STAFF

ANNA KEAR (she/they)
CEO

Anna was appointed in May 2018 as the first CEO of Tonic, with a mandate to transform the founders' vision of creating LGBT+ affirming retirement communities in the UK into a reality. Anna’s community-led housing values are at the forefront of Tonic’s work.

Anna represents Tonic as a member of the London Housing Panel, which advises the Mayor’s team to ensure housing policies are developed with the involvement of London's diverse communities. She is one of the founders of the London LGBTIQA+ Community Housing Coalition and was a member of the Inquiry Panel of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Housing and Care for Older People on Shared Ownership for an Ageing Population. Anna has recently completed a 2 year term as Co-Chair of HouseProud, the network group for LGBT+ people working in social housing, and was a member of the ‘Housing with Pride’ steering group working to actively promote LGBTQ+ resident inclusivity and affirmative action in the social housing sector.

Prior to joining Tonic, she was Executive Director of UK Cohousing and active in the growing community-led housing movement helping establish new community-led housing hubs across the country. Anna has worked in the property sector for over 30 years, and was a Development Director for Aster Group for seven years. She has worked for a number of Local Authorities, Housing Associations and a large private sector house builder with roles in housing development, strategy, project and programme management, homelessness and community led regeneration.

BOB GREEN OBE (he/him)
Head of Operations

Bob Green has worked in various roles within social housing for over 30 years including 14 years as the Chief Executive of Stonewall Housing. Most recently, he has been working with LGBT Foundation to develop an LGBT Extra Care Scheme in Manchester. Bob was awarded an OBE for his services to LGBT communities in the 2017 New Year’s Honours List.

SHERINE TOLU BALOGUN (she/her)
Community Manager

Sherine started with Tonic in April 2022 and has worked within the Housing Sector for 10 years. Sherine began her career within repairs and maintenance and developed her customer care skills through accelerated training. Sherine will be based at Bankhouse, supporting and building our community, leading on our events and clubs for residents and conducting our sales viewings. She believes in putting residents first and will always communicate using a caring and compassionate nature.

Sherine celebrates diversity and has in the past worked with people from many walks of life and assisted them with the challenges that they are facing. This trait is something that is echoed in her professional and personal life. Sherine is an advocate for doing the right thing.

ISABELLA HALL (she/her)
Creative and Sales Coordinator

Bella joined Tonic full-time in February 2021, after having done some consultancy work for us during the start of the UK’s Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020. She works on all of our general, financial and sales administration, manages data on our CRM, Sherpa, and helps plan and design marketing for our events. Bella will most often be your first friendly contact at Tonic via email, post or phone . She is also who your newsletters are written, designed and sent by, as well as who updates our websites and social media pages.

Bella previously worked for 4 ½ years in a luxury opticians, helping customers, building relationships and carrying out administrative tasks.

She is passionate about LGBTQ+ rights, animal rights, social justice, and ending the mental illness stigma.

MARK SLADEN (he/him)
Research Project Manager, Precarious Lives 

Mark is a researcher and writer with experience in the arts as well as the voluntary sector. For over twenty years his principal activity was in the museum and gallery world, after which he took a career break to write a PhD — which explored queer art and activism in the shadow of the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s.

Since then, Mark has been working with LGBTQ+ organisations in the voluntary sector, and at Tonic he is working on Precarious Lives, our research into how the cost-of-living crisis has impacted LGBTQ+ over-50s.