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One to Watch – Alicia Walker, head of policy, research and campaigns at Centrepoint
Alicia Walker is the latest interviewee in our series on up-and-coming housing professionals. As well as working at Centrepoint, Alicia is a volunteer trustee at the Connection at St Martin’s. She was nominated by Lorri Holding, head of independent living at Centrepoint and a member of Inside Housing’s Race and Housing Editorial Panel
Tell us about your job.
It’s my job to give the young people we support – and all young people – a voice on the national stage. I do this by thoroughly investigating the systemic barriers to their success, building a movement to break down those barriers, and influencing the government to put in place the right policies and programmes to ensure the next generation can not only survive but thrive.
It is both incredibly rewarding and incredibly challenging to ensure that vulnerable and homeless people remain a part of public consciousness and a priority on the political agenda. In practice it means spending a lot of my day trying my best to be incredibly persuasive.
How did you first come to work in housing?
My career to date has been a winding road from teaching, to law, to the civil service, to homelessness. The underlying principle has always been a desire to marry my lived experience with my academic and professional achievements. As levels of trauma and poverty continue to rise, I hope to use my lived experiences as an asset to policymaking and campaigning.
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What’s your proudest moment or biggest work achievement so far?
Not long ago, a former Centrepoint resident volunteered with my team before moving into a full-time position at Centrepoint. On her last day volunteering, she went to parliament to present her work to an MP, then was part of the team that handed in a petition to Number 10.
As someone who has sought to build a career around showing how far young people can go if they are given the opportunity to do so, watching her thrive, and leading a team that championed her, was a moment of great pride.
And what has been the hardest?
We are probably currently living through it. In the midst of a cost of living crisis that is affecting everyone and a political landscape that is dominated by uncertainty and confusion, the challenge of ensuring that vulnerable and homeless people remain a part of public consciousness and a priority on the political agenda is all the more acute.
Former home secretary Suella Braverman’s comments last year about homelessness being a “lifestyle choice” provide a perfect example of the open hostility and false narratives that those pushing for meaningful change for vulnerable people must tackle. However, these challenges make the work all the more important.
Who has been the most important person in your career – and why?
I’m going to have to be a bit cheesy and say my mum. The circumstances of my childhood would suggest that I should not be where I am today. Without my mum, and her courage, bravery and strength, I think my life would look very different.
If you could change one thing about the sector, what would it be?
I would like to see more diversity in all of its forms.
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A singer – I specifically wanted to be Whitney Houston. It’ll perhaps always be the dream…
What’s the best piece of work advice you’ve ever been given?
The best ‘life’ advice I have ever been given is to dream beyond the boundaries society has given me. As a policymaker and campaigner, I think a bit of audacity to dream has served me well in my career, too!
One to Watch series
In our ‘one to watch’ series, we speak to up-and-coming housing leaders. They discuss their job, how they got to where they are and their ambitions for the future.
We aim to feature staff from across the sector.
Click here to nominate yourself or a colleague for inclusion
One to Watch series:
Alicia Walker – head of policy, research and campaigns at Centrepoint
Matthew Beetar – equality, diversity and inclusion specialist at Accent Group
Morgan Lynch – assistant development and delivery manager at Home Group
Rosalyn Springer – partnership manager (social value) at MTVH
Andreia Pinto – senior customer care co-ordinator at L&G Affordable Homes
Chris Collins – homeownership officer at Hightown
Tasmin Ross – HR officer at River Clyde Homes
Kerry Clayton – governance and compliance manager at Elderpark Housing
Eden Bailey – senior head of housing services, Hft
Vicky Gladden – quality and practice lead, BCHA
Yağmur Arduç – assistant bid manager, Morgan Sindall Property Services
Nivene Powell – head of communities, EcoWorld London
Jeanette Tolhurst – scheme manager, Hightown
Harry Clarke – finance business partner, CHP
Jasmine Tansur – resident liaison officer, Midlands, PA Housing
Georgina Bavetta – service manager, tenancy sustainment, Islington Council
Taranjit Kaur Chana – senior client services manager, Home Group
Sarah Russell – vice-chair, Wythenshawe Community Housing Group
Chloe Winson – assistant surveyor, Greatwell Homes
Melissa Young – scheme manager, Housing 21
Hugh Gatenby – development analyst, Homes England
Sioned Wyn Williams – creating futures manager, Creating Enterprise (part of Cartrefi Conwy)
Avril Roberts – development project manager, RHP
Kath Menzies – housing services officer, Link Housing
