The Resilient Leader

The Resilient Leader: Why be a CEO in Housing’s Current Climate?

Speakers

Mark Perry

Chief Executive, VIVID

Mark became Chief Executive of south of England housing association VIVID from his role as Chief Executive of Sentinel and previously as Group Commercial Director at Affinity Sutton, now Clarion. Mark’s well known in the sector with over 25 years of experience in housing and is a key business figure in the south of England and beyond. He has a strong commercial background and a master’s degree in business administration. Mark is Chair of the National Housing Federation’s South East Sounding Board, Chair of Business South’s Housing Group and a non-executive director at McCarthy & Stone (Shared Ownership). Prior to this, he was the senior independent director at Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

Charmaine Simei

Chief Executive, Tuntum Housing Association

Charmaine has been working in social housing and related fields for some 28 years. After graduating in 1995, she started her career as a front line worker, working with rough sleepers, young homeless people, and people struggling with substance abuse issues. She then moved on to manage a range of services including specialist and supported housing and then on to general needs housing and sheltered housing, customer involvement , customer experience, community investment.

In April 2021, she was voted ‘Professional of the Year’ at the Women in Housing Awards 2021, primarily for establishing the Community Investment arm at Longhurst Housing Association which included a programme involving mental health, employment support, independent living, tenancy sustainment services and a hardship fund. At the time of her departure the programme had delivered over 18,000 support interventions.

Charmaine has previously been a mentor with the Housing Diversity Network, and sat on a number of steering Groups including HACTs Racial Equality Group. She is currently a serving board member with Communities that Work, the national voice of housing providers who support residents and communities into employment.

Sarah Thomas

Chief Executive, RHP

Sarah has 12 years’ experience in the housing sector at Executive level building on a career in the commercial sector including 8 years at a senior level at Eurostar. Sarah’s roles have covered a wide range of business activities including strategic planning, transformation, operations, customer service and corporate services. Her expertise and passion still very much lie in her customer experience and transformation background. Sarah has led on successful customer and digital change programmes in G15 housing providers, led large teams to achieve top performance and revitalised Eurostar’s approach to service through the introduction of an award-winning branded customer experience. Sarah has also been a non-executive director and on the panel of advisors for the Housing Ombudsman.

Sarah Stevenson

Director, New Street Consulting Group

Sarah leads the social housing practice at NSCG where she connects her clients with flexible talent that helps deliver substantive and sustainable change; shaping their organisations for the changing requirements of the customer base. As a business psychologist with over 20 years’ experience, she works closely with clients to find and develop the right people to drive business outcomes.

Date: 25 April 2024

Time: 10:00AM – 12:00PM

Venue: Central London

If you would like to register your interest to attend the roundtable please click the link below.