MEET OUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Welcome to the OneSpirit Interfaith Foundation, where every member across the UK is deeply committed to our cause and vision, dedicating themselves with unparalleled passion.
We are honoured to introduce you to our Board of Trustees. These pivotal individuals play a key role in moulding the direction of our charitable endeavours. Working hand-in-hand with our staff, they ensure that we stay aligned with our objectives and remain faithful to our core purpose.
The OneSpirit Trustees bring a wealth of spiritual practice and invaluable experiences to the table, significantly contributing to our organisation’s growth and serving as a beacon of inspiration for our journey towards spiritual development.
Join us as we explore the essence of our mission through the dedicated leadership and visionary guidance of our esteemed Board of Trustees.
Yashoda Balraj
Chair of trustees
Yashodha has an eclectic background spanning different countries and various fields. The common theme is her huge heart for people – be it large-scale leadership, individual coaching or making friends with a stranger on the tube.
She is innovative, animated, warm and brave – committed to the genuine safety that truth-telling brings when coming from the right energy.
Yashodha’s very down-to-earth spirituality can most simply be surmised as ‘in this moment, how can I enjoy God’s world and/or be of service?’
She looks forward to the wonderful surprise of journeying with us – perfectly, imperfectly.
Joanna Petts
OneSpirit Trustee
Joanna started her career in Fine Art specialising in painting and sculpture. After winning an award from The Henry Moore Foundation, she worked as an independent artist.
This developed to teaching art focusing on social issues which led to a career change after training and she has now worked as a social worker for 25 years working in management in social services with adults with physical disabilities and sensory impairment, learning disabilities and Autism, community drugs and alcohol teams and older people teams.
As well as being a manager in a hospice developing bereavement services for adults and children social work dept, and chaplaincy. She became a Schwartz-round facilitator whilst working there. She was Ordained in 2011 and took a career break for 5 years to raise her daughter and care for her mother who had Alzheimer’s disease.
She has conducted children’s and adult funerals, and weddings and has gone on to return to work part-time in social work and write plays based on the reflection of my learning. Joanna has also completed the MM Interfaith course.
Malaika
OneSpirit Trustee
Malaika’s roots are African, her heritage is Caribbean (she is a proud descendant of the Windrush) and her experience is British, as she was born in the North-West of England, where she has resided all her life. For the past 11 years, she has served as an Interfaith Minister and is actively involved in addressing and mitigating the impact of systemic inequalities and racial discrimination on members of her Afro-Caribbean community, along with promoting and celebrating the importance of inclusivity to people of all faiths and none.
She holds multiple roles including a Patron, Co-chair, Trustee, community member of several charities, Radio presenter, Mindfulness practitioner and workshop facilitator of spiritual & personal development work. She has received national recognition from accolades to multiple awards from different UK leaders for the community work she has embarked upon, for the past 35 years.
In her spare time, she is a mother of two adult boys (31 & 25) who continue to bring adventure and learning to her life. She likes to indulge in all things spiritually enriching and holistic, including reading, walking & praying, writing old-fashioned letters, dinner parties, dancing, travelling, spas, arts & crafts, and most of all learning new. This will be her 3rd time applying for the role of trustee, they say 3rd time lucky and so here she is completely overjoyed to be joining the OneSpirit Trustee team.
Give thanks and Praise Ashe. I am me, you are you and we.
Marco Fernandez
OneSpirit Trustee
Marco has spent 25 years in the conference industry, building up market-leading events in a variety of sectors with his background in research, sales and project team leadership. He has spent 20 of those years with Worldwide Business Research and since 2018 has been Managing Director of the European business based in London whilst also overseeing the Asia business in Singapore.
Marco successfully steered WBR through the Covid period when conferences essentially became illegal and several competitors went out of business and has otherwise delivered record profit levels every year of his tenure as Managing Director.
Having been raised a Catholic and becoming agnostic as an adult, Marco started learning about and engaging with broader spiritual practices at the age of 40 and now relies on a daily spiritual programme to keep him centred, present and grateful for the everyday miracle of being alive.
He is delighted to serve on the Board of Trustees of an organisation with such inspiring values and goals as OneSpirit.
Eleanor Tabi Haller-Jorden
OneSpirit Trustee