12 Aug 2022
Jill Haley FCIH wins CIH vice presidential election
We are pleased to announce that, after a closely fought election period, Jill Haley has been chosen by Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) members as the organisation’s next vice president.
Jill, a senior housing professional and former CEO, received over 40 per cent of the votes cast during the close-run election with fellow candidates Michael Ash and Hannah Harvey.
Jill will officially become the vice president following the CIH’s annual general meeting in September 2022.
She said: “I am very honoured to be elected by our members as the next vice president and it is with the sincerest gratitude that I will take up the role. I have worked in housing for 41 years and I have been a qualified CIH professional for the majority of that time. I really want to give something back to the profession, by raising the profile of housing and increasing awareness of the sectors social value and purpose.
“I would like to thank Mike and Hannah, who it was a privilege to compete alongside, the CIH staff for such a well-run election and those who supported me and shared their views during the campaign.”
Josie Twinning, CIH director of membership and partnerships said: "We're delighted to announce Jill as the vice president elect of the Chartered Institute of Housing. Jill's dedication and passion will bring a formidable energy to our presidential team. And we're really excited to support Jill as she gets started.
"It was great to see such commitment and enthusiasm from all three of our vice-presidential candidates – Mike and Hannah should be extremely proud of their campaigns, it's clear to see they are making real impact with many people in the sector. Thank you both, for supporting CIH and our members.”
I began my housing career working for a local authority aged sixteen and have developed a diverse breadth of experience, skills and knowledge across the sector during the last 41 years. Even at that early age, and while reading the housing departments (heavily thumbed) communal copy of Inside Housing, I longed to become a qualified housing professional and CIH member.
From the beginning of my working life, I set my sights on being a positive ambassador for CIH and thoroughly enjoyed the student member learning experience, while studying for my housing degree. After achieving this and CIH corporate membership, I joined the CIH NE board, where I served as membership officer, vice chair and chair, during which time, the regional membership doubled, and I introduced a range of new member events.
Throughout my career I have championed customer excellence and empowerment, no more so than in my role as CEO of Byker Community Trust housing association. Equality for all, became my purpose and my passion, in terms of access, involvement and opportunity, I never thought of this as anything special; it was simply my first consideration of any policy or strategy. I led Byker through great transformational change, overcoming significant challenges. My approach of empowering and regenerating communities attracted national recognition and I was invited to write a chapter “the Byker Approach” in a book which was published in 2021.
Needless to say, I was delighted when a new consumer regulatory regime was announced, in terms of primacy of the tenant interest. The new regime certainly has potential to raise the bar, but it should never come down to ‘what the RSH wants you to do’; its more about community vision, meaningful involvement, support and empowerment, to deliver high performing services that meet the expectations and needs of our customers. This will be crucially important in the coming year while we support people through the extreme economic challenges that lie ahead.
I offer experience, enthusiasm and the ability to energise others to the VP role, enabling me to bring people with me. When I delivered the CIH Sarah Webb memorial lecture in 2017, her family subsequently wrote to say that I had captured the essence of Sarah in my lecture, and it was the best that they had heard.
If appointed VP, I will give the role the time and commitment it deserves, without the competing priorities of a full-time job. I can travel the regions, speaking to members and raising awareness of the benefits of CIH to non-members.
The Social Housing (Regulation) Bill provides a great opportunity for CIH to directly influence future professional training and development in the housing sector. CIH is ideally placed to oversee all appropriate qualifications and standards for housing staff at all levels.
Becoming CIH VP would be an honour and a privilege; my dedication to the CIH as a housing professional has been exemplary; I would work really hard to represent the membership as well as the people and communities that we serve.
