Matthew Harrison

Matt joined SYHA as Chair of the Board in September 2023, at the time he was also CEO of Great Places Housing Association and retired from this role in June 2024. He has over 30 years of executive level experience in the housing sector and was Chair of the South Yorkshire Housing Partnership until 2024. Matt is also a NED at This City, the Manchester City Council Development housing development company, and has established a Housing consultancy business.

Kay Dickinson

Kay is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and has over 40 years’ experience in the finance sector and substantial experience as a Board or committee member – including at VAS, Yorkshire Housing and Arches Housing. She joined SYHA in October 2023 and is Vice Chair of the Board.

David Smith

David is an engaged member of the SYHA Board and joined in October 2023. He has recently started a role at Lincolnshire Housing Partnership as Executive Director of Finance. Prior to this he held a similar role at Broadacres Housing Association for more than five years. He has over 25 years’ experience as an accountant with 19 of these being in practice with two of the big four firms including six years in the housing sector. David’s broad expertise includes strategic and operational finance, legal services, procurement, risk management and corporate services.

Karen Featherstone

Karen is an experienced strategic leader in the housing sector, working in the fields of internal audit, governance, compliance, risk management and privacy with Executive and Non-Executive Director experience.

A member of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIHCM), Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales (FCA), and Chartered Internal Auditor (CMIIA), with over 20 years’ experience in the sector.

Following the merger with Places for People, Karen was appointed to the SYHA Board on 1 December 2025. Karen is the Director of Assurance at Places for People Group and is also a Board Member & Audit Committee Chair at Berwickshire Housing Association.

Maggie Gjessing

Maggie joined the SYHA Board in October 2023 and sits on a number of SYHA Boards and Committees. Maggie is Assistant Director of Customer Experience at 54North Homes and has a background in regeneration and housing growth.

Pam Hankinson

Pam is a Customer Board member and has been a part of the SYHA Board since October 2021. She helps to bring the customer voice to the Board meetings and is also a member of our recently formed Customer Committee.

Sharron Dyett

Sharron retired in 2020 after many years working in social housing, including 12 years as Director at SYHA. Sharron has a passion for social housing and a strong commitment to the work which SYHA does. Sharron joined the SYHA Group Board in 2022 and chairs Alliance Housing Association (South Yorkshire) Board (SYHA’s subsidiary RP), and the SYHA Customer Committee.

Steve Ashton

Steve is an experienced executive leader with a proven track record of people engagement and cultural change. Steve has been working in the social housing sector since he joined Places for People in 2022, prior to which he held senior executive roles within the financial services sector, latterly as Chief Partnerships Officer at Homeserve UK. He has also held a number of community organisation Board member roles.

Following the merger with Places for People, Steve was appointed to the SYHA Board on 1 December 2025. Steve is the Chief Partnerships Officer at Places for People Group.

Uday Bola

Uday is the Chair of SYHA’s Audit and Assurance Committee and joined the SYHA Board in July 2022. With over 20 years of experience, Uday has also held various product leadership roles at companies including Mutual Vision, Together, and Co-Operative Bank. Uday has worked in a number of positions in Product Management and is currently Head of Solution Design at Target Group.

Will Pritchard

Will is a nationally recognised leader in higher education, enterprise and entrepreneurship who consults for clients on strategy and innovation. Those clients have included commercial and social enterprises in industries including professional services, TMT, creative, engineering and manufacturing. His education sector experience involves extensive work with over sixty universities and educational institutions globally, particularly on their approaches to commercial and social impact. Will is the Chair of SYHA Enterprise and was appointed to the SYHA Group Board in 2023.