Board Members.
Howard Cover
Howard is the current Chair for Steve Biko Housing Association and has been a Board Member since 2016.
He has worked in the housing sector for 35 years holding senior roles in a range of organisations across the North West, covering both general needs and supported housing services. His roles have involved leading teams to deliver a range of housing management functions including lettings and voids, income management, tenancy management and support, community safety and estate services. He has also led on organisational change and business improvement in a number of his roles. Howard is deeply passionate about delivering the best services to customers and working to reduce inequality within communities.
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
Yvonne Davies
Yvonne has been a Steve Biko Board Member for 6 years. Yvonne brings to the board, 38 years of housing, housing policy, regulation, governance, equality, diversity and inclusion, customer involvement and community development experience.
Yvonne has been a self-employed consultant since 2012 and advises boards, landlords, and tenants across England.
Prior to this Yvonne was the Head of the Housing Inspectorate for the Audit Commission for the North of England, for 5 years and prior to this, Managing Director in the Plus Housing Group for 5 years, in Liverpool and Cheshire. Yvonne had various roles in housing associations and councils in the Midlands, including housing strategy, homelessness and tenant management organisation development previously.
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.