Our board members

Our board and committee members include executive directors, independent non-executive directors, council members, and customers

Gentoo Group and Gentoo Homes board members

Emily Cox MBE, Group Chair

Emily is the Group Head of Colleague Relations at Lloyds Banking Group. She was previously the Director of Public Affairs at Virgin Money.

Emily is the previous Chair and now Vice Chair of the CBI North East Regional Council. She is also a member of the boards at Gentoo and Sage Gateshead, an international music venue.

She was awarded an MBE in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to gender diversity in the financial services sector.

Emily is also Chair of the Customer Committee and a member of the Development Committee.

Alison Fellows, Chair of the Development Committee

Alison Fellows joined the Gentoo Group Board in February 2019. She is also a member of Gentoo's Customer Committee. She has extensive experience working at a senior level in the public sector.

During her career her roles included:

  • Commercial Director of Teesside International Airport
  • Group Commercial Director at Tees Valley Combined Authority, where she was responsible for the development and delivery of place-based projects and managed extensive funds to deliver transformational change
  • Executive Director of Commercial Development for Sunderland City Council
  • Assistant Director of Capital Investment for Newcastle City Council
  • a partner in a large law firm

Alison also spent 8 years as a non-executive director with the North East Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust and was also on the board of governors of Sunderland College for 3 years.

She was the Commercial Director of Teesside International Airport and the Group Commercial Director at Tees Valley Combined Authority where she was responsible for the development and delivery of place-based projects and managed extensive funds to deliver transformational change.

Before that, Alison was Executive Director of Commercial Development for Sunderland City Council, Assistant Director of Capital Investment for Newcastle City Council, and as a partner in a large law firm.

Alison also spent 8 years as a non-executive director with the North East Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust and was also on the board of governors of Sunderland College for 3 years.

Dr Carol Long, Non-Executive Director

Carol joined the Gentoo Group Board in July 2018. She has considerable experience of working in the social care sector with a career spanning 35 years in local government, the private sector and for nearly a decade with national charities providing support and accommodation to children and adults with special needs. She is currently a researcher at Durham University.

Carol has considerable experience as a chief executive and has well developed skills in business planning, risk assessment and management, and safeguarding of vulnerable children and adults. She has a background in service development. She has experience serving on many boards and committees. This includes the YMCA, as an executive for the NSPCC, and as vice-chair of governors of a large secondary school in South Tyneside.

Carol is also a member of the Risk and Audit Committee.

Claire Long, Chair of the Risk and Audit Committee

Claire is the Finance Director at Newcastle-based law firm Muckle. She previously spent a significant part of her career working in senior finance roles at Procter & Gamble.

Claire qualified as a chartered accountant in 1995 and has experience in strategy, governance, acquisitions and shared services.

She is passionately committed to the North East and currently serves as a director and trustee at Northumbria University Students' Union.

David Murtagh, Non-Executive Director

David Murtagh has recently retired but became a chartered accountant in 1989, and held senior finance roles within the engineering and manufacturing sectors.

David was a finance director within a major multi-national company but also has 9 years’ experience on the board of Teesside-based Thirteen Group. His technical expertise and commercial experience are welcome contributions to the skills on the board. David has a strong understanding of risk, particularly in the context of social housing.

Brenda Naisby, Non-Executive Director

Brenda Naisby joined the Gentoo Group Board as the tenant member in January 2021. She is also a member of the People Committee and Customer Committee. Having been actively involved with the group for more than 5 years, most recently as Chair of Gentoo’s Community Engagement Forum in Washington. She brings a wealth of experience as a Gentoo tenant and volunteer and will ensure the voice of tenants is at the forefront of the group’s decision making.

A domestic abuse champion, Brenda  was crowned the Tpas ‘Tenant of the Year’ in 2020, for the influential role she has played in helping other residents in Sunderland.

Hannah Pollard, Non-Executive Director

Hannah Pollard is the Head of Accounting & Reporting at EDF Renewables UK & Ireland and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales. She previously worked in housing for Grainger plc, the UK’s largest listed landlord, and has experience of digital transformation, risk, governance and process improvement.

She is a passionate promoter of women in sport through her involvement as a player and treasurer at Novocastrians Ladies RFC.

Hannah is also a member of the Development Committee.

Patricia Smith, Non-Executive Director

Councillor Patricia Smith is Sunderland City Council's nominated board member. Patricia represents the Silksworth ward. Prior to being elected for Sunderland City Council in 1999, Patricia worked for the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA).

She became a local councillor and went on to become the cabinet member for children’s services for 14 years. During this time, she also sat on the Board of Governors at Sunderland College and Sunderland University. She was also Chair of the Children, Education and Skills Scrutiny Committee.

Patricia is also a member of the Risk and Audit Committee.

Chris Watson, Chair of the People Committee

Chris Watson was appointed onto Gentoo Group Board in September 2017. He is a retired civil engineer and previously was Head of Strategic Asset Planning and Economic Regulation at Northumbrian Water Ltd. He has extensive experience of complex asset management and working with the industry regulator, Ofwat.

From 2007 to 2015, he was a non-executive director of Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, which was rated outstanding by the Care Quality Commission. Chris also brings strong health and safety understanding through his management of Northumbrian Water’s capital plan and as a former Director of Constructing Excellence in the North East.

Andrew Lister

Andrew Lister, Non-Executive Director

Andrew Lister is one of the newest members of the Group Board and has spent over 25 years working around the globe as a Chief Information and Technology Officer for several multinational companies across range of diverse fields, including outsourced business services, construction, operations centres, and pharmaceuticals. He is a member of Risk and Audit Committee.

Nick Forbes CBE, Co-opted Member

Nick Forbes, former leader of Newcastle City Council has significant political working knowledge and expertise within central and local government, public and voluntary sectors.

Nick is passionate about social purpose and is committed to social justice, fairness and equality. Nick is a Member of Development Committee.

Morven Smith, Co-opted Member

Morven Smith is the Director of Workforce and OD at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust with a wealth of experience in Human Resources and Organisational Development.

Morven is passionate about the North East and creating better lives for our customers in Sunderland. She is a Member of People Committee and Gentoo's Member Responsible for Complaints.

Ellen Thinnesen

Ellen Thinnesen, Non-Executive Member

Ellen Thinnesen joined the Gentoo Group Board in January 2023 and is also a Member of the People Committee. Ellen is currently the CEO of Education Partnership North East and has held previous roles as Principle and Chief Executive of Sunderland College. She has also had numerous Board positions within education and not-for-profit sectors across the country.

Independent committee members

 

Alan Gallagher, independent risk specialist on Risk and Audit Committee

Alan Gallagher joined the Risk and Audit Committee as the independent risk specialist in October 2021. Alan is currently the Head of Risk and Regulatory Services with North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. In addition to his full-time role, Alan is a long-standing trustee with a charitable organisation.

Alan has worked in the public and private sectors and has significant senior management experience in the specialist areas of safety and risk at local, regional and national level.

 

Gentoo Developments Board

Emily Cox MBE

Louise Bassett

Gentoo Genie Board

Simon Walker, Company Secretary and General Counsel

Steve Hicks, Managing Director

Steve is an experienced financial services executive who joined Genie because he believes in its power to transform the UK housing market. Before joining he was a board director at Arbuthnot Latham, a private bank in the city.

He spent 27 years with Barclays, led the business banking operation in London and the South East before becoming the Head of Barclays Premier Banking, a division responsible for 300,000 retail customers. Steve is a member of the Institute of Bankers and attended Harvard in 2005 where he studied Strategy, Sustaining and Building Competitive Advantage.

Gentoo Customer Committee

Julia Wysocka

Julia sits on the Board Member of the Sunderland Black and Minority Ethnic Network, and is currently a Community Development Officer at ICOS.

She has experience of working within the voluntary sector and leads on community projects focusing on women's empowerment, community leadership and research into Eastern European women's experiences.

Julia also has experience of providing in depth support to survivors of domestic abuse, victims of hate crime and antisocial behaviour. She is passionate about supporting minoritised communities and making sure everyone’s voices are heard and their needs are recognised.

Stephanie Carr

Stephanie previously spent time as Vice Chair on the board of my local Children's Centre. She is also involved in the Labour Party, serving on the Constituency Labour Party board for my local area.

Steph doesn’t believe in perfection and thinks things can always be improved and is passionate about customers getting the best service and experience possible.

John Dannell 

John is a retired school teacher and has worked with Gentoo in various roles over a 17 year period, from being a Group Board Member to being the current Chair of our Customer and Community Voice group.

John holds two other Charity Directorships and is a Member of the Empower Community Fund.

John is passionate about the need for good social housing and the interests and well being of customers.

 

Victoria Smith

Victoria works within the mental health sector and after finding herself living in an assisted living facility at a young age, she feels she can offer her knowledge and life experience to become a confident member, advocating for customers and becoming an integral part of the team of Gentoo to support our customers as much as possible.

Doreen Richardson

Doreen is committed to representing the people of the area to ensure their voice is heard on matters of importance regarding their homes.

Doreen has recently retired from a career in the private sector working for a global leader in the paints and coatings industry. Her experience is in Quality, Health, Safety and Environmental aspects of the business, with experience supporting the business globally on regulatory issues.

Angela Dalzell 

Angela has lived in Washington for 40 years and has been a customer of Gentoo for 16 years.

Angela has 13 years of experience within Housing and holds a recognised degree from the Chartered Institute of Housing. Angela was also a former youth worker and has significant experience in supporting and assisting customers who have experienced domestic abuse, homelessness, BAME, customers with disabilities, care leavers and probation services.

The inclusion of all customers is her commitment and she is passionate about customer service and supporting her community.