Mark Dunford - Chair of the Board

Mark has been involved in social housing the majority of his career. As a qualified accountant his current role is Executive Director of Finance & Commercial at Together Housing Group, one of the largest housing providers in the North. He has held a number of NED roles in the past & is currently a Group Board Member at Livv Housing Group.

Marcus Evans

Marcus is the Director of Governance and Compliance at the Sovini Group. He has a BSc Hons Degree in Governance and has 12 years experience of working within housing at an Executive management level. Prior to this, he has 15 years of experience working for a number of Local Authorities. Marcus also acts as company secretary for a number of companies and is the Chair of Governors at a primary school. Marcus is also a non-Executive Board Member at the Prima Housing Group.

Marcus ensures that Empower Housing demonstrates excellence in its governance arrangements.

Rob Wakefield

Rob is the Chief Executive at Community Gateway Association, taking up the position in 2017 following 6 years as Executive Director of Resources.  Rob is a qualified accountant and prior to joining Community Gateway worked in both local government and housing association roles across the North West.  Rob is also an experienced non-executive having served on the board of housing, education and charitable bodies.  As well as supporting Empower Housing Association, Rob is currently a non-executive on the board of Arawak Walton, the largest independent black and minority ethnic Housing Association operating in the North West, and a Trustee of Preston Vocational Centre, a charitable organisation providing construction based training and development opportunities to young people in Preston.

Stephanie Murphy

Stephanie was appointed Chief Executive of Castles & Coasts in July 2017. Prior to that, she was Chief Executive of Two Castles Housing Association, from 2005. In leading the organisation, Stephanie has extensive experience of business planning, risk management, governance and service improvement and she is passionate about the right values and behaviours driving success in business.

John Clark

John is currently Executive Director for Orione Care a small charitable housing association providing a range of housing, care and support services and also providing life chances to people worldwide.

John has spent many years delivering excellent housing management services for various organisations. His commitment to Empower Housing Association is personal as well as professional as he has a family member that lives in supported housing (with another provider), it is for this reason that John wants to ensure front line services continue to be delivered at high standards.

With a combination of experiences in supported housing, housing, tenancy management, asset management and community engagement, linking to a passion for good governance within the housing sector John is proud to be a Non-Executive Director supporting Empower Housing Association.