Mark Easton
Broadcaster, author and former Home Editor at the BBC

Mark Easton is an award-winning broadcaster and author, a familiar face and voice on British television and radio for more than 40 years. He has written extensively on the UK, including in his books ‘Britain etc.’ (2012) and ‘Islands’ (2023). A new book, provisionally entitled ‘Brits’, is currently in production. As the BBC’s Home Editor from 2004 until 2025, Mark provided news coverage, analysis and broad perspective on the major events affecting Britain. Before that, he was the Home and Social Affairs Editor at Channel 4 News and Political Editor at Channel 5 News. Mark started his career as a cub reporter on his local paper in Southampton in 1978. Mark is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, a Senior Fellow of the National Centre for Social Research, a Governor of the National institute of Economic and Social Research and member of Westminster Abbey’s Council of Reference.

Nahim Ahmed MBE
Head of Strategic Engagement Youth and Community CaN Directorate,, Poplar Harca

Nahim is an award-winning youth worker (JNC) and keynote speaker with 18+ years' experience across the voluntary, public and private sectors. He has been on a mission to help bring positive, sustainable changes to the community he serves, particularly to areas affected by structural societal issues, including poverty, youth violence and deprivation.

Phil Andrew
Group Chief Executive, Orbit

Phil Andrew is Group Chief Executive at Orbit Group, one of the UK’s foremost housing groups. Phil is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Housing, a Chartered Accountant, qualified treasurer, and Chartered Marketer, and has over 30 years’ experience in leadership positions across the for-profit, governmental contracting and not-for-profit environments. The last 20 years specialising in commercially minded organisations that are driven by social purpose. Prior to joining Orbit, Phil served as Chief Executive at StepChange and Chief Executive of Working Links. He has also held a number of senior positions in the UK and France including Chief Finance Officer of Sodexo UK & Ireland, and Chief Executive, Sodexo Justice Services. Phil was previously Vice-Chair of Raven Housing Trust and Chair of the Breck Foundation, an online safety awareness Charity.

Peter Baffoe
Vice Chair and Resident, Peabody

Peter Baffoe is a senior leader with extensive experience across housing, community development and governance. He is Vice Chair of Peabody and Chair of its Resident Experience Committee, where he brings a strong focus on ensuring resident voice influences decision-making, service quality and organisational culture.

Alongside his housing roles, Peter is Executive Director of South London Mission and Bermondsey Central Hall, leading a diverse programme of community services and partnerships in inner London. His work is rooted in a belief that good governance and meaningful engagement should translate into tangible improvements in people’s everyday lives.

Peter brings both professional and lived experience of social housing to conversations about customer experience, resident influence and the future of the sector.

John Beadle
Vice Chair, Providence Row Housing Association

John Is Vice Chair for Providence Row Housing Association (PRHA). PRHA has been helping homeless people since 1860 and provides social housing along with the essential services to support those who are homeless. It remains committed to its East London roots and serves the highly diverse communities in Tower Hamlets, Hackney and the City of London. As the Director responsible for HR, John chairs the HR scrutiny group and Remuneration Committee, and has oversight of the People Strategy, executive succession and compensation, and monitoring HR performance. PRHA has a ‘Gold’ Investors in People accreditation. John has over 30 years' HR experience across multiple sectors and is currently Senior Research Fellow and Council Director for the Conference Board, an independent, non-profit business research organization, and founder of the boutique consultancy, Reward Advisory. He was made a Companion of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) for his services to the HR profession in the UK

Jenny Brown
Non-Executive Director, Tuntum Housing Association

Jenny is a governance and EDI specialist working both as a governance consultant and as a learning and development facilitator focussing on EDI and behaviours. She is passionate about bringing these two worlds together to create better organisations who can have a greater impact on more people. Jenny has worked on and with boards for many years and was Chair at Longhurst Group pre-merger and is now on the Board at Tuntum Housing. Her work includes the Social Housing sector through her associate role as a Governance Director at Altair and with a broad range of national and multinational organisations through associate roles elsewhere. She is a Coach, Coach Supervisor and Mentor to a wide range of people including Executives, Non-Executives all the way through to those at the beginnings of their careers. Jenny is involved in the design and delivery of the NHF’s recently launched Inclusive leadership Challenge.

Bethan Buck
External Affairs Manager, National Housing Federation

Bethan has worked for the NHF for eight years, having previously worked for a social enterprise specialising in community development and placemaking for areas undergoing regeneration. As External Affairs Manager for London, Bethan works closely with housing associations across the capital and is responsible for the NHFs offer for smaller housing associations. With significant programme management experience, Bethan is currently working across various specialisms at the NHF including supply and regeneration, building confidence and trust, the Better Social Housing Review, and community cohesion. Bethan also sits on the Advisory Board for the LGBTQ+ Housing Pledge.

Francis Burrows
Chair, Pioneer Group

Francis has been on the Pioneer Group Board since 2019 and Chair since 2023, leading the Board's focus on our communities and customers. In his day job he is an Executive Director at Wandle in South London, running the housing and property operations, bringing this operational expertise to the Pioneer Board.

Anne Chapman
Vice Chair, EMH Group

Bernadette Conroy
Chair, Board, Regulator of Social Housing

Bernadette is an experienced Chair and Non-Executive Director operating across a number of sectors. These include financial services regulation, where she is a NED for the Financial Conduct Authority and housing, where she is the former Chair of Network Homes.

She is also the Independent Chair of the Buildings and Estates Committee of Cambridge University with responsibility for the development and maintenance of the University’s estate and its capital build programme and a NED for Milton Keynes Development Partnerships.

Prior to taking on a non-executive portfolio, Bernadette held a number of executive roles in financial services, latterly as Global Head of Strategy and Planning for HSBC Corporate, Investment Banking and Markets.

She has an MA in Mathematics from Cambridge University and an MBA from INSEAD. In 2020, Bernadette received the Sunday Times Not for Profit Non-Executive Director of the Year award.

Melanie Czarra
Non-Executive Director – Investment Committee / Non-Executive Director – Chair Audit & Risk Committee, Abri / Vectis Housing Association

Melanie is a Portfolio Non-Executive Director in Housing and Financial Services, with deep expertise in Treasury, Capital Markets, and Private Credit, following a 30+ year executive career in investment banking at global bulge-bracket investment banks including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Mizuho and UBS Investment Bank. Melanie reached the level of Division Head and ExCo member as well as EMEA Head of Debt Syndicate and Head of EMEA & Cross-Border Debt Capital Markets. She has a strong commercial acumen and technical knowledge of corporate finance, large-scale M&A finance advisory, structured finance, private credit, and credit sales & trading and hedging strategies, working with sophisticated, global multinationals (all industries and sectors) and global institutional investors (including activist). Melanie's current NED portfolio consists of the following roles: Non-Executive Director – Investment Committee, Abri Group; Non-Executive Director – Chair, Audit & Risk Committee, Vectis Housing Association; Non-Executive Director – Chair, Board Risk Committee (SMF 10), Chetwood Bank; Remuneration Committee Chair-Elect, Scotiabank. Previously, Melanie served as NED and Board Risk Committee Chair (SMF 10) for Daiwa Capital Markets Europe. She has also served as Board Chair of United Way UK (the UK chapter of the largest publicly funded charity in the world); Senior Advisor to FinTech firm, BondAuction; and Member of the International Advisory Board of the University of Edinburgh Business School. Melanie is a strategic thinker, and an engaged, outcome-focused NED, who thrives in delivering complex solutions and business transformation; encouraging opportunistic growth by assuming appropriate levels of risk; nurturing culture uplift; and mentoring the next generation of future leaders, whilst operating to the highest standards of governance and integrity. In addition to Melanie's global investment banking career, Melanie has recent operating experience as entrepreneur and CEO of 3 SMEs on the Isle of Wight, including as Founder & Chair/CEO of a luxury goods retail SME. Throughout her career, Melanie has built award-winning, successful businesses - large and small.

Sarah Finnegan
Head of Policy, National Housing Federation

Sarah 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.

Maggie Galliers CBE
Chair, National Housing Federation

Maggie has over a decade of non-Executive experience in the education sector, recruiting and performance managing CEO’s and senior executives at both local and national level. Previous to this she worked in education for over 40 years, including 15 years acting as CEO at several colleges. Most recently Maggie has served as chair of The National Learning and Work Institute since 2016 and is Pro Chancellor and Chair of Council for Buckinghamshire New University. She was awarded a CBE in 2009 in recognition of her services to local and national further education.

Adam Gravely
Policy Officer, National Housing Federation

Adam leads the NHF’s policy work on shared ownership and accessible housing, and supports policy development across new housing supply and sector finances. He joined the NHF in 2024. Prior to this, he was a Graduate Trainee and later a People & Purpose Strategist at the John Lewis Partnership, owner of John Lewis and Waitrose. Adam is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Warwick and a Master’s in Business and Management from De Montfort University. Adam grew up in social housing and has lived experience as an involved resident and as a young carer.

Cara Green
External Affairs Manager, National Housing Federation

Cara Green is External Affairs Manager at the National Housing Federation. With a background in communications, strategy and digital innovations, she works closely with members to drive meaningful change with a powerful mission: ensuring everyone has access to a safe, affordable home.

Lizzie Hearn
External Affairs Manager, National Housing Federation

Kate Henderson
Chief Executive, National Housing Federation

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

Kai Jackson
Special Membership Project Lead, TPAS

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

Andrea Keenoy
Interim, Housing Ombudsman

Andrea Keenoy is interim Ombudsman, starting in August 2026. Andrea has held several roles at the Housing Ombudsman Service since joining the organisation in 2015. She has overseen the introduction of a new operating model, the expansion of our workforce from c.80 employees to over 600, and the development of a comprehensive Ombudsman service that achieves positive change. She previously served as interim Housing Ombudsman from 2018 to 2019.

Kate McDonald
Policy Officer, National Housing Federation

Mike Kirk
Chair, Hyde Housing Association

Mike is Chair of the Hyde Group Board. He joined Hyde in 2021 from housing association Vivid, where he was Chair from 2017, following the merger of First Wessex (where he was Chair from 2015) and Sentinel.

He is currently a trustee of the Ironbridge Gorge Museums Trust and was previously Executive Chairman at Quadrise Fuels International plc, Chair of Portsmouth Water, Senior Independent Director at KBC Advanced Technologies plc, Chair of The Conservation Volunteers and Chair of Thackray Museum of Medicine.

Mike studied chemical engineering and nuclear fuels technology, at the University of Leeds and Imperial College, respectively and was a Chartered Engineer. After working in the nuclear and chemical industries, he worked as a loss prevention engineer in the insurance industry covering clients throughout EMEA. After gaining a Finance MBA from Bayes Business School, Mike worked in corporate finance and became a Partner at investment bank Cazenove & Co. and then was Managing Director of Financial PR agency Weber Shandwick/Square Mile before commencing a plural career as a non-executive director.

Gary Moreton
Chair, WHG

Gary was appointed Chair of whg’s Board in July 2022.

Gary, previously a chartered accountant and audit partner at RSM, joined the Board in July 2019 and was elected Deputy Chair in June 2020. He has more than 25 years’ experience working in our sector and previously led RSM’s social housing work nationally. He has worked with housing associations on various regulatory, risk and governance matters including preparations for in-depth assessments carried out by the Regulator of Social Housing.

Gary is now a financial consultant to a Midlands property development company and is a member of the Audit Committee at Orbit. His wealth of experience, firm belief in our mission and commitment to continuous improvement will support our current and future ambitions.

Gary is also a member of whg’s Governance and Remuneration Committee.

Jess Mullins
Head of Member Relations, National Housing Federation

Jess has worked at the NHF since 2017. She has worked in our public affairs team and has been Head of Member relations since 2021 leading on equality, diversity and inclusion; general election work and larger housing association members. Prior to joining the NHF Jess worked in Parliament.

Nick Murphy
Chair, P3 Housing

Nick’s social housing experience spans across local authorities, central government and housing associations.  As a former Chief Executive, he led the development of award-winning services which improved residents’ homes including the delivery of large scale, innovative retrofit projects. He is currently Chair of P3 Housing, Vice Chair of Tuntum Housing and is undertaking a PhD research project at the University of Nottingham exploring how regional government can help scale up retrofitting homes

Aloma Onyemah
Head of Communities and Equalities, Leicester City Council

Danielle Oum
Chair, EMH

Danielle has a strong leadership background in strategic development, stakeholder engagement and transformational change spanning the public, private and voluntary sectors. She brings extensive experience in the housing and care fields, having previously and currently held chair roles at NHS Birmingham, Black Country and Solihull Integrated Care Board (ICB) Cluster, Chair of NHS Coventry and Warwickshire ICB and whg. She also holds Board member positions in Fusion21 Ltd and Waythrough. Danielle began her career in publishing and went on to work in skills and employment roles at the Department for Work and Pensions, the Learning and Skills Council and TCV.

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.

Alex Raikes
CEO, Stand Against Racism & Inequality (SARI)

Alex became Chief Executive of Stand Against Racism & Inequality (SARI) in January 2024. SARI is a leading, regional hate crime charity, based in Bristol and operating throughout the Avon & Somerset area that also influences national response to hate crime. Alex joined the charity as their first caseworker in 1991 under the leadership of the founding Director the late Batook Pandya MBE DL. Alex has gone on to be a driving force in SARI and its surrounding areas for tackling racism and hate crime; ensuring a best practice response by responsible agencies and ensuring that conflicts between and within communities are minimised so safety, security and cohesion is maintained for all. Alex is a member of the National Hate Crime IAG and Gold Group; Chair of the Board of the Key Unlock Potential (a charity developing a social enterprise cafe for ex-offenders) and several strategic partnerships across the region for tackling hate and promoting race equality, equality, diversity and inclusion and cohesion. She is a member of the University of Bristol Court; was awarded an MBE in 2009 for her contribution to race relations; was made an Honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of West of England in 2019, was made Deputy Lieutenant of Bristol in July 2020, was the High Sheriff of Bristol 2022-2023, and received an Honorary Doctorate from Bristol University in 2023.

Crucially, as a dual heritage individual with 4 sons, Alex has first-hand experience of racism and running a busy, lively household.

Vic Rayner
Chief Executive Officer, National Care Forum

Professor Vic Rayner OBE is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Care Forum, joining the organisation in 2016. As CEO she chairs the government national workforce advisory group. In addition, she chairs the National Social Care Advisory Group on social care and technology and has been at the forefront of promoting digital transformation across care. She sits on a range of government and national specialist groups with a focus on the social care workforce, digital transformation, new models of care and regulation. She has recently stepped down from chairing the working group of the APPG on adult social care.

Vic is a regular national and international speaker and has extensive knowledge and expertise across a wide range of care, support, housing and social policy agendas. Prior to joining the NCF, she was the CEO of Sitra, a leading national membership body championing excellence in housing, health, care and support. Vic is the incoming chair of the Global Ageing Network and has worked extensively with international partners on key areas of innovation and change. In addition, she was awarded an Hon. Professorship in Health Sciences by City University, working closely with the My Home Life programme and the wider University agenda around ageing and care. She was awarded an OBE for services to social care in 2021

Vicky Savage
Executive Regional Director London & East of England, Homes England

Matthew Snedcker
Green Party and Darlington Borough Council

Dr Lígia Teixeira
Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Homelessness Impact

Dr Lígia Teixeira is the Founding Chief Executive of the Centre for Homelessness Impact. She works with governments, mayors and housing leaders in the UK and internationally to help homelessness systems move from crisis response to prevention using better evidence, data and rigorous testing of what works.

Ciaran Tully
External Affair Manager, National Housing Federation

Ciaran 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.

Jonathan Walters
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.