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Eileen Smith Hughes
Member of the Property Committee & People Committee

Eileen was a former Bank employee for 25 years. She has served on the National Executive Committee of the Bank’s Staff Union and as a Town Councillor in Penmaenmawr.

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Cris McGuinness
ClwydAlyn Chair and Vice-Chair of the People Committee
Board Member TirTai and PenArian

Cris McGuinness has recently been appointed as the new Chair of ClwydAlyn in September 2023. Cris is a KPMG trained Chartered Accountant who has spent her career to date working in social housing, with a couple of minor detours – one to work with asylum seekers and another to help expand public transport in Greater Manchester.

Cris is currently Chief Financial Officer for Riverside where she has been responsible for all things finance and development since 2018.

Originally from South Wales, Cris is passionate about equality, diversity and making a positive difference where she can.

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Debbie Attwood
People Committee Member

Debbie joined the ClwydAlyn People Committee in 2019.  Debbie is the Group People Director for the Torus Group and is responsible for HR and Organisational Development, Health, Safety and Environment, and Diversity and Inclusion.

Debbie brings a wealth of people and organisational capability, along with cultural transformation experience, which she has gained in various senior leadership roles within Housing, Policing and the Civil Service. Debbie holds a master’s in strategic human resources management and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Professional Development (CIPD).

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Sally Thomas
Board Member
Member of the People Committee

Sally joined the ClwydAlyn Board in September 2023. She has had a long career in the NHS and worked as a children’s nurse in hospital and school settings across Conwy and Denbighshire prior to leading the equality and human rights agenda at the Health Board across North Wales.

Through this work Sally has worked with colleagues at an all-Wales level and in partnership with the public sector across North Wales. She maintains an awareness of the diversity of the local population and has worked with individuals and groups to better understand individual lived experience including the barriers experienced by some people. In particular the impact of poverty, increasing social issues and matters affecting local communities. Sally advocates for the importance of inclusion, valuing an individual’s identity, demonstrating compassion, and making fair decisions.

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Roger Rowett
Board Member
Chair - People Committee

Roger Roger joined the Board in June 2020.

Roger works independently as part of Taith Ltd with a focus on stakeholder engagement, organizational development, and service review. He has also worked as an HMI (Her Majesty’s Inspector) within Estyn, Senior Inspector with the Care Standard Inspectorate for Wales and Workforce Development Officer with the Care Council for Wales. Roger has a particular interest in strength-based approaches and is a member of the Association for Business Psychology. He has also written publications and guidance on Person-Centered Planning and Appreciative Inquiry.

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Laura James-Mowbray
Pathway Board Member

Laura joined the Board in January 2023 after securing a pathway role through Chwarae Teg which is an organisation set up to ensure that women in Wales can develop their skills and build rewarding careers.

As a PRINCE2 Practitioner, Laura has an extensive background in public sector Programme Management, leading on key programmes in Social Care, Central Governance, Transport and Education across the Region.

Having qualified as a Business Advisor, Laura has been supporting and advising businesses for over 20 years through Welsh Government contracts and as the Regional Investment Manager at Development Bank of Wales. Laura continues to support businesses as a Business Wales Mentor with specialisms in Business Planning, Investment readiness and on-line business building.

Laura completed her degree in Business at Glamorgan University (now University of South Wales), and her Masters in Leadership and Management at Bangor University.

Born on Anglesey, Laura is a fluent Welsh speaker and has recently secured a position in Welsh Government as the Pan-Wales Business Stakeholder Lead.

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The Board comprises eleven Board Members and two resident Board Member representatives.

As a Welsh Landlord we are required to adhere to the Code of Governance or explain why we don’t. The code comprises seven principles for good governance, including; Organisational Purpose; Leadership; Integrity; Decision-making, Risk and Control; Board Effectiveness; Diversity and Openness and Accountability. A review of our compliance to the code has been undertaken and we believe that we comply.

The day to day running of ClwydAlyn is the responsibility of the Executive Team and the Senior Managers.

The Board meets bi-monthly and there are also a range of Committees that have specific delegated authority and report to the Board on their activities.

The Assurance Committee
Provides the Board with assurance on the effectiveness of the Group’s internal control system (which includes Risk Management, Operational and Compliance controls), Internal & External Audit, Health & Safety, Financial Reporting & Care Inspectorate Wales compliance.
The Property Committee
Provides the Board with assurance on the quality, value for money and performance of investment in building new homes and maintaining existing homes.
Our People Committee
Provides the Board with assurance that our organisational climate and culture is operating and developing and is in keeping with our values and mission.

In addition, the committee ensures that staff reward, engagement, development and attracting and retaining the best people to meet our purpose is effective and that the staff, board, committee members and volunteers health and wellbeing is understood and cared for.
The Resident Committee
Provides the Board with assurance on Resident engagement, Resident scrutiny, performance on services to Residents and Resident influence on services.

Resident Scrutiny is defined as – adopting a resident centred approach to services provided by ClwydAlyn which delivers benefits to tenants, residents and communities. Scrutiny should lead to a continuously improving service; through tenants and residents shaping and being involved in decisions taken by ClwydAlyn.
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