Lucy Dixon
Head of External Affairs, Karbon Homes

Lucy leads on public affairs and communications for the North East Housing Partnership. She has more than 20 years’ experience in communications and public affairs, and has worked across the voluntary and public sector including RNIB, the British Red Cross and Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service.

Tosin Adedayo
External Relations Lead, Metropolitan Police

Lisa Astle
Chief Reputation Officer, Orbit

As Chief Reputation Officer, Lisa is responsible for Orbit’s communications and reputation strategy. Prior to Orbit Lisa led internal, external, corporate and investor relations communications for Halfords Group, and spent 25 years in communications agency, most notably as Managing Partner at global communications agency McCann, where she advised clients from public, private and not-for-profit sectors, including McCarthy & Stone, David Wilson Homes and Oxfam, to Avis Budget Group, Mitchells & Butlers, Fiat Chrysler and General Motors.

Fiona Capel
Head of Communications, whg

Fiona is a Chartered PR professional and strategic communications leader with a passion for engagement, culture and creative solutions, who has developed a wealth of marketing communications experience as both a consultant and in-house communications leader. As Head of Communications at whg, one of the West Midlands’ largest housing providers, she leads internal and external comms that bring the organisation’s 2030 plan to life for customers, stakeholders and colleagues. Fiona is known for delivering insight-driven campaigns, embedding change and harnessing digital and AI innovation to drive impact.

Nick Cullen
Head of Communications, PA Housing

Nick has worked in social housing for almost 20 years in varying roles from Development to Housing Management. However, for the past 11 years his focus has been communications and how, when done well, they have the power to build relationships, transform brands, and improve customer satisfaction. He is also an experienced board member, recently completing his tenure at Warwickshire Rural Housing Association.

Joe Dundas
Director of Mayoral Strategy, West Midlands Combined Authority

Lindsay Garfitt-Brown
PR and Communciations Manager

With over 18 years of experience in communications, marketing and journalism, Lindsay moved into the housing sector almost three years ago and has since led on transformative internal and external communications for an organisational rebrand. Before that, she spent over a decade shaping communications at one of the UK’s top performing colleges, driving impactful campaigns and building strong stakeholder relationships. Her career also includes roles in communications and policy for the NHS and a national charity.

Kevin Garvey
Head of Member Relations, National Housing Federation

Prior to joining NHF Kevin worked in roles in public affairs, Parliament, Shelter and local government.

Jon Greaves
Chief Impact Officer, Places for People

John Greaves is Chief Impact Officer at Places for People, the UK's leading social enterprise. During his 35-year career, John has led integrated brand, marketing, communications, public affairs, and social investment programmes across consumer, B2B, and financial sectors in the UK and international markets. John joined PfP in May 2023 and since then has been instrumental in driving impact initiatives that support the Group's mission to change lives by creating and supporting thriving Communities.

Kate Hartley
Co-founder, Polpeo

Kate Hartley is the co-founder of Polpeo, a crisis simulation company that helps some organisations prepare to deal with a crisis. She is a crisis communications consultant and trainer, a visiting lecturer for various universities, and the author of ‘Communicate in a Crisis’, a book that explores the changing way people behave in crisis situations.

Kate is a Fellow of the PRCA and a member of the CIPR and was named in PRovoke Media’s Innovator 25 EMEA list in 2021 and 2024 (alongside her co-founder, Tamara Littleton). She is also the co-host of the crisis podcast 'What Just Happened'.

Jeni Harvey
Director of Marketing and Communications, Rochdale Borough Housing

Jeni is Director of Marketing and Communications at Rochdale Boroughwide Housing and vice-chair of LGComms, the organisation that champions excellence in public sector communications.

With more than two decades’ experience across communications, marketing and journalism, Jeni started her career on newspapers in Greater Manchester, before then moving to the Yorkshire Post where she headed up the newspaper’s South Yorkshire office.

Since making the transition into Communications, Jeni has worked in strategic leadership roles across the full spectrum of public sector organisations, including councils, policing and regional Government.

She has also taught on PR and journalism courses at the University of Sheffield, and is currently a Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) trainer with the BBC.

Steve Hayes
Director of Corporate Affairs and Communications, GreenSquareAccord

Steve has more than a decade of experience leading the communications functions at housing organisations. After moving into communications and PR after a career as a newspaper journalist he led communications for the Chartered Institute of Housing and has subsequently overseen award-winning transformations of the communications functions at Citizen and GSA. Steve has become a leading voice on communication within the social housing and not-for-profit sectors and regularly speaks on national platforms to share his insight and experience. He is a non-executive director at Creative Bridge, one of the leading creative agencies in the housing sector.

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.

Simon Henig
Head of Government Affairs, Stephenson Mohl

Simon has over 30 years of experience in UK politics, including serving as Leader of Durham County Council (2008–2021) and as the inaugural Chair of the North East Combined Authority. A long-standing member of Labour’s national policy forum and Gordon Brown’s Commission on the UK’s Future, Simon combines deep academic expertise in UK government with frontline political insight to lead SMG’s government relations and policy work

Charlotte Humble
Internal Communications Manager, Karbon Homes

Charlotte is a Chartered Marketer with 10+ of experience leading communications, marketing and engagement in the public sector. Covering the North of England, she is currently responsible for internal communications and engagement at Karbon Homes and has previously led brand development and communications in children’s social services and for a number of independent organisations. Charlotte is also a Board Member at North Tyneside VODA, and Board sponsor for culture and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

Hannah Jowett
Head of Communications and Brand, Yorkshire Housing

Hannah is head of communications and brand for Yorkshire Housing where she leads a full-service communications team including public affairs and external policy. Since joining, Hannah has led a reinvention of the Yorkshire Housing brand and its approach to communications. She is passionate about building teams where people can thrive and bring their ideas and creativity to life.

Hannah also leads communications for three housing partnerships across the devolved areas of South, West and North Yorkshire - working alongside housing CEOs, Local and Combined Authorities to deliver PR and influencing strategies to support the delivery of shared housing ambitions across the regions.

She is Vice Chair of the NHF’s National Influencing and Communications Committee.

Emma Kiddle
Head of Communications and Marketing, Settle

Emma is Head of Communications and Marketing at settle. The organisation supports over 23,000 residents in more than 10,000 homes across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and South Cambridgeshire, and Emma is responsible for all resident, colleague and stakeholder communications. Prior to joining settle, Emma worked as Head of Marketing Communications at Young Lives vs Cancer, the UK’s leading charity for young cancer patients and their families and led high profile campaigns in central government departments. Emma is co-chair of the National Housing Federation’s National Communications and Influencing Group, and a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

Amanda Leonard
Housemark

Amanda has worked extensively across the sector with Boards and Executive teams, improving organisation strategic planning and performance. She has led resident led co designed governance structure changes and multiple mergers. She also led on the Clarion merger and works with organisations on transformation and growth. Leading the first post Grenfell resident engagement event to consult on the Social Housing White Paper, working with the Cabinet Office and Housing Minister, Amanda is an influential thought leader.

Mairi MacRae
Director of Campaigns, Policy and Communications, Shelter

Mairi MacRae is the Director of Communications, Policy and Campaigns at Shelter UK. Mairi first joined Shelter as an Assistant Director of Advocacy and Activism in 2022. She previously held several leadership roles in the humanitarian sector including at the Asia Development Bank, Action Aid UK and the International Rescue Committee.

Rhys Moore
Executive Director of Public Impact, National Housing Federation

Rhys 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.

Charlaine Nkum
Vice Chair, Resident Strategy Group, Southern Housing

Charlaine currently serves as the Vice Chair for Southern Housing’s Resident Strategy Group. She is dedicated to amplifying the voices of residents and fostering inclusive communities. In addition, she holds the position of Interim Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Workforce Lead for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, where she works to promote equitable practices within the workforce. As a passionate social housing and community advocate, she strives to empower residents by providing essential knowledge and support in areas such as welfare benefits, disability application assistance, and human rights. Her commitment to social justice drives her efforts to ensure that every resident has access to the resources and information they need to thrive. Through collaboration and advocacy, she aims to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for all members of the community.

Jon Reeves
Director of Communications, Amplius

Matt Rhodes
Director of Communications and Public Affairs, The Hyde Group

Matt is a communications and public affairs leader, with a background across party politics, local government, and social housing. As Director of Communications and Public Affairs for The Hyde Group, a not-for-profit provider of 50,000 affordable homes across London and the South East, he works with national and trade media, builds relationships to influence stakeholders, and develops the group’s policy positions. During his time at MTVH, another social housing provider, Matt coordinated the activities of the G15 group of leading housing associations that collectively provide over 770,000 homes across the country, working across the political spectrum and with senior government officials. Before moving into social housing, Matt worked for the Labour Party in various roles over more than 12 years.

Sarauniya Shehu
Cabinet External Affairs Manager Leader’s Office & Cabinet Office, Southwark Council

Sarauniya is Cabinet External Affairs Manager at Southwark Council, managing the Leader’s political office and advising on external and strategic affairs. A former Public Affairs Manager at the National Housing Federation, she has extensive experience influencing housing policy and building partnerships across central and local government and the housing sector. She’s passionate about using communications and political strategy to create meaningful, lasting change in communities.

Jennifer Sproul
Chief Executive, Institute of Internal Communications

Jennifer Sproul is the Chief Executive of the Institute of Internal Communication (IoIC), the only professional body solely dedicated to internal communication. She leads IoIC's efforts in setting standards and advancing the profession through qualifications, career development, thought leadership, and best practices.

A passionate advocate for the value of internal communication, Jennifer is a regular speaker and co-hosts the podcast ‘The Future of Internal Communication’.

Natalie Tate
Strategic project lead for Talking about Homes project, Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Natalie is mobilising the Talking about Homes project for Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Nationwide Foundation. Talking about Homes helps communicators build public support for more decent and affordable homes by sharing tested framing recommendations to tell a powerful story.

Natalie engages with sector colleagues to share effective ways of framing to talk about homes. She explains insights into how the public thinks about homes, and how we can tell our stories more effectively to help us shift mindsets.

Danny Thorpe
Director of Communications & External Affairs, Clarion Housing Group

Danny Thorpe is Director of Communications & External Affairs at Clarion Housing Group, the UK's largest housing association, where he leads strategic communications, public affairs, and crisis management across the Group. A former elected Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Danny oversaw major regeneration projects including a £250 million council house building programme. He brings over two decades of experience spanning housing, local government, and event management, including the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. A Chartered Fellow (CMgr FCMI) with expertise in stakeholder engagement and political communications, Danny is passionate about using communication to drive social impact and build inclusive communities.

Hayley Warner
Communications Manager, Estuary