Ophelia Bobori probably has her daughter to thank for becoming a board member for Lewisham Homes. The social housing provider, which manages 18,000 homes on behalf of Lewisham council in south-east London, had invited Bobori to apply for the position – and her immediate reaction was that she could never do it. But her daughter, then 12, drew a small box and told Bobori that she was stuck inside the box and needed to venture outside. So she interviewed for the position and was successful.
“It has been absolutely amazing,” she says of the role, to which she was appointed in September 2013. “I can’t believe how I’ve flowered since I started on the board. I can’t believe how the board has developed me, my personality – qualities I didn’t know I had.”
Bobori, a mother of two, says her working background, first in the legal profession and now in the health industry as a pharmaceutical technician, means that she brings a capacity for probity to the board. “I’m a very practical person. If you bring me some evidence, I will scrutinise it and challenge it if necessary,” she says. This skill, combined with being a Lewisham Homes resident herself, means Bobori can help ensure that the board sees a true reflection of what goes on at the grassroots.
She is also something of an ambassador for Lewisham Homes, representing the organisation at parliament, where she makes the case for affordable housing, as well as speaking at events about women in the workplace. Public speaking is among the skills she has discovered while being a board member: “They have brought me out of myself,” she says, of the board. “They just saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself.”
The main challenge of being a board member is finding the time, but Bobori says it is possible. “You can squeeze it in somehow,” she says. Flexibility, planning and prioritising are the key skills that help her avoid feeling stressed or overwhelmed. “A little bit of discipline is involved as well, because we all get lazy, and think: ‘Oh, I’ll do it tomorrow’. But that procrastination is the proverbial thief of time.”
Getting to grips with housing finance has also proved a challenge, but the board has provided training and that has beenvital, according to Bobori. “They really make every effort,” she says. “You are trained in how to be effective at board level, they don’t just leave you to it.”
A regular at community events in Lewisham, Bobori says it is important for others to see someone from a diverse background at board level “because they see that this can be done, that it’s not an impossibility”. She adds that she has sometimes been shocked at the lack of diversity that exists on other housing boards, some of which don’t even have residents sitting on them.
Describing herself as previously shy and retiring, she is amazed at how much more confident she feels now. “Everything in life is an experience,” she says. “If it’s not for you, then you can move on. But you may find a person inside of you that you never knew, as I did. It changed me for the better. ”
• The headline on this article was amended on 15 June 2016. An earlier version incorrectly described Lewisham Homes as a housing association.
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