I am a 32-year-old housing strategist, social innovator and international researcher from Greater Manchester, UK. Having experienced homelessness at the age of sixteen, I have a deep-rooted passion for supporting people who have no home of their own and genuine empathy with the plight of obtaining sustainable housing options whilst experiencing complex and personally challenging issues.

As an ex-local authority housing support officer, since 2013, I’ve worked independently to identify and explore economical solutions to the crisis of modern homelessness, whilst concurrently campaigning for adaptation to costly, inhumane, or ineffective techniques. Striving to expand on potential collaborations between existing housing and support providers, I created a pilot scheme which sought to ‘bridge the gap’ between contrasting services with the aim of sparking a movement of effective inter-sector collaboration, with a 'Housing First' focus.

In May 2016 I was delighted to be awarded a Travelling Fellowship from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust in partnership with the National Housing Federation. This afforded me the life-changing opportunity to travel across the United States of America to connect with - and learn from - global industry pioneers and leaders; allowing me to enhance my strategic designs to address homelessness with international influence and flare.

To date, I have directly and indirectly supported over 100 homeless individuals with homelessness assistance and housing-related needs, evidencing government savings in excess of £2 million via my unfunded practical application work. At the turn of 2018, I'm proud to publish my research evaluation and conceptual designs for the address of British homelessness, via my white paper entitled 'Social Property Investment: Pioneering Strategies for 21st Century Homelessness Prevention and Response'.

*Savings Calculated via Cost Effectiveness Indicator Measuring Tools by Crisis