Toastmaster’s Competent Communicator and Competent Leader. Her speaking engagements have included a keynote at the Portuguese Annual Science Communication Congress, BBC Scotland’s Black History month programme, and the Women of the World (WOW) festivals. She has a BA in English and women’s & gender studies. Her MBA dissertation subject was on revalidation, the appraisal system for doctors in the UK.
Syma Dawson
Director of Governance and Assurance, IncommunitiesSyma is the Director of Governance and Assurance at Incommunities Ltd and is responsible for Governance, Risk and Assurance, Data Protection, Health and Safety, and Legal Services. An experienced Chartered Secretary who has worked in governance and assurance for over 10 years across a range of organisations including The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust, her career has been predominantly in the health sector until she moved across into housing just over a year ago.
Arturo Dell
Consultant, Azeus ConveneRyan Dempsey
Chief Executive Officer, TCWRyan is the Chief Executive and founder of TCW, a globally unique property technology platform created to provide complete assurance on your data. Today, the solution provides clarity on property governance and lifecycle requirements to around 1.7 million Social Housing properties.
Due to his innovative nature around Safety and Engineering whilst working in Housing, Ryan obtained a Fellowship from the Institute of Engineering and Technology. He is also the main author to a number of essential guidance documents around the management of Electrotechnical services in Social Housing.
Nicola Ebdon
Assistant Director of Governance and Regulation, Lincolnshire Housing PartnershipNicola Ebdon has over 20 years’ experience of working as a qualified senior corporate governance professional in charity, regulatory, professional body and trade union services within the housing, health, communications and financial sectors. Her experience spans compliance, equality, diversity and inclusion, strategy development, corporate planning, risk management, project management and corporate performance management. She has also been a Data Protection Officer, with expertise in data protection for over 6 years.
Her approach has a focus on achieving the right outcomes and using effective behaviours to ensure good governance and she actively champions continuous improvement, and equality, diversity and inclusion. She joined the housing sector in 2021, with a remit over governance including board and committee support, regulatory assurance, legal and data protection.
Jesse Fajemisin
Director of Business Operations - Mount Green, Board Member - Gloucester City Homes, Mount GreenJesse has over 12 years’ experience in housing, most of which has been in the G15, and in positions of leadership. At Sapphire Independent Housing, he is the executive lead for housing, leasehold and asset management services. He is also a Board Member for Gloucester City Homes, where he is the Vice Chair of their Audit, Risk and Assurance Committee too.
Sarah Finnegan
Head of Policy, National Housing FederationSarah has been at the NHF since 2017 as part of the member relations team, before becoming Head of Policy last year. She previously held different policy and strategy roles in local government in London.
Kevin Garvey
Head of Member Relations, National Housing FederationPrior to joining NHF Kevin worked in roles in public affairs, Parliament, Shelter and local government.
Priyanka Kakkar
Group Head of Data, SanctuaryTabitha Kassem
General Counsel and Director of Governance, Heylo HousingRose Klemperer
Partner, Bevan BrittanRose primarily advises registered providers of social housing (RPs), community-led housing providers and third sector organisations on a wide range of corporate, governance and regulatory matters. Her work ranges from incorporation of RPs through to mergers (including transfer of engagements and amalgamations) and corporate re-structures. As well as supporting clients with their day-to-day governance and company secretarial needs, she also provides regulatory and legal compliance training and guidance to both boards and executive teams on a variety of topics. Rose’s work includes advising on strategic governance arrangements, the set-up of diversified structures, project management, charity law, general company law, co-operative and community benefit society law and advice around governance best practice.
Rose is the Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee at The Pioneer Group. She is also a co-founder and board member of Women in Social Housing Midlands (WISH Midlands), a membership-based organisation which organises professional and personal development events for people in all parts of the social housing sector.
Pav Kumar
Head of Learning & Development, The Guinness PartnershipPav has been the Head of Learning and Development at Guinness for four years. He is responsible for all aspects of people development, from regulatory and compliance training to talent development and professional qualifications to leadership and management. He also oversees early careers and set up Guinness’s first graduate scheme in 2021. He is passionate about helping individuals fulfil their potential and be the best versions of themselves and is pleased that he gets to do this often in his role at Guinness.
Deirdre LaBassiere
Head of Governance and Company Secretary, Parasol HomesDeirdre LaBassiere, an esteemed governance specialist and organisational leader, boasts a 20-year legacy in legal and regulatory realms. With expertise honed in advising, training and supporting entities in governance principles, particularly in the housing, NHS and charity sectors, she’s a trusted authority in data protection, compliance, risk management and assurance. Formerly Company Secretary at Bournville Village Trust, she now consults for organisations like Local Space, Magna and Parasol Homes. Notable roles include Governance & Assurance Manager at Housing 21, conducting a Governance Review related to the Post Office Scandal and curating the Birmingham Race Impact Group’s (BRIG) Housing & Race Summit in 2023.
Beyond the profession, she chairs Women Acting In Today’s Society (WAITS), Legacy Centre of Excellence and Common Purpose West Midlands, advancing women’s empowerment and inclusive leadership. She serves on boards like BRIG and the Lunar Society, where having been the first black woman to chair the organisation, she curates the Sir Adrian Cadbury Lecture.
Mia Lennox-Berry
Head of Customer Success, Aico HomeLINKMia is the Head of Customer Success at Aico HomeLINK. She collaborates with various Registered Social Landlords (RSLs), to tackle challenges like damp and mould, and achieving net zero targets. Mia's background is in apprenticeship sales, where she had the opportunity to work with clients, including the NHS. What drives her is connecting with customers, understanding the hurdles they face, and helping them make the most out of our products
Catherine Little
Director, Campbell TickellCatherine is a Director at Campbell Tickell, and leads on a range of governance, regulation and service related projects for housing providers and charities. She brings particular skills and experience around consumer regulation and has supported a number of housing associations and local authorities to assess and improve compliance and to prepare for inspection. She is an experienced facilitator and regularly leads a range of strategy days for Boards and senior teams.
Before joining CT, Catherine had 20 years’ experience in the non-profit sector, mainly in housing. Her experience includes time spent at Executive Director level, as Company Secretary and as a Board member. She is currently a Trustee of the National Centre for Writing, and is a Chartered Member of the CIH.
Maxine Loftus
Regulation Director, Housing Consultancy, SavillsMaxine is an accomplished housing professional with over 30 years’ experience in the social housing sector both within housing providers and at the regulator of social housing where she was the Director of Regulatory Operations. She has extensive experience in governance, risk and regulation backed by a solid foundation in housing management.
Ramesh Malhan
Head of Customer Voice, Black Country Housing GroupRamesh started his career at BCHG in 1991 holding different roles, initially supporting the elderly to stay in their homes through adaptation work. Following this, he lead a private-sector housing urban renewal project. He later moved into housing management and progressed to Head of Housing, supporting the reshaping of the service offer. In 2021, he was appointed as the new Head of Customer Voice with a focus on charting Together with Tenants and strengthening relationships. Outside of work, he supports a local Church and was recently accepted as a Board Member of the YMCA.
Lisa Maunder
Head of Governance and Assurance, LiveWestLisa is a Chartered Company Secretary and Fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute. Lisa specialises in governance, risk and regulation in social housing. Her 20 years in the sector have seen her take the helm of a variety of front and back office teams including business intelligence, legal, risk and audit, customer insight, communications, complaints and resident involvement. A proven leader, presenter, recruiter and mentor, Lisa has a passion for building stronger and more diverse boards.
Rhys Moore
Executive Director of Public Impact, National Housing FederationRhys 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.
Nadine Ofori-Atta
Head of Regulation and Compliance, Sage HomesNadine Ofori Atta is Head of Regulation and Compliance at Sage Homes. She has worked as a solicitor in commercial law, social housing governance and regulation for over fifteen year both in private practice and in house.
Zoe Ollerearnshaw
Group Company Secretary, Hyde HousingZoe is Hyde’s Group Company Secretary, working closely with the Board and the rest of the Hyde Leadership Team. She’s a Fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute and has 20 years’ experience in the social housing sector, having been responsible for providing company secretarial, governance and compliance services for a range of registered providers. Zoe was part of the consultation panel that shaped the NHF Code of Governance om 2020 and co-Chairs the NHF Governance Forum. She’s a qualified Risk Practitioner and acts as Hyde’s Data Protection Officer and Money Laundering Reporting Officer.
Jenny Osbourne
CEO, TpasJenny Osbourne is Chief Executive at Tpas – the tenant engagement experts - and has been in this role since 2014. Her previous role was Head of Corporate Services with specific responsibility for membership and governance matters. She is an English Graduate from Leeds University. Prior to working for Tpas Jenny worked for the Post Office on their management programme in the branch network.
Jenny is also the Chair of Stockport Homes Group and is a board member of the National Federation of ALMO’s. Jenny is passionate about the tenant engagement agenda and is a strong advocate for effective partnership working between tenants, providers, contractors and government.
Marie Porter
Phoenix Academy Manager, Phoenix Community HousingSince 2014, Marie has managed and developed the sector’s first award winning school of social housing – the Phoenix Academy. Initially Set up to encourage more residents to become involved with Phoenix and potentially take up future positions on our resident-led Board, the school of social housing has evolved to support anyone involved in the housing sector.
As a qualified assessor and tutor, Marie has supported over 490 residents, colleagues and external learners to gain qualifications in Academy Level 1 and CIH Levels 2, 3 and 4 courses – with Level 5 in the making. With a passion for education and personal development, Marie is also a member of the CIH London forum and mentors students undertaking Masters programmes at Greenwich university.
James Prestwich
@JamesAPrestwich
Director of Policy and External Affairs, Chartered Institute of HousingJames Prestwich is the director of policy and external affairs at the Chartered Institute of Housing. He leads our influencing and public affairs work across the UK. Before joining CIH in early 2020 from the National Housing Federation (NHF), he held the role of head of policy.
Lucy Rickson
Head of Governance, Plymouth Community HomesLucy Rickson is Head of Governance at Plymouth Community Homes and has over 20 years’ experience of housing association governance and regulation. Lucy has worked at several housing associations in the south west and has been integral to the transfer of council homes to new housing associations. Lucy also co-chairs the NHF Governance Forum.
Fiona Ruddick
Governance Manager, OngoFiona has over 15 years experience of working in governance within the social housing sector, covering housing association governance and regulation. She’s worked at Ongo Homes throughout this time and has progressed to leading the governance team in delivering governance services to the wider group.
Hetal Ruparelia
Partner, DevonshiresHetal advises on various aspects of Property Litigation and Housing Management including breach of lease issues, adverse possession, boundary disputes, lease variations, regeneration advice and service charge disputes. Hetal also provides non-contentious advice on housing and policy issues. Hetal is also head of our Information Team. She has particular expertise in advising clients on compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. Hetal is a specialist in the area and her experience covers all aspects of information law and privacy including the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Environmental Information Regulations 2004, breach of privacy and breach of confidentiality. Hetal advices on data breaches, making representations to the ICO and enforcement action from the ICO. She has assisted clients with large scale, complex data sharing arrangements which have included the processing of data overseas. She is particularly versed in supporting clients with complicated and high volume subject access requests. She also regularly provides training to clients on their obligations under data protection legislation.
Syka Sheikh
Director of Governance, Risk and Assurance, Yorkshire HousingSyka is a an experienced company secretary and qualified solicitor with more than 20 years’ PQE specialising in housing law. Syka has worked with housing associations and local authorities for 22 years specialising in all things housing related. Syka joined Yorkshire Housing as the Director of Governance, Risk and Assurance in 2022. At Yorkshire Housing Syka is responsible for a wide variety of compliance and assurance functions including governance, risk, internal audit, Data Protection, Health & Safety compliance and insurance.
Before joining Yorkshire Housing Syka was the Director of Legal and Governance at Incommunities and prior to this was the Legal Operations manager at Accent. She also spent 10 years working as a freelance trainer for local authorities and housing associations.
Christopher Simpson
Dispute Resolution Manager, OmbudsmanChris is Dispute Resolution Manager at the Housing Ombudsman Service (HOS) where he has worked for eight years and currently manages a team of adjudicators and investigators. Chris oversees some of the most complex and high risk cases investigated and determined by HOS, and his team have investigated the cases that formed the evidence base of the recent special investigations carried out into L&Q, Birmingham City Council and Catalyst. Prior to his current role, Chris was an adjudicator at HOS for more than four years.
Before joining HOS Chris already had more than 10 years’ experience in the social housing sector, working in the Northwest, Liverpool and then London. He managed frontline customer service and complaints teams for Housing Associations, Local Authorities and an ALMO. He is also an experienced change manager and in his last role before joining HOS at Lewisham Homes, he managed a significant customer service and complaint handling transformation programme.
Catherine Slater
Company Secretary & Head of Governance, Legal and Compliance, Trent and Dove HousingCatherine has worked in the social housing sector for 12 years; first at Bromford Housing Group and currently at Trent & Dove Housing in Burton, where she is the Company Secretary and Head of Governance and Legal. Prior to that, Cat worked for a multi-national PLC and for a private developer. Cat is legally trained and has spent much of her career in governance and company secretarial practice, where she has supported boards, committees and executive teams to lead effective organisations.
The teams that Cat leads are responsible for board, committee and subsidiary governance, risk management, internal control and assurance, in-house legal services and data protection. Cat is a strong advocate for ‘democratising’ and ‘demystifying’ governance and assurance and is a keen supporter of raising the profile of customer influence and engagement to continuously improve insight and services.
Sarah Smith
Chief Financial Officer, Southern HousingSarah has worked with and in the housing association sector since 1988. She is a Chartered Accountant beginning her career with BDO before specialising in social housing and moving to KPMG. Before joining Southern Housing Sarah spent eight years as Director of Financial Services at London & Quadrant Housing Trust. Sarah is a member of the NHF’s Finance & Policy Advisory Group. She sits on the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) social housing sub-committee. She has previously chaired the g15 Finance Directors’ Group and was Vice Chair of the NHF’s SORP Working Party. In her role as Chief Financial Officer of Southern Housing her responsibilities include internal audit, business risk and assurance, governance, financial services, procurement and pensions. She is a Trustee of Dolphin Square Charitable Trust and also a member of their Audit Committee. She is a Board member and Chair of Audit Committee at Reall, a charity investing in affordable housing in urban Africa and Asia. She was appointed to the Sustainability for Housing Board in 2021.
Alistair Smyth
Director of Policy and Research, National Housing FederationAlistair 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.
Guy Stenson
Chief Executive, Gloucester City HomesGuy joined Gloucester City Homes as Chief Executive in March 2022 from Stonewater where he'd held a number of roles, most recently Director of Housing Operations. Guy’s career has spanned leadership roles in both the statutory and not-for-profit sector, often in roles working across the traditional boundaries of housing, health and social care and is passionate about the role housing associations can play working alongside citizens, partner agencies, as well the wider community, to improve quality of life, aspiration and opportunity for all, ensuring that everybody, regardless of their circumstances has a place where they feel safe and can be proud to call home.
Guy is currently a Board Member of both Orbit Housing Association and Newport City Homes, he is Chair of Audit & Risk Committee at Newport City Homes.
Joanne Tilley
Executive Director – Corporate Services, EMH GroupJo has been at emh since 2004. A Chartered Member of the CIH, she started her career in housing management, and has also worked in research, strategy, information services, and care and support. As Executive Director Corporate Services, she now oversees governance, people, learning and development, health and safety, and communications services. Jo has an MBA from Birmingham Business School and is one of the three Co-Chairs of the NHF’s Governance Forum.
Ciaran Tully
External Affair Manager, National Housing FederationCiaran Tully is an External Affairs Manager at the National Housing Federation. He is the regional lead for North West and the member engagement lead for influencing.
Melissa Underwood
Governance, Risk Compliance and Environmental Business Development Manager, Phoenix SoftwareMelissa has spent over 4 years advising Public Sector, NHS, Housing, Charities & Education organisations clients on all aspects of Cyber Security from technology & security solutions, to services around Cyber, governance, risk & compliance and how their in-house GRC Consultancy team support with these challenges.
She has experience working with some of the leading security suppliers on the market for challenges including Identity Security, SOC operations and Incident Response. She continues to advise clients around assessing & improving their cyber security posture, mitigate & reduce risk, and ensuring clients are prepared for cyber incidents.
Selina White
Chief Executive, Magna HousingSelina 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.
Selina is Chair of the National Housing Federation’s South West Leadership Forum and plays a pivotal role in shaping housing policies and strategies in the region. She 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.Paul Woollam
Director for Customer Excellence, Acis GroupPaul has been one of our directors since 2007. He has overall responsibility for operational and support services to our customers and is passionate about the delivery of these.
He is a qualified housing professional, a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and member of the Chartered Management Institute.
Paul acts as a mentor for the Chartered Institute of Housing Careers Mentoring Service and is a long-serving governor of Selston Bagthorpe Primary School in Nottinghamshire.
Sam Wyatt
Dispute Resolution Manager, OmbudsmanSam joined the Housing Ombudsman Service in August 2023 as a Dispute Resolution Manager. Sam bring over 22 years’ experience of working in social housing in a variety of operational and strategic roles. These roles include overseeing front line teams, managing all aspects of housing from housing management to resident engagement.
Sam holds a degree in Housing Practice and a Graduate Diploma in Law. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and was a trustee of YMCA Heart of England (formerly YMCA Birmingham) as well as a other local Charities.