Board

Board member since: 18 February 2025

John is currently Director of Central Policy in the Department for Communities within the Northern Ireland Civil Service with responsibility for the development and implementation of a number of social inclusion strategies on behalf of the NI Executive, including Active Ageing, Anti-Poverty, Disability, Gender Equality and Sexual Orientation.

John is a civil servant with over 30 years of experience across a number of areas including social security, housing, health services, justice, arts & culture and social inclusion.  He is a policy and strategy specialist who has had a primary focus on the development and delivery of social and affordable housing (having worked 10 years designing and implementing housing programmes in NI) and diversity, equality and inclusion, particularly how it impacts on the ability to access public services.  He also has extensive experience in governance and risk, having been lead sponsor for a number of Departmental Arms-Length Bodies and as a the Independent Member of NI’s Youth Justice Agency’s Audit & Risk Committee.

John has an LLB Hons in Law  and a Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resources, both from Ulster University.

As a strong advocate for social justice, John's motivation to join the Board was driven by his previous experience of shaping housing policy in Northern Ireland and seeing the difference delivering social and affordable housing had on people's every day lives.