Mary Gibbons is new Chair of BuildEast
Our Chief Executive, Mary Gibbons, is the new Chair of BuildEast, an alliance of the 17 largest developing housing associations across the East of England.
The members of BuildEast work collaboratively to provide housing that’s fit for the future in the East, providing collective insight and expertise to support communities to grow and thrive.
Mary has a lifelong career in social housing. She has been our Chief Executive since 2018, with a focus on providing more affordable homes and delighting our 27,500 customers. She is also a Non-Executive Director at HACT the Housing Associations’ Charitable Trust and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing.
“It’s a great privilege to become Chair of BuildEast, and I’m excited to take over at such a pivotal time for the housing sector in our region”, said Mary. “I look forward to working closely with all housing associations in the partnership to meet the urgent need for more genuinely affordable homes in the East of England. It’s only through collaboration that we can achieve our individual goals to help customers and communities. The problems are too big for us to solve alone, especially as everyone tries to find the best way to deal with the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.”
Build East has four priorities for its work over the next two years: diversity, equity and inclusion; understanding housing needs across the region; working towards achieving carbon net zero; and delivering a collective response to the Social Housing White Paper.
Mary takes over as Chair of BuildEast from Tina Barnard, Chief Executive of Watford Community Housing, whose two-year term draws to an end this month.