Our Board

At Innisfree we understand that good governance is vital to the success of the organisation. We are directed and led by our board of management who are a passionate group of people truly committed to making a difference to the lives of our residents. 

  • Sean McLaughlin

    Chair of Board, Development Committee and Remuneration and Nominations Member

    Appointed to the Board in 2023

    Sean, an independent consultant, was formerly Managing Director at Homes for Haringey and Corporate Director of Housing & Adult Services at Islington Council.

    Sean brings extensive experience of strategy, front line service delivery and governance.  He is a former Chair of New River College, Islington and Barnsbury Housing Association.

    His roots are in Donegal.

  • Gerry Doherty

    Board Member and Audit and Risk Committee Member

    Appointed to the Board in 2021

    Gerry is a qualified surveyor and has over 25 years experience working in social housing at all levels having previously been Chief Executive of Brent Housing Partnership .

    He is currently Executive Director for Operations in London and Hertfordshire at Sovereign Network Group SNG, and he leads the housing management services in this region. Prior to his appointment at SNG he was Executive Director of Customer Services at Network Homes, having joined the organisation in March 2014.

  • John Fitzsimons

    Board Member and Development and Remuneration and Nominations Committee Member

    Appointed to the Board in 2021

    John works as a barrister at Cornerstone Barristers. He specialises in public law with a particular focus on planning & environment, social housing, data protection and social care. As a result of his areas of practice, John has extensive experience of the challenges faced by the social housing sector.

    He regularly advises and represents housing associations and their tenants in legal proceedings.

  • Ali-Jarar Hussain Shah FCCA

    Board member & Chair of Audit and Risk Committee

    Appointed to the Board in 2022

    Ali is a qualified accountant and has significant financial experience in the social housing sector developed during his auditing career with a big four accountancy firm and a role with the Regulator.

    He now works as the Director of Finance at Teachers’ Housing Association and is responsible for a range of key disciplines within the Organisation including Finance, IT and HR. 

  • John Weir

    Board Member

    Appointed to the Board in 2024

    John is Head of Real Estate for the Church Commissioners for England. He is responsible for the Commissioners’ real assets portfolio within the overall endowment. He leads on the fund management of £2.5 billion of real assets across a diverse directly and indirectly held asset base in the UK and overseas. He joined the Commissioners in 2012 and was previously Head of Strategic Land Investment.

    John is a qualified Chartered Surveyor and Town Planner with particular experience in planning and development linked to housing development. Prior to working for the Commissioners, John worked for Deloitte in Manchester and Leeds and for Knight Frank in London and Madrid, where he trained. Originally from Lisburn, Co Antrim, John has lived and worked in England since 1994.

  • Rebecca O'Donnell

    Board Member

    Appointed to the Board in 2024

    Rebecca is a Senior Investment Appraisal Manager in Places for London, the TfL property company. A chartered accountant and a fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers, she brings to the Board extensive experience in the specialisms of; investment, treasury, audit and financial risk management. She is also a long-standing Trustee Director of TfL’s Pension Fund.

    Originally hailing from Co. Donegal, Rebecca finds herself resolute and committed to serving London communities.

  • Daniel Mensah MSc FCA

    Board Member

    Appointed to the Board in 2025

    Daniel is a board-level finance and audit leader with more than 17 years’ experience of governance, risk and assurance.  He is currently Head of Audit at Bauer Media Group.

    Daniel is ACA qualified and has a strong track record of leading transformation, enhancing organisational resilience and delivering strategic oversight.  He is a non-executive director of the British Equestrian Federation, where he also chairs the Audit & Risk Committee and a Lay Member of the University of Kent.  He is also a board member of the Rugby Football League.

    In addition to playing sports, Daniel mentors newly qualified accountants, junior staff and disadvantaged young people to help realise their potential.

  • N'jaindeh Lungoci

    Board Member

    Appointed to the Board in 2025

    N’jaindeh is a professional with experience in case management, service improvement, and governance support within local government and housing. Her focus is on improving services, enabling informed decision-making, and fostering collaboration across diverse stakeholders.

    She currently works in Project and Service Improvement at Hackney Council, having previously worked on the frontline of Homelessness Services at the Council.

    N’jaindeh is a PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner and holds a BSc in International Management (China) from SOAS. She is completing an MBA in Leadership and Innovation at Edinburgh Napier University and is an innovator, creating solutions to help organisations use AI responsibly.

    Having navigated challenges in housing, N’jaindeh brings lived experience to the Board, deepening understanding of residents’ perspectives

  • Susan French

    Board Member

    Appointed to the Board in 2025

    Susan has over 30 years’ senior experience in the housing sector in both executive and non-executive director roles.

    She has been the Chief Executive (part-time) of Barnsbury Housing Association, a small, neighbourhood organisation based in Islington, since 2016 and is a Senior Associate with Campbell Tickell.

    Susan was previously Vice Chair of the G320 group, leading workstreams on governance, development and Net Zero, and a member of the NHF CEO Sustainability Strategy Group.  She was a Board member of the Industrial Dwellings Society (2018-2014) and of the Strange Cargo Arts Company (2008-2010).

  • Roch Ottaway-Schollij

    Board Member

    Appointed to the Board in 2026

    Roch is an experienced strategic, creative and critical thinker.  Currently a Continuous Improvement Manager at Riverside, Roch has worked in both housing, for Family Mosaic and Peabody, and other sectors including for UK Research & Innovation and Anthony Nolan.

    Roch is a Green Belt Lean/6 Sigma and a Prince2 Agile PM (Practitioner) with experience in Lean and Business Analysis, project and programme management, change management and, relationship building and communication.

    Their focus is always on the customer –  delivering tangible benefits and value for money.