Bjorn Howard

Executive director, Group CEO

Bjorn became Aster’s Group CEO in 2009 having previously been the chief executive of a smaller housing association. Since then, Aster’s housing business has doubled to more than 32,000 homes and has expanded its geographical footprint across southern England.

Bjorn has worked in the independent housing, care and support sectors for more than 30 years and has extensive board-level experience in both executive and non-executive roles. He has served as a non-executive director for an NHS Trust, educational organisations, regeneration boards and as a government appointee to a housing association.

Bjorn holds a master’s degree in management and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing and Chartered Management Institute. He is also a member of the Institute of Directors.

Committee Membership:

Customer and Community Network, Aster 55 Committee

Chris Benn

Chief Financial Officer

Chris joined Aster in 2014, bringing with him extensive experience from the commercial sector.

Before Aster, Chris held senior finance positions at Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC and Regus PLC. At Euromoney he ensured the finance team were able to support the five-fold profit increase of the Group from both organic growth, and through acquisitions, including the acquisition of a fellow FTSE-250 listed Group. At Regus Chris was involved in the IPO and floatation of Regus’ shares on both the FTSE and NASDAQ indices.

Chris qualified as a chartered accountant at Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC) in 1994.

Amanda Williams

Chief Investment Officer

Amanda has over 30 years’ experience in development, marketing and asset management for registered social landlords, joining Aster Group in 2012. She was previously director of business development at Synergy, prior to the merger with Aster and drove the strategic direction of the association’s new-build development activity, including becoming an independent preferred investment partner.

Before Aster, Amanda was head of development for Sanctuary Housing Group for London and the South East, and an associate director of Adams Integra, a consultancy specialising in housing development and planning. She was also director of development services for Apex Housing (now A2Dominion) for nine years where she was responsible for growing a mixed development programme from scratch to over 1,000 units per year.

Amanda is a Board Director of Silva Homes and of Forest Future Homes which is a subsidiary of Silva Homes.

Rachel Credidio

Chief Innovation Officer / Enham Lead

In her role as Chief Innovation Officer, Rachel is leading a transformation in the way the business engages with its people to drive innovation, creativity, collaboration and productivity.

Responsible for the Aster Foundation, HR and talent management, communications and workspaces, Rachel ensures the housing association has the strategic focus and the culture required to make Aster the best place to work it can be, having a positive impact on colleagues and ultimately, customers.

Rachel is committed to making sure Aster Group is an inclusive employer which nurtures a culture that allows colleagues to thrive, promotes a sense of identification with its purpose, and aligns its people to common goals, transparent communication, and delivering positive impact.

Rachel also has Executive responsibility for Enham. The emerging priorities for Enham are a focus on supported employment, sustainability, inclusive spaces and communities, and creating independence. Rachel is the conduit between the Group and finding ways to amplify the social impact that can be delivered through the Aster Foundation and Enham Trust.

With an academic background in psychology, Rachel understands how to get the best out of people and is a qualified change management and HR practitioner, and also qualified to level 2 in Restorative Practice.

Dawn Fowler-Stevens

Chief Strategy Officer

Dawn is responsible for Aster’s growth strategy, as well as ensuring the business is sustainable into the future.

She joined Aster in 2012 following five years at Savills. Here she was an associate director, providing support to housing associations and local authorities focusing on: governance, organisational change, strategic partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, as well as project management consultancy.

A career spanning 25 years across the public and private sectors, Dawn’s other areas of expertise include the creation of value through stock transfers, group structure establishment and corporate structure consolidation. Dawn also serves as a board director of the largest theatre on the south coast and also for a London based for profit registered provider.

Dawn is a member of the Chartered Management Institute, the Institute of Business Administrators and ICSA: the governance institute.

Emma O'Shea

Chief Operating and Technology Officer

Emma joined Aster in April 2020 from Peabody Group and has 20 years’ experience in operational and strategic leadership.

With experience across multiple organisations both as an operational executive and as a senior business Management Consultant, Emma has led a number of large scale transformation programmes across social housing providers creating long-term business sustainability. Emma has a wealth of experience in leading complex large scale Customer Services Operations and Asset Management teams.  

As executive lead for the Customer Services directorate and the Technology and Transformation portfolio, Emma is responsible for driving improvement and modernising the way customers’ homes are managed and maintained. Emma is passionate about driving an excellent customer culture and offering a range of different ways to engage with customers.

Emma has a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Henley Business School and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management.

Committee Membership:

Customer & Community Network