Jo Ellis joined us recently in the new senior role of Head of Accommodation Based Support. We sat down with her to find out a little bit about her background and what her new role is all about.
A start at MacIntyre School
It turns out Jo has had a circular MacIntyre journey. Her very first job out of university was as a Support Worker at MacIntyre School in Wingrave.
Having studied psychology and sociology at University, Jo was keen to work with children, so the job at Wingrave was a great first step.
Children's social services
She kept that theme going at other employers, working in children’s social services, working with families and ensuring children had the best possible fit for their circumstances.
Housing association work
A move to a housing association followed, where Jo worked for 21 years, moving up in the ranks from a Supported Housing Officer, to Area Manager and finally to Supported Housing Service Manager, overseeing the whole department, working with care providers across her area.
Just before Covid hit us all, the housing association merged with another, then another, growing bigger until Jo’s job began to feel too impersonal and too far removed from the people she had signed on to support. Like many of us, Covid prompted Jo to rethink what she wanted out of her career.
MacIntyre again?
Which is where MacIntyre came back into the picture. We’d been advertising for a brand new role with the rather unusual title of Head of Accommodation Based Support. Jo saw the advert but wasn’t quite sure if it was a good fit for her.
Meanwhile we met some good candidates but none had quite the right mix of skills and experience, so we re-advertised the role. When Jo saw it again she began to feel “fate was giving me a nudge”, she applied, and joined us early this year.
What Jo's role means
We asked Jo what being “Head of Accommodation Based Support” actually means. She explained she manages residential accommodation for people with learning disabilities across Milton Keynes, the wider Buckinghamshire area, and Oxfordshire. These are areas where MacIntyre is growing, so Jo’s prior experience is really helpful. She’s enjoying seeing the whole subject of housing provision from another perspective.
She values working with the teams she leads, and contributing to ‘gloriously ordinary lives’ for the people who draw on MacIntyre’s support.
A baking runner!
Outside of work, Jo’s an avid baker (we’re trying to persuade her to enter the Bake-Off!) and runner. She does regular Parkruns and has completed over 100. Of course Jo also enjoys spending time with her husband and their two children. Plus the family guinea-pigs!
We’re so pleased that Jo has returned to her MacIntyre roots after all these years.
