The Board

Use the links below to find out more about our resident-led Board, what it's like to be a resident Board Member and details of our current Board Members.

About our Board

Our Board is made up of:

  • six residents
  • two Lewisham Council representatives
  • four independent members.

Under our rules, the Board Chair must be a Phoenix tenant. 

The Board plays a comprehensive role in managing and scrutinising Phoenix, as well as setting our direction. The role is supplemented by Audit, Development, Resident Experience, and Remuneration, Appointments and HR sub-committees.

The Board members carry out a rigorous appraisal process and self-assessment of their effectiveness annually.

Our Board Members

Carmen Simpson
Chair

“I spent my working life putting residents at the heart of decision making. I look forward to doing the same on the Phoenix Board." 

Carmen was elected as Chair of Phoenix in September 2021 and previously served as Vice Chair from 2016-2021. Carmen became involved in Phoenix after years of experience in resident involvement and housing management in Lewisham and Southwark, and she is passionate about ensuring all residents have the opportunity to have a say on issues that impact on their lives.

Michael Tisdell
Vice Chair

“I have been inspired by Phoenix’s story and hope to support Phoenix in remaining true to its founding principles, and keeping residents at the centre of everything we do together, as we continue to develop and grow." Michael joined the Board in 2019 and became Vice Chair in 2023. He is a leaseholder on the Meadows estate, and has previously been involved with Phoenix as a leaseholder representative on a working party for major works on the estate.

Working towards a MsC in Transport Planning and Management, he has an interest in all things transport-related, but especially active travel (walking and cycling). He is very engaged with issues around sustainability and climate change, and aims to ensure Phoenix leads the way towards making South Lewisham more liveable.

Cllr Jacq Paschoud
Council Nominee Member

Cllr Jacq Paschoud has lived in Lewisham for 30 years has been a Bellingham local councillor for many years. She has a Degree in Environmental Biology and since 1984, has been a professional storyteller. She has four grown up children, the youngest of whom has a complex syndrome giving her learning and neurological disabilities. Having supported her through school and college, she is now in supported living in an ‘intentional community’.

Cllr Oana Olaru
Council Nominee Member

Councillor Oana Olaru is both a representative for Downham and a proud Lewisham resident herself. She brings an unwavering passion for housing to her role. With a background in working for a housing association and previously in local government, she is passionate about putting residents at the heart of decision-making and empowering them to make their voices heard.

Gloria Yang
Independent Board Member

"The passion and drive of everyone I met at Phoenix to ‘build a better future for the community was indescribable. I feel honoured to have the opportunity to join the Board to add my contribution."

Gloria joined as an independent Board member in July 2022. Gloria is currently the Executive Director of Finance at Moat Homes. Prior to this, Gloria worked in a range of finance, planning and change management roles for Origin Housing, Clarion, East Thames, Affinity Sutton, Metropolitan and Wandle. Gloria is a member of Credit Committee for Morhomes plc and she is a Fellow member of ACCA.

Kerry Heath
Independent Board Member

“I have spent my working life committed to improving people’s lives through the provision of good quality, affordable housing. Phoenix enhances the lives of individuals as well as the wider community and I look forward to working with an organisation truly committed to both people and place."

Kerry joined our Board as an independent member in 2018. She has worked for Hexagon for over 25 years, and has been a Director since 2007. Prior to Hexagon she worked for housing consultancy,  Walker Management. She has an honours degree in Quantity Surveying and holds an MA in Housing  Studies. She is a Chartered member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing.

Rebecca Clarke
Independent Board Member

Rebecca joined the Phoenix board in 2021 in her first independent board member role. Rebecca is the lead board member for complaints and equality, diversity and inclusion. Rebecca brings a wealth of experience in customer experience, resident engagement and communications.

Now working as the Head of Operations for First Priority Housing Association who are a small, specialist supported housing provider for people with learning disabilities and mental health conditions. Outside of this, Rebecca acts as a House of Stonewall Champion for Stonewall Housing and is the current Vice-Chair of the National Housing Federation's Small Provider network.

Eileen Davies
Resident Board Member

“Having spent many years as part of Phoenix’s Scrutiny Panel, and as an Involved Resident, I’m excited to have joined the Board, so I can continue to support Phoenix and our resident-led model.”

Eileen was appointed to the Board in March 2023. Eileen is a longstanding involved resident at Phoenix and is passionate about wanting to create strong, welcoming local communities. Eileen brings a wealth of skills and experience to the role, including her experience working in the social care sector. Eileen is know for her attention to detail, and being able to constructively challenge - skills that will be well used on the Board.

Evelyne Colley
Resident Board Member

“I am passionate about residents having a voice, and that voice being heard throughout Phoenix, up to and including Board level.”

Having been appointed in March 2023, Evelyne will bring a passion for inclusion and ensuring the voice of residents is heard. In her last role, she worked as a mental health engagement project worker for Bromley Experts by Experience on a project commissioned by Bromley Council and the CCG to give clients a voice in developing new service provisions. Evelyne has also been involved in the Housing Network forum for deaf and disabled people organised by London Inclusion.

Folashade Balogun
Resident Board Member

“From the moment I stepped into The Green Man, Phoenix has felt like my second home. As a Board Member, I’m committed to ensuring residents are happy in their homes and improving their lives and their environments. I want to help to make Phoenix and our community greater.”

Folashade joined the Board in February 2022. She is a graduate of our Phoenix Academy and previously a volunteer for our digital team. A new resident of Phoenix, she lives in the Grove Park area. She is an excellent advocate of Phoenix and our Community Gateway Model. Folashade has excellent local knowledge of her area, alongside a deep understanding of social housing and the role of Phoenix in the community.

Gavin Wallen
Resident Board Member

Gavin joined our board in 2023 after becoming an involved resident and studying with the Phoenix Academy. After gaining in-depth knowledge of the sector through our school of social housing, Gavin has found his passion for resident voice and engagement. As an advocate of our resident-led model, Gavin is keen to see similar approaches adopted across the sector.

 

Board Subsidiaries

Phoenix has two subsidiary organisations: Homemakers, a lettings company, and Phoenix Agency Services, which was responsible for the delivery of our repairs before the service came in-house in April 2023.

Homemakers Board:

  • Carmen Simpson
  • Kerry Heath
  • Michael Tisdell
  • Evelyne Colley

Phoenix Agency Services Board:

  • Deirdre Kennedy
  • Denise Fowler
  • Lesley Johnson
  • David Westworth

Committee Memberships: 

Audit and Risk Committee:

  • Gloria Yang (Chair) 
  • Michael Tisdell
  • Kerry Heath
  • Eileen Davies
  • Evelyne Colley
  • Gavin Wallen

Resident Experience Committee:

  • Eileen Davies (Chair)
  • Simon Barlow
  • Evelyne Colley
  • Cllr Oana Olaru
  • Rebecca Clarke
  • Folashade Balogun
  • Lia Green (Co-optee)
  • Denise Fowler (ex-officio)
  • Anouska Williams (Phoenix Gateway)

Development Committee:

  • Kerry Heath (Chair)
  • Carmen Simpson
  • Michael Tisdell
  • Cllr Jacq Paschoud

Remuneration, Appointments and HR Committee:

  • Michael Tisdell (Chair)
  • Carmen Simpson
  • Evelyne Colley
  • Gavin Wallen

Governance structure

The following diagram illustrates our overall governance structure, including the Phoenix Gateway - a group of residents that meets quarterly and is consulted on key issues and future reports that could impact on tenants and leaseholders - and our Resident Scrutiny Panel.

Phoenix governance structure

The following diagram illustrates the flow of decision making from informal involvement up to the Board.

Resident involvement to Board flow diagram

This pyramid shows how decision-making at Board and Committee-level is influenced and informed through different levels of resident involvement at Phoenix.

Being a Phoenix Board Member

Being a Phoenix Board Member

We are proud to be a community gateway housing association. Our Chair is a Phoenix tenant and residents are the largest group on our Board.

We hope the following information is useful to you if you are thinking of applying to our Board now or in the future. 

Why join our Board?

We are always keen to hear from people interested in joining our Board. You can be from any background. All we ask is that you are committed to helping us deliver our vision of working together to build a better future for our Phoenix community.

Becoming a Board Member is an opportunity to take an active role in overseeing how Phoenix is run, deciding how we spend our money, and setting our plans for the future.

You will be helping to improve the lives, homes and communities of thousands of residents in the Phoenix area.

Our Board is unusual in that tenants and leaseholders from the largest group. This reflects our commitment to put residents at the heart of everything we do through our community gateway model.

Resident shareholders vote to elect the resident members of our Board.

A chance to develop

Joining the Board is also an opportunity for personal development. As a Board Member you can gain a wide range of new skills, whether it's budget monitoring or working as part of a team. You will be offered an extensive programme of training to equip you with the information you need to direct the work of Phoenix.

There is a full induction programme for all new Board Members. You will also receive IT support.

How our Board operates

The Phoenix Board is made up of resident representatives, independent members and council nominees.

All Board members share collective responsibility for decisions taken by the Board and seek to work together in a professional and amicable way.

The role of the Board is to provide managerial oversight of Phoenix and to direct its managers and staff to ensure we achieve our aims and objectives.

As a Board member, you will have a key role in determining the future direction of services delivered to thousands of residents. This includes:

  • defining Phoenix’s aims and objectives and ensuring it meets them
  • establishing policies and plans for our future development
  • approving budgets, accounts and business plans
  • defining the levels and standards of service to residents
  • monitoring the performance and financial control of the organisation as a whole
  • appointing and appraising the performance of the Chief Executive and other senior managers
  • satisfying yourself that our affairs are conducted lawfully and in accordance with normal standards of performance and propriety.

Full details of the powers of the Board are set out in our Rules of the Association, which are available on request.

What is expected of you?

It is important that the Board works together as a team and that all members participate. It is also important that there is trust between Board Members and the Executive Team.

Board Members’ obligations include upholding Phoenix’s values and objectives, setting and upholding our core policies, contributing to and sharing responsibility for the Board’s decisions, attending appropriate meetings and representing Phoenix to the outside world.

Board members are expected to:

  • declare any conflicts of interest which may face them
  • respect the confidentiality of any information they are given
  • uphold the Code of Governance recommended by the National Housing Federation.

Behaviours

The Phoenix strengths define how we behave and interact with each other, our partners and our customers. We expect our Board Members to demonstrate the Phoenix strengths as well as our staff.

The Phoenix strengths are:

  • Community
  • Customer
  • Consideration
  • Collaboration

Our Board commitments

Board Members will have to make a number of commitments to Phoenix’s work.

These include:

  • Board meetings: The Board meets every other month, usually on the last Thursday of the month. Board meetings take place in the evening.
  • Sub-committee meetings – these take place regularly and cover particular areas of the Phoenix’s business, principally finance/audit, development, resident experience, and remuneration, appointments and HR. We would expect each Board member to volunteer to be a member of at least one sub-committee relevant to their experience.
  • Representing the organisation at meetings with other bodies, at conferences and seminars and in meetings with residents.

We estimate that all Board Members will need to devote at least six hours a month to the role. Additional time will depend on what else you may wish to take part in.

You will receive a full Board Induction programme developed to meet your individual needs.

Declarations of Interest

In carrying out their responsibilities, Board Members need to be alive to potential conflicts of interest, which must be declared.

There are strict rules against any Board Member using their position for personal gain or benefit, or the gain or benefit of a family member, spouse or partner.

If you have this kind of connection with someone who is likely to want to do business with Phoenix, we would advise you against becoming a Board Member.

Expenses

Service on the Board is voluntary and unpaid, although the Board can agree to pay members reasonable expenses in carrying out the organisation’s business.

Equality and diversity

The Phoenix area has a diverse, vibrant and strong community which we aim to promote and support. We will seek to ensure that the Board is fully representative of the local communities it serves, and will ensure that all members have a range of skills, up-to-date information and experience to enable them to carry out their duties effectively.

We positively encourage applicants from young people and from black and minority ethnic groups.

Eligibility

Residents of Phoenix who stand for election to the Board are expected to be of good standing.

That means you should:

  • be a full shareholder
  • have evidence of involvement in Phoenix. That could be attendance at our Community Links gatherings, or being involved in working groups.

You should not:

  • be willfully withholding rent or service charge payments from Phoenix
  • have any antisocial behaviour actions outstanding against you.

Full details of our eligibility criteria are available on request.

If you would like to find out more, please contact us.