We're pleased to be able to share the details of our new board member appointments.
These will take effect after the June Annual General Meeting. The appointments were made following interviews with West Kent staff and selected residents.
Tracy Allison, Chief Executive at West Kent says: "I am delighted to announce our new non executive directors Janet Eilbeck, Akintoye Durowoju and Kevin Corbett, who will be joining the Board in June. Together they bring experience of the Private and Public sector, and also knowledge of the Housing sector which will be invaluable. There was a lot of interest in these roles and we were very pleased with the high calibre of people that applied. Many thanks to Saxton Bampfylde for supporting in this."
Janet Eilbeck has been appointed as the Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee. 
Janet’s career as Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) included a number of leading roles within the successful Public Sector Assurance Practice, including leading the audit part of that business for a time, and acting as audit partner responsible for many public sector bodies in Kent and nationally. She is currently a Non Executive Board Member and the Chair of the Audit Committee, National Audit Office.
Janet said: "As Partner at PWC I had an interesting group of housing association clients and really enjoyed working with the sector. I grew up in Sunderland, which had an exceptionally large stock of local authority housing. My father and his mother were hugely grateful for the lifeline it provided in the 1940s and 50s and I can identify with the vision and the difference the services provided by West Kent make to people’s lives."
Akintoye Durowoju has been appointed as a Board Member with a development interest. 
Akin is a Chartered Surveyor by background, currently leading for the NHS on the £200m built environment and technical aspects of the St Pancras Development Project. He has over 24 years’ experience of delivering major regeneration and housing development programmes across the UK, working with Homes England and Housing and sector leading Housing Associations. He is currently a non-executive director for First Wave Housing.
Akin said: "I am impressed by the ambition of West Kent to grow the number of new homes whilst delivering high-quality services, and by their commitment to service improvement, putting customer service and working with Communities at the heart of their plans."
Kevin Corbett has been appointed as a Board Member with a IT/digital interest. 
Kevin is seasoned IT Director and CIO with experience of organisations from privately-held, to non-profit and the public sector, leading and driving digital change and ensuring the IT strategy enables the strategic ambitions. Currently Partner with the advisory firm, Gartner and before that IT Director, Clarion Group. He is currently deputy chair and trustee for the West Kent based charity Domestic Abuse Volunteer Support Services.
Kevin said: "West Kent has fantastic people who show great passion for making their tenants lives better and communities thrive. I believe there is a great opportunity to make a difference through the use of digital technologies and I am very keen to help achieve West Kent’s ambition."