Welcome to WISH Yorkshire & Humberside .

Lindsey Mills, Business Development Manger at Fortem Solutions has around 18 years' experience working in the social housing sector.

Lindsey joined the Fortem team in August 2023, her role is to identify new clients and maintain a good working relationship with new and existing contracts covering Yorkshire & Humberside, East Midlands and the North West.  Lindsey will also be focused on the development, implementation, and management of Frameworks within the organisation.   

Lindsey will form part of the team to help launch our 2030 Fortem sustainability strategy.  Our strategy is dedicated to delivering value across three themes. Our themes set out our long-term ambitions which describe the future we are striving to create. Our ambitions are supported by specific and measurable targets to support us in achieving success.

Lindsey joined the WISH Board to encourage and promote women in social housing and earlier in 2023, Lindsey moved from co-chair to chair of the Yorkshire & Humberside board.

Outside of work Lindsey is married with two girls and enjoys spending time with her family making memories and having fun.

Nicola has 20 years of experience working in the social housing sector, choosing to specialise in the housing profession after studying housing policy at Utrecht University in The Netherlands.  Her housing career has focused mainly in the provision of supported housing for older people and she is passionate about providing housing that supports older people to live independently, in their own homes for as long as possible.

Nicola previously co-managed the Independent Living Service at WDH in Wakefield, which provides housing support to older and vulnerable people in the district. During her time at WDH she led a reinvestment programme which has seen 16 Independent Living Schemes remodelled and refurbished to provide modern and accessible accommodation for its residents.

Nicola’s role at WDH also involved being part of the Connecting Care Partnership, working closely with public health, the NHS, public sector organisations and the voluntary and community sector to ensure health and care services meet the support needs of local people.

Nicola now works for Anchor Housing and manages Extra Care Housing across the Yorkshire Region, working in partnership with Commissioners, Adult social services and Care providers, to support residents in later life.

Nicola is a Corporate member of the Chartered Institute of Housing. Her professional qualifications include a PgDip in Housing Policy and Practice, Prince2 Practitioner, Diploma in Management Studies and IOSH qualification.

She is passionate about promoting housing as a career, particularly to women. As a mum of two young children, Nicola recognises the importance of supporting women to reach their full potential, whilst also enabling them to balance work and family life.

Jane has had 25 years of experience in the social housing sector. She joined Leeds Federated Housing Ltd in 1998 in the Corporate Services Department, undertaking various roles covering governance, regulation, training and service improvement. She moved to the IT team in 2011, initially as a secondment to the role of Deputy Project Manager, tasked with implementing a new housing management system. She then became Application Support Manager working on several IT system implementations and ensuring that core business applications continue to meet the needs of the organisation.

She is currently employed as BI and Data Manager leading the Data Team with responsibility for developing and implementing the reporting and data roadmap as well as ensuring that data governance and good standards of data literacy are embedded within the organisation.

Jane joined WISH to encourage women to progress in the housing sector. She values the work WISH does to help build women’s professional networks.

I am a Social Housing Property Solicitor with experience in all aspects of residential and commercial property related matters. Based within the Social Housing Team of Bevan Brittan LLP in Leeds, I now work almost exclusively with Housing Associations and have specialised in development work including disposals and acquisitions; Section 106 sites and more complex structures which involve golden brick and back-to-back development arrangements with local authorities and private developer companies. I also work on large scale security charging projects for private individuals, limited companies and Housing Associations.

I was keen to join WISH in order to help promote the role of women in the Social Housing sector through developing networking opportunities and sharing knowledge and experiences within a friendly and supportive setting.

During my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my partner and his son and our two horses out on the farm where we live near Harrogate.

linkedin.com/in/shelley-l-williams-182bb256 

Charlotte has over 18 years’ experience of working in the charity and not for profit sector.  
 
She currently holds the role of Director of Care, Health and Wellbeing at South Yorkshire Housing Association (SYHA), a post she exec job-shares with another Director..  

Together they lead the LiveWell Programme, SYHA’s non-general housing offer including homelessness & rough sleeping interventions, work and wellbing programmes, mental health services and social prescribing.  
 
From an internationally recognised Aging Better programme in Sheffield, to Working Win a cutting edge RCT focused on mental health and employability across the Sheffield City Region, LiveWell is leading the way for inclusion and change across housing, health and wellbeing. 
 
Charlotte is also leading the Digital Transformation programme at SYHA.   

Charlotte was previously the COO and Director of Social Inclusion at Good Things Foundation. She’s held previous roles at Learndirect and The Prince’s Trust.  

A Quantity Surveyor by profession and is an experienced and professional construction specialist having spent over 25 years experience working exclusively on Decent Homes projects, and new build projects as well. Since 1991 she has specialized in the interpretation of contract documents, contractual and commercial advise, quantum claims and the resolution of disputes and contentious issues. She also has 16 years experience predominantly site based working for national and regional Contractors, sub Contractors and specialist contractors, a CIOB member since 2001 And CIH (Chartered Institute Of Housing)member since early 2020.

Hazlin has been actively involved with Incommunities Equality Group and responsible for the Corporate Procurement Department mainly on Tendering and Procurement activities. She is also the vice chair for Cnet(Community Networking) based in Bradford and has since participated in various Cnet events and activities as well as working as part of the Richer and Poorer Task Group for the Greenmoor Board to improve the quality of life in that area.

Hazlin has participated in various events organised by Incommunities including Mental Health Awareness week, Dementia Friends Training , Idahobit, Black History Month, International Womens Day and Golf tournament to name a few.

Hazlin has attended numerous Wish Event held in Leeds for the past years and willing to explore and share knowledge to help Wish to be able to help more women in the Housing Industry to be more resilient and committed in this industry.

Louise has over 18 years’ experience in the social housing sector, working across a range of services including void management and supported housing for older and vulnerable people. She has also held more strategic roles ranging from service development to performance management.

Louise is currently a Senior Care and Health Officer for WDH, working within the Independent Living Team, which provides housing support to older and vulnerable people in the district. Her role involves development of service provision for Independent Living residents, and to lead on the improvement programme for the refurbishment and continued investment in Independent Living Schemes.

Louise is enthusiastic in the promotion of social housing as a career of choice to other women. As a busy working single mum, she understands the challenges women face in career progression whilst raising children.

In her spare time, Louise enjoys volunteering for her daughter’s gymnastics club, and going on walks with her doggie.

I have worked in Regeneration and Social Housing since 1994, so have an overall understanding of the needs of the communities and those that live within a housing environment.
My work experience within housing ranges from tenant involvement, delivery of large-scale partnership work and repairs and maintenance. I currently work as Director of Homes and Places at Yorkshire Housing, a role I started in April 2023, and have previously worked at MSV, Together Housing and WDH.  I have enjoyed progressing my career within housing and like the way that we are evolving as a sector, the past couple of years have been particularly challenging and I feel more than ever we have duty to provide good quality homes for our customers.

I am passionate about the next few years and being able to lead my team into the next chapter of housing.

I have joined WISH as I want to support how Women can progress their careers and be supported on their housing journey.

I have 9 years audit and compliance experience and for the last 5 years have been working solely in social housing. My expertise is in asbestos and water hygiene which I am really passionate about. 

I have worked operationally for a social housing provider in Wakefield but for the last 2 years I have been working for Pennington Choices as a consultant providing expert advice to clients wanting to improve their compliance approach. I am really fortunate that I get to work with a wide range of housing associations and local authorities to help improve their property compliance approach. 

As a (relatively!) young woman in social housing, I love the sector and I am really passionate about helping others in anyway I can. I want to help other women get into the sector and see the rewarding work that is done. 

Outside of work, I am a keen runner and member of a local running group, completing my first half marathon in October this year.

I live with my partner in Huddersfield and our ragdoll cat, Monty. 

Louisa joined EEM in 2015.  She has seen membership grow exponentially in the last 7 years and the EEM team has evolved to be a strong and well-established team. Within her current role as Head of Operations she will continue to support and expand the EEM team to ensure service delivery meets and exceeds the high standards that members require, whilst ensuring aims and values are at the heart of everything EEM does.

Emma has extensive know;edge of ventilation having worked in this sector for over 25 years, focusing on the social housing sector for over 20. She is currently Area Sales Manager at Nuaire supporting her clients in Social Housing throughout the Midlands, extending North to Manchester, Liverpool, Yorkshire and Humberside. 

Emma is really looking forward to joining WISH as a Board Member and to inspire and encourage more women into the social housing sector.

I have 18 years of experience as a Property Solicitor, 12 of them working within the Social Housing Sector. I joined Accent Housing Limited in 2011 working as a Property Solicitor within their internal Legal Team. During my time at Accent I have progressed to Senior Property Solicitor within the Team to later managing the Legal Team. My time at Accent has allowed me to specialise in property litigation matters and complex property issues. I was appointed to the Head of Governance & Legal Services in March 2023 with a view to expanding my knowledge and experience in this area and I am excited about steering the organisation through some significant changes to the social housing landscape particularly in terms of changes in legislation and regulation and the role the board plays in that. I am proud to be part of an organisation that has a strong representation of women at every level.

Outside of work I enjoy spending time with my family, socialising, gardening and interior design.

I joined the WISH Board to encourage and promote women of all levels and backgrounds to become involved in social housing. I feel strongly about diversifying the sector and boards and giving women a space to be heard in what can often be male orientated spaces. I am excited about the work WISH does and grateful to be involved in the range of events we can offer.

Gemma Edwards, Senior Business Development Manager at Novus Property Solutions has nearly 15 years’ experience of working in the Social Housing Sector.

Gemma’s role at Novus is to identify new clients and maintain a good working relationship with new and existing contacts. Gemma has a specific interest in Zero Carbon and has helped Novus launch Novus Sustain, its latest brand which was created to help clients retrofit their housing stock. Gemma also has a marketing degree and enjoys event management.

Gemma is excited to join WISH as a board member to share best practice, inspire and promote women in social housing. Gemma is an active member of the WiN (Women in Novus) Network that empowers women and under-represented groups to help shape the way forward for the business and the industry as a whole; to make the workplace more inclusive.

Outside of work Gemma is married with two boys who take up most of her spare time. (1) Gemma (Gunter) Edwards | LinkedIn

I’m the Marketing Officer for South Yorkshire Housing Association Enterprises, the commercial arm of SYHA, and spend the majority of my time working with our ethical estate agents - Crucible Homes. I’m a trained journalist and studied at Sheffield Hallam University before starting my career in TV and print. My career path led me to marketing and communications and I’ve been working in the housing sector for a little over four years now.

I’m delighted to have joined the WISH board to help promote the role of women in the Social Housing sector through engagement, sharing knowledge and experiences.

In my spare time I paint and draw and enjoy going on walks with my camera to capture some of the amazing Yorkshire scenery.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-downing-19594a207/

Kat has over 20 years’ experience in housing across the region both in Housing Associations, and the last 16 years at Berneslai Homes in various roles including Estate Management, ASB and housing related support services.   She is currently Head of Estate Services with responsibilities including Housing Management, Tenancy Support, Income, Independent Living Schemes and Community Buildings. Kat is also Berneslai Homes’ Safeguarding Lead.

Kat is committed to ensuring that customers are at the heart of our service delivery, we listen to their voice and tailor services to their needs. Having attended a number of WISH events, and being a busy working Mum, Kat was delighted to join the WISH Board and help promote social housing as a career of choice to women, through engagement and networking opportunities’