Get to know our Board

Cadwyn is led by a voluntary Board which is responsible for the way we operate

The Board meets on the first Wednesday of every month (except January and August) to agree future strategy, monitor performance and decide policies.

They also have a Board Away Day every January where they discuss the strategic direction of the organisation, governance and the Business Strategy.

The Board’s responsibilities include:

  • Defining and ensuring compliance with the organisation’s values and strategic objectives;
  • Ensuring that there are effective systems for evaluating the work of the organisation. Establishing mechanisms for communication and receiving feedback from the organisation’s partners;
  • Monitoring the organisation’s performance, taking timely corrective action if required and driving improvement through a self-evaluation process;
  • Ensuring strong effective governance.
Frances O'Brien
Chair

Frances is Chair of the Cadwyn Group Board and has been a Board Member since 2021. She is also a member of the Remuneration, Nomination and Governance Committee.

Frances is an experienced senior executive local government leader. She is currently the Strategic Director for Communities and Place at Monmouthshire County Council with responsibility for a wide portfolio of services including decarbonisation, climate change, housing, homelessness, economy, planning, strategic projects, waste services, highways and neighbourhood services.

Frances has chaired a number of different Boards in both a professional and voluntary capacity over the past 20 years and has been a non-executive director of an number of organisations during this time.
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Nicola Eynon
Vice Chair of Audit, Risk and Assurance Committee

Nicola has been a Board Member since 2016 and is a member of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.

Nicola originally worked as a Money Advisor for the Vale of Glamorgan Council housing department until 2017, when she moved to Newydd as a Financial Inclusion Officer. She now works in Housing Management and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing. Nicola provides valuable insight to the Board from her unique perspective of not only working within the sector but also from being a Cadwyn tenant for 34 years.

 

Katie Dalton
Vice Chair of People Committee

Katie has been a Board Member since 2016 and is a member of the Remuneration, Nomination and Governance Committee.

Katie is Director of Cymorth Cymru, the representative body for homelessness, housing, and support services in Wales. Katie provides strategic leadership and a strong national voice on behalf of her members and the people they support, campaigning for policy, practice, and legislation to end homelessness and enable people to live independently and thrive in their communities. 

 

Katie is a member of the Ending Homelessness National Advisory Board and sits on a range of Welsh Government groups, influencing policy on housing, mental health, substance use and violence against women.
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Sioned Hughes
Chair of Governance, HR & Equalities Committee

Sioned has been a Board Member since 2017 and is a member of the Remuneration, Nomination and Governance Committee.

Sioned works as Head of Recruitment at Altair Ltd a housing consultancy working across Wales and the UK. Prior to this, Sioned worked as the Chief Executive of Urdd Gobaith Cymru, and Deputy Chief Exec of Community Housing Cymru (CHC). She worked for CHC for 12 years. Sioned is also a fluent Welsh speaker.

Cathy Madge
Vice Chair of Audit Committee

Cathy has been a Board Member since 2017 and is a member of the Remuneration, Nomination and Governance Committee.

Cathy is an Associate Director at Social Finance, focusing on early intervention and prevention approaches in education. Prior to this she was a Lead Change Maker in the Office of the Future Generations Commissioner, leading work on prevention, futures, and decarbonisation. She is Chair of Governors at Albany Primary School and volunteers for the Tavistock Centre and Mackintosh Community Garden, both in Roath.

Paul Evans
Chair of Audit, Risk and Assurance Committee

Paul has been a Board Member since 2018 and is Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.

Paul is a retired Compliance and Regulatory Risk professional, with over 30 years’ experience gained in senior roles with NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Computershare, Grant Thornton and, most recently, Principality Building Society. Paul is also an independent member of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee at Wales & West Housing. 

Paul Riley
Chair of Nominations and Remunerations Committee

Paul has been a Board Member since 2018 and is Chair of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee.

Paul is a Senior Director Analyst at Gartner, a research and advisory company. His research area is technology in higher education covering strategy, governance and digital capabilities. Prior to this Paul worked in higher education for 30 years and his last role was as Director of Library and Information Services at Cardiff Metropolitan University. 

Gareth Hexter
Vice Chair

Gareth has been a Board Member since 2020 and is Vice Chair of Cadwyn Board and is a member of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.

Gareth was previously Group Director, Resources at United Welsh, where he had overall responsibility for all aspects of the finance function. This role also covered IT, HR, and communications. He was also a board member of Celtic Horizons Ltd (the maintenance subsidiary of United Welsh). He has over 30 years' experience in the housing sector.

Mark Davies
Board Member

Mark has been a Board Member since 2020 and is a member of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.

Mark is retired and worked for Carmarthenshire County Council. He was the Head of Property Maintenance and Construction. He is currently a director of his own small company and a Director of Constructing Excellence Wales. An advocate for lean processes and a qualified coach he seeks to bring efficiencies to the construction industry.

 

Peter Maggs
Chair of Igneous

Peter has been a Board Member since 2020 and is the Chair of Igneous.

Peter is an experienced housing professional and worked in the housing association sector for over 35 years. His last role was as Group Chief Executive of Pembrokeshire Housing. Since retiring he has held a number of Board Member roles, including at Tai Tarian, Ty Hafan, and Hendre Group.