Board Members.
Alison Navarro
Alison rejoined the Board in 2023 and recently returned to her former role as Chair of Steve Biko Housing Association after an absence of 9 years, after working in London for the past 15 years.
Alison is passionate about creating spaces for communities to share their experiences and shape responses to the change required for them to live their best lives.
Another of Alison’s passions is racial justice and she has worked in a number of different settings where she has been able to lead and facilitate change in partnership with local people, the community and voluntary sector and public agencies. This includes working in regeneration in Liverpool 8 in the 1990's, Partnership Manager for a North West based local authority and operating freelance for many years, working with and supporting community development, equalities practice and partnership working.
As well as contributing to the voluntary sector in Liverpool from being involved with WHISC, the John Moores Foundation and Sefton Women and Childrens Aid, as well as being the former Chair of Steve Biko Housing Association for 10 years.
After 4 years leading Community Action Sutton as CEO, Alison has recently worked with the Ubele Initiative, a Racial Justice organisation in London, and she has been facilitating the establishment of a Mental Health Alliance in Camden. Alison has also be operating a co -convener of a network focused on how we can bring about change by focusing on a Better Way of working.
Alison is currently the Programme Director of a newly established Race Equality Hub with the LCRCA.
Michael Whitehead
Michael joined SBHA as the Treasurer in 2016. Michael is an experienced Chartered Accountant and Non-Executive Director. He is a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Finance and Risk Committee of Vivo Care Choices Ltd since May 2018 and is the Vice-Chair and Non-Executive Director at Encircle Housing since December 2019.
Michael was the Executive Director of Finance for South Liverpool Homes until 2018 and previously has worked for a number of commercial businesses, including BICC/Balfour Beatty, ABB and Alstom. He has worked across a variety of sectors including building services, facilities management, property development and construction
Nusrat Caratella
Nusrat Caratella is company Secretary and has been a Steve Biko HA board member since November 2020. She has worked in social housing for 13 years and is currently a Business Intelligence Analyst for Riverside Housing Group.
Born in one of the poorest countries in the world and moving to one of the richest, she has developed a strong awareness of global socioeconomic inequalities, and the narratives and systems which sustain them. This informed her wider worldview and studies, as well as her career choices. She aims to work for positive change, redress the balance of inequality, and serve the community in which she lives and works through her work in social housing, and as a holistic therapist and yoga practitioner.
Ben Osu
Ben Osu heads up Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Everton Football Club. He has over ten years’ worth of experience in engagement, community development and communications, mainly working in the areas of equalities, social justice, and inclusion. In 2010 and 2012 Ben was responsible for bringing the largest black music awards to the city which brought a £10m boost into the local economy.
In all of Ben’s previous employment opportunities, he has championed the equalities agenda and supported the work of organisations including Anthony Walker Foundation, Pride and those campaigns working to support women, disabled people and other marginalised groups. Ben started his career working in social housing at Steve Biko Housing Association leaving to join Your Housing Group in community development roles. He was a 2012 London Olympic Torch Bearer and has a number of awards for his work in communities across Liverpool and Merseyside.
Paul Knight
Paul recently joined the Board in May 2023. Paul is the Chief Operating Officer at Plus Dane. Paul has held senior director positions over the last twelve years and led all operational services – including customer services, repairs, housing management, supported housing and asset management. Paul started his career in housing law with a large north west housing association before establishing a housing consultancy specialising in tenant empowerment. Going on to working with several metropolitan authorities on stock option appraisals, including transfer, PFI and ALMO’s. Paul then moved back to the housing association sector where he has delivered several complex regeneration initiatives and transformational change programmes.
Yasmin Giama, CMgr, MCMI
Yasmin began serving on the SBHA board at the beginning of 2023, as a non-Executive board member.
Yasmin has worked for the NHS for more than 14 years, starting her career as a registered nurse in the Accident & Emergency department. Yasmin has now risen through the ranks to become a Chartered Manager and is currently the Northwest Region's Regional Programme Manager at NHS England. Although currently non-clinical, Yasmin has maintained her nursing registration pin and continues to practice clinically in Emergency Departments across the North West on an Ad hoc basis to maintain her clinical skills.
Paul Bullock
Dave has worked in housing and development for more than 40 years for public, voluntary and private sector companies, and has a lot of experience in most aspects of housing associations’ activities and responsibilities. Earlier in his career, Dave provided development services to SBHA, and has a long-standing relationship with the organisation and area. He has a particular interest in the importance of ‘place’, that is that people should feel that where they live is familiar, recognisable, and attractive, with a variety of accessible facilities to support a wide range of local economic, educational, leisure and cultural activities. In his spare time, he volunteers for a local Millennium Green Trust and supports his (non-local) football team.