Kim Long

Background

About Kim Long

I have over 30 years of social housing experience, in depth knowledge of housing management service delivery and a broad understanding of housing policy and new regulation. I currently work for the National Housing Federation as the External Affairs Manager for Yorkshire and Humber and am the main point of contact for 43 regional CEOs providing updates, support and feedback on our housing policy work. I am also the programme lead on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and Chair of two national EDI networks for CEOs and EDI professionals. The role includes championing the sector to capture relevant EDI data to provide customer insight and drive strategic decision making to create more inclusive workplaces and equitable customer service delivery. In just two years, I increased membership on the EDI professionals’ network by 65%, launched an EDI newsletter with one of the highest opening rates and maintained regional customer satisfaction levels of over 90%. Prior to this I have worked in a variety of specialist housing roles including neighbourhood management, lettings and income collection. I was an operational housing service manager for 8 years and developed an expert team to deliver a customer focussed financial inclusion service for tenants, which enabled them to make informed choices about: Debts, Welfare benefits, Energy Costs and Employment. My work has given me valuable experience of building successful trusting relationships quickly (whether online or face to face), with people from all walks of life and at a range of seniority levels from apprentices to CEOs, councillors, MPs and board members. I have plenty of experience of networking, sharing best practice, and chairing online events and conferences to a national audience of social housing providers. I am a patient and skilled negotiator and can manage relationships to successfully influence changes to approach and culture.