New members are welcomed to Citizen’s Board

We’ve recently welcomed four new people to Citizen’s Board.

The Board oversee the strategy and direction of our organisation and make sure our Executive Leadership Team is working effectively.

Our new members are now in place and will each bring their own expertise to the role. Those who have joined us include Joan Allen, David Blower, Angela Carpenter and Stephen Russell.

Find out more about our new board members here:

Joan Allen

Joan is currently a member of the Customer Assurance Committee and has also recently been appointed chair of the committee. She has been a social housing customer for over 40 years, where she has had the opportunity to work with various landlords to give all customers a voice.

She said: “I wanted to work with Citizen to raise customer’s issues or concerns and highlight and build on the successes that I have seen them make over the years, as well as using my lived experience to be an effective spokesperson for customers at all levels of the business.

“My experiences give me the ability to empathise, engage and communicate with others, irrespective of differences or life challenges; additionally, this enables me to interpret policy, procedures, regulation and appropriately challenge when and where required.”

David Blower

David has 30 years’ experience in social housing. He is a qualified accountant and holds an MBA from Warwick Business School. During his career he held a range of senior roles across the sector and has been executive lead for finance, treasury, risk, technology, people and culture, governance and EDI.

He said: “Our vision that home is the foundation of life is compelling. Everyone deserves a safe, secure home and I want to help us deliver our vision. I’m driven to support organisations achieve more by helping them maximise their capabilities and take better risks. Resulting in better outcomes for customers and wider stakeholders.

“I’m looking forward to working with a great group of colleagues to help us deliver even better services to our current and future customers.”

Angela Carpenter

Angela is a qualified accountant and is currently the executive director governance and compliance at the ExtraCare Charitable Trust, a not-for-profit retirement village developer.

She said: “I was looking for an opportunity to join the Board of a social housing provider and what I really like about Citizen is the clear messaging. The core purpose – providing homes that are a foundation for life – and engaging values all resonate with me.

“I’m also a Coventry kid (Radford born and bred) so being able to get involved with an organisation which is having an impact on my local community and the wider Midlands area was also very attractive.  It will be exciting to be part of a Board supporting our Executive team and I am especially keen on us hearing the voice of our customers and staff to inform our services.”

Stephen Russell

Stephen is director of data, strategy and technology at Warwickshire Police and also has 10 years’ experience working at Midland Heart.

He said: “I am from the midlands and have worked and lived across the areas where Citizen has a significant presence.

“Whilst I left the sector to work elsewhere, I remain interested in the work of housing associations and always kept an eye on what was happening. The fact that Citizen has recently launched a new ambitious strategy and is clearly committed about its social purpose was attractive and important to me. I am most excited to be part of an organisation that has a really ambitious plan and one that I am convinced it will achieve.”

At the end of September, three people also stood down from the Board. This included John Cresswell who was our senior independent director. He was at the end of the maximum nine-year term. Sue Brooksbank-Taylor will take on his role and she will step away from being the chair of development board.

Rich Nowell who was our chair of audit and risk committee and Helen Scarrett who was our chair of the customer assurance committee are also both stepping down after completing nearly eight years with us. David Blower will be the new chair for the audit and risk committee and Joan Allen is the new customer assurance committee chair.

At the end of the year Janice Nichols will also step down from the board after eight years in post.

Claire Williams will be stepping down from the audit and risk committee and will be taking over as chair of the development board.

Chief executive at Citizen Kevin Rodgers said: “Congratulations to our new Board members and welcome to Citizen. We are looking forward to working with you all and seeing the impact you make.

“I’d like to thank all the Board members who are stepping down for their hard work and service throughout their time at Citizen.

“I’d also like to thank all of the colleagues who have been involved in this recruitment campaign and took part in the interview process.”

You can find out more about our Board here.

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