Anisha Smith
Anisha is the Office Manager at the Centre for the New Midlands, having joined the organisation in late 2024. She brings over 13 years of experience within the higher education sector, having held roles spanning student engagement, event management, international programme management, and most recently, leading a university’s widening participation strategy across three regions in […]
Dr Hannah Absalom
Dr Hannah Absalom is an experienced practitioner and researcher in social housing, with 18 years in housing practice and six years dedicated to studying the intersections of behaviourism and more recently emotions and the home. She holds qualifications in Criminal Justice, social Research and Managing Volunteers. She has extensive experience in tenant advocacy. Currently, she is […]
Dr Sana Malik
Dr Sana Malik is Lecturer at Birmingham School of Architecture & Design, Birmingham City University. She has earned her PhD in Housing Studies from Universiti Sains Malaysia in 2021. She has been actively involved as a consultant in housing research projects in Pakistan, funded by the World Bank. With certification in urban affordable housing from the […]
Thea Raisbeck
Thea Raisbeck has over 17 years’ experience in a range of advocacy, research, and strategy roles within the housing and homelessness sectors. Thea specialises in issues around homelessness and supported housing, alongside examining and advocating for gendered approaches to policy, practice and provision. Currently Head of Research and Best Practice at Spring Housing and a Visiting […]
Chinedu Ekechukwu
Chinedu is a civil engineer and a PhD candidate in mathematical modelling and simulation focused on infrastructure improvement at the University of the West of England’s School of Engineering. His research centres on enhancing environmental sustainability in built assets. Over the past few years, he has designed, delivered, and evaluated a variety of modules related […]
Heather Noble
Heather Noble holds an MSc in Regional and Urban Planning from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a BA in History from the University of Aberdeen. She is a Freelance Urban Researcher and the Director of 65 SQM, a dynamic design collective that blends art, architecture, human-centered design, and material research to create impactful […]
Simeon Shtebunaev
Simeon Shtebunaev is an interdisciplinary researcher in the built environment. Simeon’s PhD project at Birmingham City University explores how young people engage in the planning of future ‘smart’ cities. He was a principal investigator on the AHRC funded project “Are you game for climate action?” developing the board game Climania with young people focusing on the […]
Dr Halima Sacranie
Dr Halima Sacranie is a housing and communities policy researcher and completed her PhD at the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies at the University of Birmingham in 2011, a regional centre of excellence for housing research. She went on to lead the Housing and Communities Research Group at the University of Birmingham from 2018 to […]
Beverley Nielsen
As Research Associate for the Centre for the New Midlands Beverley is currently working to produce a Business Manifesto for the Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce. She also runs her own consultancy working with the UK’s only Very Light Rail operator, Pre Metro Operations Ltd. Beverley is a Visiting Professor with the Centre for […]
Dr Yoric Irving-Clarke
Dr Yoric Irving-Clarke is an experienced housing practitioner with over 25 years’ experience working across homelessness, supported housing, housing for older people and general needs provision. He holds a PhD in Social Policy with his thesis looking at the history of supported housing provision in England with a particular focus on evaluating the Supporting People programme […]