Nicole Lappin is Chair of the Housing Executive.
Nicole Lappin is a collaborative leader who is passionate about effective governance improving the delivery of public sector services. She has expertise in regulation and governance, including housing, education, health, justice, finance and the charity sector. She has led on changing Board governance structures and in overseeing an organisation transition from five separate bodies into a single entity. Transformation of service delivery has been central to the organisations she has served.
Nicole qualified as a Barrister from King’s Inns Dublin and practised in both Dublin and Belfast for five years. In 2015, she was an Inaugural Board Member of the Education Authority. She served as an Independent Board Member of the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service from 2017 to 2023, and chaired its Audit and Risk committee. Also in 2017, she was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority in Dublin where she also chaired its Audit committee.
In 2018, she was appointed Chair of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and, in 2019, she was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. From 2021-2024, Nicole was Chair of the Public Sector Chairs Forum, where she worked alongside colleagues across the public sector.
In addition to leading Boards, Nicole delivers governance training and works in a range of sectors as she also chairs a Fitness to Practise Committee for the Pharmaceutical Society NI. She delivers communication training to meet a variety of needs and provides both mentoring and coaching services.
Having served as a School Governor for over fifteen years, Nicole is delighted to be working in corporate governance, overseeing the delivery of public services in important areas such as housing, health, education, justice, financial and charity regulation.
