WISH’s Gill Cook reflects on her time helping women build their careers in social housing

Gill played an important role in WISH's growth, but one of her most lasting contributions will be her work championing mentoring and helping others build careers in social housing.

A career built across the housing sector

Gill has worked in housing for more than 35 years, across many parts of the sector. She started in county court dealing with repossessions, then moved to the legal department at Nationwide Building Society. From there she joined the team lending multi-million-pound facilities to housing associations for new developments.

She later became a rural housing enabler, working between local authorities, housing associations and parish councils to bring affordable homes to villages. Roles in organisational development and strategic housing followed, along with about ten years of self-employed consultancy, before she joined WISH.

Growing with WISH

Gill joined WISH the week before the first COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020. For an organisation built around networking and events, bringing people together suddenly became a challenge. With Gill's support, WISH moved events online via Zoom and has kept online sessions ever since, including lunchtime webinars that let members join over a sandwich when their employers can't easily give them the afternoon off.

As WISH grew, with new regions in Scotland and Northern Ireland, Gill gave more of her time to the organisation. WISH now has 11 regions, sometimes with multiple events on the same day. Members, sponsors, speakers and regional boards all turned to Gill. She produced delegate lists, handled late bookings and cancellations, answered member queries, supported around 120 board members and made sure travel information reached every delegate. Whether the event was a boardroom conference, a trip to Chester Zoo or a woodland "net-walk", Gill made sure it ran smoothly.

The mentoring legacy

Asked what she most wanted to highlight, Gill didn't hesitate: mentoring. While self-employed, she and two colleagues, all passionate about equity, diversity and personal development, created a voluntary mentoring programme. It ran for years and was later adopted by another leading diversity network in social housing, where mentoring is now a core part of their work. "I'm really proud that this has gone on to serve so many more mentees and mentors," she says.

So when WISH developed its own programme, Gill was keen to help it grow. WISH now runs a free member mentorship programme in partnership with Page Executive, part of the Michael Page Group. It is in its third cohort, with around 40 mentor-mentee matches this year.
Gill does the matching herself, using applicants' accounts of what they hope to gain to identify the mentor best placed to support them. If the right mentor isn't available, she would rather encourage someone to apply again than make a poor match. WISH deliberately accepts more mentee applications than there are places, because finding the right match matters more than filling every space.

Mentors don't have to be WISH members, but they do need appropriate experience. Matches are made across organisations, giving people an external perspective and relationships beyond their own workplace. Mentees can include managers and heads of service, while mentors range from experienced professionals to chief executives.

For Gill, everyone reaches points in their career when an outside perspective, a new connection or simply someone willing to listen can make a difference. Her proudest moments come from hearing what that difference has meant. "People have told me, 'I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't had that mentor,'" she says.

Advice and what's next for Gill

Before leaving, Gill received an electronic card full of warm wishes from board members and staff across the country. Some remembered how she had helped them feel at ease at their first WISH event. "You don't realise how much people remember," she reflects. "Be kind, because you really don't know how people are going to remember it."

The people were, she says, the best part of the job. Although WISH has no office and Gill worked from home, she never felt separate from the wider community.

That sense of connection shapes her advice to women starting out in social housing - network. "Get out there and get to know people," she says. People move between organisations, change roles and cross paths again years later, so today's contact may become tomorrow's collaborator, mentor or champion.

Gill leaves knowing the role is in good hands. Two new part-time colleagues, Sam and Helen, will share the administrative responsibilities, giving WISH greater capacity to keep developing. Gill is now looking forward to time with her family, including her two-week-old granddaughter, before turning to her next challenge.

Thank you, Gill, for your crucial work at WISH, your warmth, and your commitment to mentoring and helping others grow. We wish you all the best!