Mike Kirk
Group Chair, Hyde Group

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.

Roli Barker
Chair, Jigsaw Homes Group

Roli is the Group Chair of Jigsaw Homes Group and a trustee at The Lowry. She is currently a Director at the Big Life Group and has extensive experience of designing and delivering a diverse range of projects for corporate and non-profit organisations. Her previous roles have included leading a project to transform the private rented sector in Greater Manchester for Shelter, community engagement for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and fundraising initiatives for arts organisations.

Claire Kober
Board Member, Notting Hill Genesis

Claire is Managing Director Homes at Pinnacle Group overseeing the company’s housing, estates and property management contracts. Claire works in partnership with a range of clients in local and central government, as well as the institutional investment and development sectors. She sits on the Pinnacle Group Executive Committee.

She serves on the board of Notting Hill Genesis, a large London based housing association, and chairs its operations committee. Prior to joining Pinnacle, Claire spent a decade in local government as Leader of the London Borough of Haringey and is a former Chair of London Councils. In 2015, Claire was awarded an OBE for services to local government.

Junior Hemans
Chair, Tuntum Housing Association

In 1990 Junior joined The Housing Corporation, as a Regulation Officer. Junior was involved in several high-profile investigations. Junior was one of the first appointees to the Stock Transfer Unit, that focussed on delivering the many local authority stock transfers. He delivered several ground-breaking transfers.

In 2001, Junior joined pwc as a public sector consultant, working on a variety of housing assignments, production of two good practice guides to business planning on behalf of The Housing Corporation and the Sector Skills Council; secondment to Homes & Communities on their housing kickstart programme. Other public sector work included assessments of the Building Schools for the future applications.

In 1995 he wrote a business plan to acquire investment properties, prior to Buy to Let mortgages. In 1998 he identified a business opportunity to teach children in care, Together with business partners, formed Education Plus and provided teachers to children care homes, took over management of two failing out-sourced schools and improved their Ofsted ratings. They were nominated for several national awards.

Junior left pwc in 2011 and has now developed a portfolio of work for himself. He continues to buy renovate and sell properties; he is chair of Tuntum Housing, a former board member of Ashram Housing, a Non-Executive Director of Walsall Healthcare Hospital and a former NED of Royal Wolverhampton Hospital, he is also a visiting lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton Business School.

Matthew Harrison
Chair, South Yorkshire Housing Association

Matthew joined South Yorkshire Housing Association as Chair in November 2023. His executive career prior to this was spent largely with Manchester based Great Places Housing Group, who he joined in 1993 as Director of Development. Whilst in this role he led the organisation through award winning developments before being appointed as Chief Executive in April 2013. He has vast experience in development and urban regeneration and has led on many iconic developments and projects that supported the growth of the business before stepping down in June 2024.

Whilst at Great Places Matthew undertook a variety of roles including Chairing Hive Homes, an innovative joint venture and the South Yorkshire Housing Partnership. He has also been a Director of Forge New Homes, Inspiral Oldham PFI, the Oldham / Rochdale Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder and the Sheffield Local Housing Company, as well as being the Vice Chair of both the Greater Manchester Housing and Planning Commission and the Greater Manchester Truly Affordable Net Zero Housing Task Force. He has also been a member of the Sheffield Housing Growth Board.

In addition to these roles Matthew has also served as a non-executive Director at Halton Housing and is currently a non-executive Director for This City, Manchester City Council’s innovative residential development company.

Daisy Armstrong
Resident Board Member and Chair, Southern Housing and G15 Group

Daisy has lifelong experience of living in social housing and knows the benefits it can bring from her great-grandfathers housed in ‘Homes for Heroes’ in West London.

She is a qualified teacher, specialising in IT and design and technology, with 17 years’ experience of school governance; eight years as Chair of Governors.

Daisy is involved in raising the resident and disabled person’s voice as resident board member with Southern Housing, and additional roles as EDI lead, Residents Services Committee member and link board member on a regional resident’s panel.

As Chair of the G15 Residents’ Group, Daisy leads the forum in informing, influencing, and celebrating the socially housed residents voice at leadership policy level.

Rory Weal
Chair, Rural Homelessness Counts Coalition

Rory Weal is the founding co-chair of the Rural Homelessness Counts coalition, which brings together a wide range of charities, housing association, and representative bodies with the goal of ending homelessness in rural communities. Rory has worked for UK charities and housing associations in the fields of poverty, mental health, and housing to build long-term solutions to social injustice. Rory is a Churchill Fellow and Thouron Scholar, having spent time in the United States studying international approaches to tackling poverty and homelessness.

Helena Evans
Board Member, Housing for Women

Helena has been a CEO for smaller Housing Associations including a supported Housing Association since 2015. With nearly 30 years’ experience of working in the housing and social care sectors across a range and scale of Housing Associations, Local Authority and National Mental Health Charitable organisations covering many geographical areas across England.

Helena is currently the CEO at Westfield Housing Association, a small registered provider based in the North West with a stock size of approximately 640 units which also oversees a community based children’s nursery. Helena is also the Chair of the NHF National Smaller Housing Association network; a Board member for a London based Housing Association supporting women and children and is also a Board member on an Advisory Board for BCP Homes.