24housing Young Leaders Award 2012: The final five revealed

Published by Jon Land for 24dash.com in Housing

24housing magazine is proud to announce the final five candidates for the 2012 Young Leaders Award.

Since the start of February, 24housing readers have been voting on the 24dash website for their Young Leader of the Year.

Competition has been fierce. All of our 12 candidates received hundreds, if not thousands, of votes, with the lead changing hand on many occasions.

It was particularly interesting to note how different social landlords approached the contest. Some really got behind their candidates by publicising the Award on their websites and urging their tenants to vote while others posted a link on their staff intranet.

The format for this year’s Young Leaders Award has been revamped to involve a number of challenges which our final five will be required to pass with flying colours. Here’s what lies in wait for our intrepid candidates.

CHALLENGE 1: THE NATIONAL HOUSING FEDERATION LEADERS’ FORUM

Courtesy of our friends at the Federation, this year’s Young Leaders will be attending the prestigious two-day conference at the Park Plaza Victoria hotel in London. The forum is considered a key event for chief executives and chairs of the housing sector to network with each other and learn from a range of high-profile and inspirational speakers from media, political and housing backgrounds. Speakers this year include former Labour Housing Minister John Healey; the former Director General of the Institute of Directors Miles Templeman and the former Bank of England advisor Andrew Sentence. Candidates will be required to write a 300-word report on their experience that will appear in the April edition of 24housing.

CHALLENGE 2: ‘A DAY IN THE LIFE’

The second challenge will require our final five to write an overview of their average working day concentrating on key elements that highlight their leadership credentials. This doesn’t necessarily have to mean making business critical decisions – helping your team to deliver excellent customer service is just as important.

CHALLENGE 3: JUDGEMENT DAY

This year’s Young Leaders Award will culminate in a special judging day at the National Housing Federation’s Head Office in London. Candidates will be given the daunting task of proving they deserve to be crowned our Young Leader by presenting their case direct to our panel of judges – as well as their fellow candidates. They will then have to undergo a rigorous cross-examination to show they can handle pressure situations. Phew!

The winner will receive the coveted Young Leader of the Year trophy, an iPad, a day shadowing National Housing Federation chief executive David Orr and a place on a leadership course worth up to £1,500 provided by Reed Learning.

So now, nearly 11,000 votes later, we can reveal the final five.

They are:

Joanne Claridge, 29, act family manager, Stockport Homes

Aaron Peake, 26, project officer – chief executive’s office, Homes for Haringey

Rachel Molyneux, 24, organisational development business partner, Helena Partnerships

Hannah Boyd, 27, trainee housing management solicitor and interim tenancy standards manager, Midland Heart

Sara Parkin, 29, housing advice manager, Futures Homescape