Welcome to UK Experience Month: Leadership and Governance, a series of Online Learning Events about the experience of UK social housing leaders and experts, organized by BCNPHA in partnership with Golden Marzipan. In this four-part series, a panel of UK social housing leaders and board members will provide insights in to lead and govern in a volatile and uncertain environment. The sessions will cover leadership and direction against changing regulation, government policies and increasing client expectations.
- September 20: Good Governance – How to be a Good Board Member
- September 27 : Changing Client Expectatins – How to Maintain and Modernize Services to your Clients
- October 12: Relational Leadership – Moving the “I” to “we” to “all of us”
- October 19th : Developing Generative Boards – Making Decisions in Complex Times
Series Part 3: Relational Leadership –
Moving from the “I” to the “We” to the “All of Us”
In this Online Learning Event, participants will engage with Angela Lockwood – Chief Executive at North Star Housing Association. North Star operates in the North East and owns around 4,000 properties all of which are rented as social housing. Of these properties around 600 units are for people with support needs, including women’s refugees, homeless services and accommodation for people with learning disabilities, mental health considerations and complex needs.
High levels of trust at all levels underpin the culture at North Star – easy to say but challenging to achieve. North Star has worked on cultural change for over ten years to create strong relationships, and high-quality communication and collaboration. They co-create where it makes sense and have a highly devolved approach to leadership ensuring those most affected by decisions are closest to the decision-making process. People are at the heart of the organisation, with real influence, a strong and valued voice, underpinned by personal responsibility and mutual accountability.
In challenging times and in a very challenging environment North Star was awarded Employer of the year in 2021 by two external professional bodies. In an independent 2022 survey on a 90% response rate, 99% of staff said North Star was a great place to work and 98% felt trusted to try new approaches. With very low levels of sickness absence, top judgements from the regulator and financial strength, it would seem the cultural approach has been validated. North Star has national recognition for its work.
Who should attend?
Anyone in any leadership, management or board member roles, or who would like to learn about relational leadership
Presenters:
Angela Lockwood – Chief Executive
Angela joined the business in 1996, when it was Endeavour, and spent 10 years as Director of Housing. Following a change in structure, Angela took on the role of Managing Director of one of the companies, then Deputy Chief Executive of the group, before taking up her current position with North Star, the parent company.
“As Chief Executive, my job is to ensure that the strategies of the organisation are designed, developed, approved, and delivered,” Angela says. “That includes a whole range of things: building new homes for people who need them; ensuring that the quality of the existing stock is good and that we continue to invest in it; ensuring that all the services are of high quality and that our staff are looked after; ensuring that we have a good reputation and that we have influence in the region and nationally; making sure that we’re up to speed and up to date with everything that’s going on in the housing sector; taking up opportunities and creating partnerships when we need them, and doing a lot of community work so that people who live in our communities benefit from that.”
Steve Dungworth – Digital Advisor 
Steve is an experienced leader and innovative change agent. He has worked in public sector for over 40 years, the last 12 engaged in digital transformation within the social housing sector. He is:
- experienced in social housing digital transformation.
- engaging with customers, staff and managers.
- knowledgeable about the social housing technology supplier market.
- expert in programme and project management.
- published writer and speaker in digital media and at conferences.
Steve is an advanced practitioner in Managing Successful Programmes, Management of Risk and ITIL. He has an MBA (Manchester Business School) specialising in Management Consultancy, Quality and Customer Service and is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.
Steve is co-founder of Golden Marzipan and is working with several organizations in the social housing sector. He successfully developed and implemented the digital strategies at several organizations including a large HA which included integrated projects on omni-channel customer contact, mobile working and development of a self-service website.
Board Member at Leeds Federated Housing Association
Claire Maxwell –Organisational Development consultant and advisor on Governance
Claire has worked as a consultant within the UK and internationally for over twenty years. until very recently being most closely connected to the Oasis School of Human Relations as both a Director and an Associate Director. Her specialism is designed, creating and facilitating collaborative, inclusive and creative Whole Person approaches, predominantly within the not for the profit sector. Highly sought after as a coach, Claire also works regularly with Boards, Executive Teams and in Universities and Business Schools, both as a lecturer and facilitator in the development of alternative approaches to leadership and learning.
Governance roles have been many and varied, including Claire’s current roles as Immediate Past Chair (term concluded in June 2023) and Board Member of the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (www.grli.org). She is also an advisor on Governance and Whole Person approaches to the Core Team.
Claire continues her involvement with the theatre and other forms of creativity, she is a long-standing Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a contributor to their Good Work Guild and a published poet.
