Dr Jess Steele OBE, Hastings Commons CEO and Commoner-at-Large

Jess has over 30 years’ experience in the field of neighbourhood regeneration – as a local community activist and entrepreneur, in national roles including Director of Innovation for Locality, and as a convener, writer, speaker, and coach. In 2016 she was awarded OBE for services to community assets in the UK. Her PhD (2015-22) explored ‘Self-renovating neighbourhoods as an alternative to the false choice of gentrification or decline’.

At a local level, she has been involved in the community-led regeneration of White Rock Hastings since 2006, playing a key role in the rescue of Hastings Pier. Since 2013 she has focused on tackling dereliction in the neighbourhood, supporting the evolution of Hastings Commons. This community-led regeneration has brought more than 8,500 square metres of difficult buildings and spaces into community custody and is renovating them as affordable homes, capped rent workspaces and inclusive social space. Hastings Commons Community Land Trust is a dynamic organisation with 700+ members, designed to last forever to reflect and respond to community needs, aspirations and interests. "