Council Members
Co-Chairs
Fr Gerard Mitchell SJ
London Church Leaders – Faith: Christian
Fr Gerard is the Parish Priest at St Anselm’s Church, Southall, as well as the Dean of Ealing in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster. He was ordained in 1983 after an earlier career as a teacher. He is Chair of Governors at St Anselm’s Catholic School and on the Governing Council of St John’s Beaumont School. Fr Gerard is on the Board of Reference for Heathrow Chaplaincy and active in the Southall Council of Churches. He is a Leader for West London Citizens and is an activist on local homelessness.
Dr. Deesha Chadha
Hindu Forum of Britain – Faith: Hindu
Dr. Deesha Chadha is currently a lecturer at King’s College London, having gained her PhD in 2005 from the University of Surrey. She is an interfaith committee member with the Hindu Forum of Britain and is also on the national executive committee for faiths and beliefs in further education.
Vice-Chairs
Jasvir Singh OBE
City Sikhs Network – Faith: Sikh
Jasvir is a Director of the City Sikhs Network, a professional networking organisation for Sikhs and non-Sikhs alike. He is involved in community cohesion and integration projects throughout Britain and actively promotes political engagement within the British South Asian community. He is also a barrister specialising in Family Law and Landlord & Tenant Law.
Leonie Lewis MBE
London Jewish Forum – Faith: Jewish
Leonie Lewis is Director of the Jewish Volunteering Network. She has a Masters in Sociology of Education & is an MBA UJIA Ashdown Fellow. She is particularly interested in faith, young people and community development issues and holds several voluntary positions including Trustee of the Faith Based Regeneration Network (FBRN), Co chair of the Faith Forum in London, Advisor to the Children’s Aid Committee, & Trustee of AJ6 & JLGB.
Dr. Natubhai Shah, MBE
Jain Network – Faith: Jain
Dr Natubhai Shah, retired doctor with a PhD in Jain Religion, is the author of Jainism: World of Conquerors (2 Volumes). He represents Jainism at the highest level and is Founder Chair/CEO of the Jain Network and Founder President Jain Samaj Europe. He was mainly responsible for the creation of the Jain Centre in Leicester and is now involved in establishing a Jain Centre in North London. He is Trustee of IFN, FbRN, Barnet Multifaith Forum and member of Barnet SACRE and Chair of Council of Dharmic Faiths. He was selected ‘Man of the Year’ by ABI, awarded ‘Jain Ratna’ by Prime Minister of India in 2001 and ‘MBE’ in 2012 by the Queen for his services to the Jain Community and Interfaith Relations.
Council Members
Sayed Yousif Al-Khoei, OBE
Al-Khoei Foundation – Faith: Muslim
Sayed Yousif is the Director of Public Affairs at the Al-Khoei Foundation where he is engaged in Interfaith, community cohesion, capacity building and academic projects locally, nationally and at the UN. Sayed Yousif is a founding member of the Mosque and Imams National Advisory Board (MINAB) which was set up in 2006. He was a founding member of FAIR (Forum Against Islamophobia and Racism), is a founding member of the National Council for the Welfare of Muslim Prisoners, a member of the Prison Service Chaplaincy Council and is the Shia Muslim advisor to HM Prisons. In 2008, Sayed Yousif was awarded an OBE for services to community relations.
Fred Ashmore
London Church Leaders – Faith: Christian
Fred Ashmore is a member of Quakers, primarily as a worshipper and Clerk of Kingston upon Thames local Quaker Meeting but also active in many roles within the Religious Society of Friends including interfaith work in London and with London Quakers. He seeks to follow George Fox’s advice…..”walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one”.
Jon Dal Din
London Church Leaders – Faith: Christian
Jon Dal Din has been Director for London Church Leaders since July 2008, he is a married permanent Deacon and before joining Westminster Interfaith he was a lecturer in Further Education.
Malcolm Deboo
Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe – Faith: Zoroastrian
Malcolm M. Deboo is President of Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE), established in 1861 to look after interests of Zoroastrians in UK. ZTFE is the oldest Asian religious voluntary organisation in UK. The first three Asian MPs elected in UK were all ZTFE members. At the ZTFE, Malcolm’s primary responsibilities are to coordinate interfaith activities and disseminate information on Zoroastrianism, especially to inter faith and educational establishments, local and national government agencies.
Don de Silva
Buddhist Chaplain – Faith: Buddhist
Don de Silva is a Buddhist Chaplain and a Voluntary Faith Advisor at the University of Westminster. He worked with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and several international environmental institutes. A journalist, environmentalist and media strategist, he has managed and implemented programmes on environment and advocacy in over 130 countries. In the UK, he has worked to facilitate business enterprise skills among disadvantaged communities and has also in the creation of a sustainable communities network, comprising of faith-based initiatives. Also a mindfulness trainer and life coach, he now focusses on Environment, Buddhism and Justice issues.
Revd Margaret Cave
London Churches – Faith: Christian
London Church Leaders Member, Team Rector, East Greenwich Team Church of England Ministry.
The Ven. Duncan Green
Oversaw the Church of England’s involvement at the London 2012 Games, was installed at St Paul’s Cathedral in April 2013.
As well as representing the Church of England during the Summer Games, Duncan was also seconded to the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games as a faith adviser and then in Spring of 2010 became their head of multifaith chaplaincy services; a role in which he oversaw the chaplaincy service for 20,000 athletes and officials, 200,000 staff and volunteers as well as 26,000 reporters and broadcasters. He current is the Archdeacon for Northolt and is the inter faith lead for the Bishop of London.
Rajnish Kashyap
Hindu Council UK – Faith: Hindu
Working in Credit Management Profession for last 35 years, in depth knowledge of Export and Freight. Director/Trustee Hindu Council UK. Secretary Council of Dharmic Faiths UK. General Secretary Arya Samaj Middlesex. Faiths forum for London. Speaker on Hinduism, Promoting Social Justice & welfare for Hindus in UK, Providing a voice that represent voluntary and community-led organisations.
Dilowar Hussain Khan
London Muslim Centres Group – Faith: Muslim
Dilowar Khan is the Executive Director of the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre, which is one of the largest Mosque and Islamic Centres in UK. He has been working in community/voluntary sector for the last 24 years and is actively involved in inter-faith and broad based community organising work for the last 15 years in London and beyond.
Revd Kumar Rajagopalan
London Church Leaders – Faith: Christian
Rev Kumar Rajagopalan has been the LBA Regional Minister responsible for Racial Justice since 2003, he is also responsible for Inter-Faith issues; previously he was the Minister of Westbury Avenue Baptist Church. Whilst at Westbury Avenue, Kumar was chaplain to Haringey police force and was also actively involved in Pray Haringey. He was co-opted to the Board of Directors of the LBA during 2002. Kumar has very wide experience having studied chemistry at Aberdeen and worked as a chartered accountant.
Ven. Bogoda Seelawimala
London Buddhist Vihara – Faith: Buddhist
Venerable B. Seelawimala is the Head of the London Buddhist Vihara. He is also Chief Sangha Nayaka of Great Britain. He did his monastic training in Sri Lanka and came to the UK in 1992 as a resident monk at the London Buddhist Vihara. This is the oldest Buddhist monastery in the UK. He is also an executive member of the InterFaith Network in the UK and a Buddhist Chaplain to various hospitals in London.
Koser Shaheen
Association of Muslim Lawyers – Faith: Muslim
Koser Shaheen has retained the role of General Secretary of the Association of Muslim Lawyers since 2010. She is a Knowledge Management Attorney for Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, a leading international law firm. She is also Vice-Chair of the Law Society’s Ethnic Minority Lawyers Division, a Law Society Solicitor for Social Mobility Ambassador and a member of Cleary Gottlieb’s London Diversity Committee. Before working at Cleary Gottlieb,Koser did her Legal Practice Course as part of a training contract with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP where she qualified as a Capital Markets Associate. She graduated from Birmingham City University in 2007 with the highest first in her year.
Talat Shaikh
Muslim Community & Education – Faith: Muslim
Talat Shaikh is the chairperson of Muslim Community & Education Centre (Palmers Green Mosque) and one of its founder trustee. With a background of IT and Management he has been working in the Charity sector since 1992 and is a Trustee (inc. past chair) of Enfield Racial Equality Council and also is part of the Executive board of Enfield Over 50 Forum.
Rt Revd Dr Donnett Thomas
London Church Leaders – Faith: Christian
Rabbi Deborah Young-Somers
London Jewish Forum – Faith: Jewish
Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers teaches at Leo Baeck College on a course called World Religions 101 which allows students to explore their own encounter with other faiths, and dialogue between faiths. She was ordained by Leo Baeck College in 2009 whilst also earning a distinction for her Ma. Her first degree was in Religious Studies (1st class hons) at Lancaster University (2001), and she was a Buber Fellow at Paideia, the European Centre for Jewish Studies (2003). Having volunteered in the Interfaith world for several years, and served as the Chair of the Young Leadership Council of the International Council of Christians and Jews, Debbie worked at the UK Council of Christians and Jews from 2003-2004. Her first Rabbinic post was at West London Synagogue where she co-ordinated Interfaith activities and the Jewish Preparation programme, as well as developing an interfaith programme for teenagers. She is currently working at the Movement for Reform Judaism as the Community Educator. She has been published in magazines and journals, and is a regular contributor to Radio 2’s Pause for Thought and for the Jewish News.
Suzanne Shortman
South Croydon United Church – Faith: Methodist
Suzanne is a Methodist Minister working south of London in Coulsdon and Croydon with the London District of the Methodist Church. Suzanne has a heart for social justice and people of all faiths working together and is a member of the London District Commission for Social Responsibility on whose behalf she serves on the Faiths Forum for London.
Co-Opted Members
The Ven. Luke Miller
Co-Opted – Faith: Christian
The Ven. Luke Miller has been Archdeacon of London since January 2016, and was previously Archdeacon of Hampstead. Between school and university he came to London for a year as Pastoral Assistant at St James Sussex Gardens in Paddington before training for the priesthood at St Stephen’s House Oxford where he completed a degree in Theology.He was ordained in 1991 and served as curate of St Matthew’s Oxhey in the Diocese of St Albans. In 1994 he was appointed curate of St Mary’s Tottenham, and became vicar of that parish in 1995. The parish is one of two straddled by the Tottenham Hale development and he was involved at the very beginning of the project to establish church work on the site there, as well as planting a church nearby in Tottenham. From 2005-2011 he served for two periods on Diocesan Synod and was Area Dean of East Haringey. Fr Luke became Archdeacon of London in January 2016. He is currently a member of the General Synod and Chair of the London Diocesan Board for Schools. He chairs the Faith Sector Panel of the London Resilience Forum and is responsible for helping Faith Communities across London be ready to respond in major incidents.
Catriona Robertson
Co-Opted – Faith: Christian
Catriona Robertson graduated in Psychology from St Andrew’s University. She has established two local multi-faith forums and the European Network on Religion and Belief. Concerned with how we live equitably and cohesively without having to be the same, she works at the interface of religion and belief, public policy and local community life. Catriona convenes the London Boroughs Faiths Network (LBFN).
Revd Steven Saxby
London Church Leaders – Faith: Christian
Revd Steven Saxby is the Executive Officer of the London Church Leaders Group for Social Action and part time Priest-in-Charge of St Barnabas, Walthamstow. Steven was ordained into the Church of England in 1998 and has since then served in the Diocese of Chelmsford. In addition to his Cambridge (Westcott House/Fitzwilliam) degree in theology, he has MAs from Heythrop College (Inter-Religious Dialogue) and University College, London (Cultural Heritage). Steven has a strong record of social action, ecumenical and multi faith engagement, including London Citizens, where he has been active in the City Safe campaign and a key member of Walthamstow Migrants Action Group. Steven also founded the London Boroughs Faiths Network in 2002. Most recently he served as Area Dean of Waltham Forest, from 2007-2012 and Ecumenical Borough Dean convenor, engaging with civic leaders, ecumenical and other faith colleagues on social action issues.