About us

Ian established the Disruptive Innovators Network in August 2018 and leads on strategy, business planning, relationship management and is the public face of the business.

He has worked at senior executive level in social housing for the last 25 years, most recently at HouseMark - the sector business intelligence agency. Ian’s expertise lies in building cross-sector business experience programmes and leaders’ networks. In his work. he has developed close partnerships with the likes of Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Telefonica, AO.com and BT.

He established and led the sector’s first crowd-funded start-up accelerator, Evolve, which involved 18 housing providers and attracted over 80 submissions from start-ups across the world.

His focus is on leadership, business innovation, organisational culture, new technologies and social purpose.

Ian has other related business interests:

• Innovation advisor for the start-up investment accelerator LMarks
• Advisor to Social Enterprise UK - the biggest network of social enterprises in the UK
• Director at Disruption Hub - a 20,000 strong community of innovators
• Director at the Unforgiving Minute - a boutique leadership consultancy who create and lead high-performing teams in challenging operating environments
• Director of Five Lamps - a charity working in the fields of enterprise, affordable lending and social care

Michelle is responsible for the effective operation of the Disruptive Innovators Network and looks after member relations, marketing and event management.

Having started her career in local government, Michelle has held several senior roles at Director level working across organisations and sectors.

Her focus has been on managing complex change programmes and the customer experience side of operations. This has included running some of the largest leadership events in the sectors, working closely with government and policymakers as well as designing organisation-wide communication strategies.

She is also an experienced network manager and has established, scaled and run several networks from scratch.

Jenny is responsible for the coordination of DIN’s specialist networks IAN (Intelligent Automation Network) and PIN (Proptech Innovation Network) as well as supporting DINLabs and member relations.

For over 25 years Jenny Danson has been leading transformational change and service improvement in CEO, COO, Executive and Programme roles. She has worked for companies of all shapes and sizes, from startups to multinational brands. BAA plc, Boots Opticians, Lovell, Ilke Homes, Fortem, ISS, Initial Healthcare, Metropolitan Housing, Kendric Ash and numerous Councils and Housing Associations.

She left Metropolitan Housing Trust in 2017, where she was Executive Housing Services Director, leading a four year cultural transformation of operational services for customers and homes.

In 2017 Jenny founded Danery. Danery excels at providing capacity and capability to support organisations in delivering service improvement and transformation.

Ross is responsible for commissioning and editing content for the DIN bulletin – published three times a year. He is also responsible for all short and long-form DIN research.

He has worked in the social housing sector since 1980 but is probably best known as the founding Chief Executive of HouseMark, the business intelligence subsidiary of the National Housing Federation and the Chartered Institute of Housing.

Ross set up HouseMark in 1999 and by 2016, when he stepped down from that role, the company had become the second-largest membership organisation in the sector with over 950 social landlord members across the UK.

Ross is also an experienced writer on social housing, having produced a dozen books and major studies on the sector over the last 30 years. He specialises in collaborative action research. His most recent publication, co-written with John Perry and Gemma Duggan, was Building Bridges: A Guide to Local Authority and Housing Association Partnerships (Chartered Institute of Housing 2017).

His new report is DIN’s first piece of long-form research Adopting cloud computing: a guide for executive teams. Co-written with Phil Brunkard, it can be found by clicking on Resources on this website.

Having led learning teams at the Institute of Risk Management, The British Bankers Association and most recently at UK Finance where he developed learning academies on Vulnerability, Financial Crime and Conduct & Culture, Philip is considered a leading authority in L&D within financial services. Having built one of the largest webinar followings in banking, Philip main focus is designing innovative learning initiatives that develop the skills and talents of staff needed to take advantage of digital transformation. A qualified trainer, Philip was awarded Fellowship of The Learning Performance Institute in 2018.

Helena has versatile skills and experience in both corporate and operational services in the housing sector most recently at Director level in HR, Organisational Design & Development, Transformation Sponsorship, Communications, and Facilities.

She is accomplished in developing and changing organisational culture and alignment to strategy and purpose through new approaches to leadership, effective communications, engagement and collaboration.  A combination that brings about change that people buy into and strengthens business performance. 

Since 2011, Helena has been involved in consultancy assignments predominantly working with global innovation companies supporting agendas around leadership development, cultural change and customer experience across a number of sectors including pharmaceutical, utilities, engineering and hospitality sectors.

Helena’s strength is an ability to bridge the gap between innovation and current reality with capability to present this in an engaging way that stretches thinking and leadership teams about new possibilities and strategic directions.

Penny is a skilled remote PA and business support specialist, joining the DIN support service team in March 2021. She is responsible for event & operational support, along with customer service for the membership network. Penny has worked in UK and internationally for multinational organisations in lead administration roles, bringing a vast skill set to her role. Penny is committed to providing a first class service & experience for the DIN membership network.

Kelly is an experienced remote PA and CRM specialist and joined the DIN support service team in March 2021. She is responsible for the maintenance of our CRM system and operational support. Kelly’s key skills lie within her industry and customer service expertise, she is committed to providing clients with expert back office solutions, ensuring to increase productivity, showing efficiencies whilst remaining flexible.