Governance

Sandra has worked in the housing sector for several decades and has over 20 years’ experience in leadership roles within a diverse range of housing organisations.

As well as being the CEO of Octavia, Sandra also sits on the Board of One Housing Group and is a trustee of Leadership 2025, a charity working to positively disrupt the housing sector by championing support for diverse leadership. 

Stephen joined the Octavia Board as Chairman in April 2023. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants with a 30-year executive career as a Finance Director and Chief Financial Officer in financial services.

He has board and governance experience across the private, public, and voluntary sectors. He is currently the Vice Chair of The Cambridge Building Society, a director of MUFG Securities EMEA plc and a board member of Golden Lane Housing. In 2014 Stephen received an OBE for services to disabled people.

Debbie Sorkin is National Director of Systems Leadership at the Leadership Centre. She has an extensive  background in social care leadership and she holds other non-executive roles in the sector.

Visakha is an independent housing consultant with nearly thirty years of experience in the sector, having worked for local authorities, the Housing Corporation/HCA (now Homes England), and the Morgan Sindall Group. Her experience covers private and public sector housing development, governance and leadership.

Sheila joined the Octavia Board in July 2019.  Sheila worked at the Guardian for over 20 years and led all their digital transformation projects.

Recently she has worked in the Cabinet Office for the Government Digital Service. 

John is an experienced Chief Executive, Director and NED having worked in housing associations, ALMO’s, local authorities, PFI and private sector, successfully leading organisational change, property investment strategies and operational delivery.  

He has an MA in Management, is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building, Member of the Institute of Chartered Surveyors and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing.  

At Octavia, John has a particular Board responsibility for buildings, estates and landlord H&S compliance. 

Hugh was previously the CEO of Adoption UK, Director of Business Development at Action for Children, along with other roles and also a Chair of Trustees at various national charities. He has an MBA in Public Service Admin and currently runs his own consultancy. Hugh was awarded a CBE in 2016 for services to children & families.

At Octavia, Hugh is Chair of the Corporate Services Committee and has particular Board responsibilities for charities, communities, and equality, diversity and inclusion.

Terry is the Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee and a member of the Finance Committee. He was appointment on the 1 January 2020. Terry has a 30 year career in finance spanning both commercial and public sectors.

He is a non-executive board member of another housing association and is Chair of their Funding & Treasury Committee. Previous experience includes Director of Corporate Services at Sheffield Homes and Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Lambeth Living. He is a Fellow of the institute of Chartered Management Accountants and holds an MBA.

Paul is the Chair of the Finance Committee and a member of the Audit & Risk Committee. He was appointed on the 1 January 2020.  He is also the Vice Chair of Hexagon Housing Group and Chair of Horniman Housing Association, a wholly owned non-charitable subsidiary of Hexagon. Paul also serves as a Board Member at BHT Sussex Housing Trust and at Chichester Greyfriars Housing Association.

His executive career included periods as Director of Resources and Company Secretary at B3 Living, Group Finance Director at English Churches Housing Group and Group Director of Finance at Downland Housing Group. He is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

Lara is a former programme director and senior manager who has worked in integrated care systems, regulatory policy, leadership development and talent management in the NHS; and system oversight and accountability at the Department for Health and Social Care, before moving into chief of staff roles at NHS England. She oversaw the transition of North Central London Clinical Commissioning Group to NCL Integrated Care Board between August 2021 and December 2022. 

Prior to joining the NHS, Lara was a senior researcher at The King's Fund where she worked for five years focusing on integrated care, shifting care into community settings, reconfiguring clinical services and quality governance. She has a MSc in Public Health (specialising in Health Services Research) and a BSc in Biomedical Science. 

Lara has been Joint Chair of the Board of Trustees at Age UK Wandsworth for five years and is also a trustee of Helpforce, a charity which seeks to accelerate the growth and impact of volunteering in health and care. 

Her areas of interests include trustee development and mentoring, leadership development, change management, systems working and stakeholder engagement.

Adam has more than 32 years of experience working in finance in the public and not-for-profit sectors in London – with 18 years spent in senior and director roles. He is a housing sector specialist, with 16 years’ experience working for social housing providers. 

He began his career at the London Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham, where he had responsibilities for capital treasury and pensions, before becoming an assistant finance director. He was Director of Finance for Lewisham Homes for 14 years, before joining Sutton Housing Partnership as Finance Director. 

He is a former finance advisor to the Boards of First Wave Housing and Investing 4 Brent (i4B).

After an early career in radio production at the BBC, Caroline worked in a variety of leadership, learning and HR roles. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, a BAFTA member, and qualified in mediation and psychometric assessment.

More recently, she’s led people functions in organisations in the public and private sector, including Fox International Channels, Zaha Hadid Architects, Visit Britain, the CBI and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.  She is also an Associate Non-Executive Director for Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust, where she is Wellbeing Guardian.

Alison was appointed Chief Operating Officer at Octavia on 5 September 2023 and is responsible for overseeing housing operations.

Alison is an experienced executive who has worked within the affordable housing sector for over 20 years and continues to be a passionate advocate of people-centred customer services. Most recently, she was Executive Director of Housing Services at St Mungo’s, a national homelessness charity.

With former roles at Anchor Group, Peabody Trust, chair of the G15 Housing Directors’ Group and a member of the Mayor of London’s Fuel Poverty Partnership. Alison is also a Non-Executive Director at Outward Housing Association and Newlon Housing Group and is an advisory member of Connex Leadership.

She is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and has an Executive MBA in Business Administration and Management General. 

Sandra has worked in the housing sector for several decades and has over 20 years’ experience in leadership roles within a diverse range of housing organisations.

As well as being the CEO of Octavia, Sandra also sits on the Board of One Housing Group and is a trustee of Leadership 2025, a charity working to positively disrupt the housing sector by championing support for diverse leadership.