Founders, President, Trustees, Patrons

Michael is President of the Faith & Belief Forum. He was Chair of the Board of Trustees of 3FF and later F&BF from 2009 until 2022. He was educated at Jewish schools and then at Cambridge University, where he obtained degrees in English and Law. He was called to the Bar in 1975 practising as a Barrister specialising in family law. He became a QC in 2008. He is a Master of the Bench of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn and Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers.   Michael has been active in interfaith work for over 30 years. His work has been recognised: In 1990, he received a Benemerenza Medal from the (Catholic) Sacred Constantinian Order of St George; in 2013, he was made a Knight of the Royal Order of Francis I (Italy) and in 2018, he was promoted to be a Knight Commander of the Royal Order of Francis I. Michael was awarded the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2019, in recognition of his contribution to interfaith work. Michael is a member of the United Synagogue and the Liberal Jewish Synagogue.

Mike is a founding and Executive Director of the Centre for Trust Peace and Social Relations at Coventry University, UK. Following overseas postings in the Arab world and Asia, Mike framed and led British Council’s global programme in intercultural and interfaith dialogue. He headed the European arm of the EU-Government of Jordan sponsored ‘Promotion of the Amman Message Project’ from 2012-2014. Mike is active with UNESCO and the UN Alliance of Civilizations; he is lead advisor to the World Forum for Intercultural Dialogue in Baku, the World Peace Forum in Indonesia and directs the RISING Global Peace Forum at Coventry. He has been twice honoured, awarded the OBE in 2001 for his peace-building work in the Middle East, and appointed a Companion of Honour of St Michael and St George in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, June 2010, for his work internationally in Intercultural Dialogue. Mike is a trustee of the Faith & Belief Forum and chairs the International Leadership Association, a US-based not-for-profit.   Jessica Kingsley Publishers Ltd published his edited volume Muslim Identity in a Turbulent Age: Islamic Extremism and Western Islamophobia in January 2017

Mohsin’s area of expertise is in finance, accounting, auditing and compliance. Has worked in the peacebuilding and development sector since 1998 and held key finance roles in country programmes and head offices, most notably as Head of Finance / Chief Finance Officer at International Alert (2006 to 2020), Country Finance Manager at Mercy Corps Pakistan (2004–2006) and Focus Humanitarian Assistance (1998–2004). Mohsin previously worked in auditing, accountancy, and the oil and gas sectors. He has played an important role in leading administration and operation functions, and held auxiliary programmatic responsibilities in relief and development. He studied Commerce at the University of Karachi, followed by a traineeship in auditing and then an MBA from the University of Strathclyde and is a member of Association of Certified Chartered Accountants.

Noam is a Governor of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Trustee of the New Israel Fund UK. He is an active member on the Worshipful Company of IT, a contributing member of the Health & Medical Panel and a Freeman of the City of London. He is a Member of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, a Fellow of the RSA and is active on various Charities as well as being a Trustee of the Sternberg Foundation and other trusts. His first management skills were acquired as an officer in the Israeli army, where he achieved top honours. He was the youngest officer in the operation to free 12 Air France Air Crew and 94 passengers who were being held hostage in Entebbe, Uganda and threatened with death. He attained the rank of Captain. 1999 – Present Founder and CEO, the Healthcare Learning Ltd

As CEO he established HLC and its subsidiary, Smile-on Ltd as the leading provider of commercial, internet-based training services for the European healthcare professionals’ Community with the help of a broadly experienced team.

Hannah Wallace heads External Relations for the Clore Social Leadership Programme. From 2008-2012 she led the Tony Blair Faith Foundation’s interfaith social action campaign in 140 countries and developed leadership programmes for young people of different religions across 4 continents. Prior to this Hannah ran an interfaith charity in South London, worked with the Charity Commission’s Faith and Social Cohesion Unit and worked in various corporate fundraising roles. She has also worked as a nightclub bouncer and a dance teacher, and has a BA (Hons) and Master’s Degree in Theology and Religious Studies, both from the University of Bristol. She is a Trustee of Little Village, a new charity supporting families in south London.  She lives in Tooting with her husband and two young sons.

Gurinder was born and raised in Crawley. He attended Hazelwick School and went on to study at the University of Westminster before gaining a master’s degree in International Law & Politics from King’s College London.

He has worked in Parliament for over 3 years and is currently a Senior Parliamentary Researcher for a Labour MP. Prior to this he has volunteered for Amnesty International and taken part in the Faith & Belief Forum’s UN award-winning leadership programme where teams of university students from different faiths and non-religious beliefs collaborate to create social action projects.

Michael went to Durham School and studied law at UCL before joining the law firm Berwin Leighton (now Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner) in 1989. He was a corporate finance partner between 2000 and 2019 with experience across a number of sectors, with a particular focus on technology and healthcare. Michael’s area of expertise went beyond his professional work into Graduate recruitment, University liaison, Mentoring, Diversity & Inclusion, Charity work and Corporate Responsibility initiatives. Michael also co-chaired the London LGBT group. Michael is now retired from legal practice, serving as a trustee of the Faith & Belief Forum, mentoring law students from UCL and City University, is a regional judge for Young Enterprise and is involved in supporting his local community and other mentoring and voluntary organisations including Zambezi Sunrise Trust.

Michael Ziff is Vice-President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews serving as Treasurer. Michael was born in 1953 and was raised in Leeds. He was educated at Clifton College in Bristol and hen at University of Leeds. In 1978, he joined the family Bradford-based footwear business, Stylo as Director and in 1990 he joined the Stylo Board as Chief Executive Officer. In 2004, Michael became a Director of Town Centre Securities Plc.

He received an Honorary Degree from the University of Bradford for his work in the City on regeneration and charitable causes. Having played cricket for Maccabi club in Leeds, London and Hertfordshire for many years, he continues to support sporting in the community. He became Chairman of the Yorkshire Country Cricket Club Members Committee. Together with his family they have dedicated their lives to philanthropy and the long-term future of British communities’ needs in various areas including education, health, sport, and welfare.

Ali is Solutions Not Sides’ Youth and Partnerships Director, leading on youth empowerment, strategic partnership development and community collaborations. He is an experienced networker who is responsible for developing new partnerships for SNS across civil society, the education sector, academia, local authorities and communities. He has over 20 years’ experience working with communities, the public and private sector. He has worked as a researcher, educator, practitioner, activist and executive coach to empower communities to create social innovation and change.

His specialisations are in creating safe spaces for difficult dialogue, leadership development, think spaces, strategic development, knowledge exchange and delivering inclusion and diversity training. He is regularly invited as a guest lecturer on peace leadership, active citizenship, cohesion, interfaith, religion, Islamophobia, the far right, media and community empowerment. Ali is an alumni of the IVLP, Clore Fellow, and the founder of Christian Muslim Encounters, which aims to foster good relations and build bridges across communities, academia, policy and civil society. He is currently writing a book on interfaith.

Mark studied Jurisprudence at Oxford and is a qualified barrister. He retired from banking after a 34 year career including roles as Chief European Strategist, Head of Investment Solutions and Global Head of Sales. He is now a doctoral researcher in Religious Studies at the University of Luzern investigating religious representation amongst all religions, after receiving a Masters in Religious Studies from Kings College. He is currently President of the West London Synagogue of British Jews and a former Vice-Chair of the Leo Baeck College rabbinic seminary, of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and Co-Chair of Ashford Place, a north London charity dedicated to helping the homeless and building community. Mark also spent three years as a consultant for Pilotlight, a charity dedicated to helping other charities formulate strategic plans and advised Methodist Action Northwest with a redesign of its strategy.

Louisa Parrales is the full time Chaplain at Forest School in Snaresbrook, leading spiritual development and equipping interfaith dialogue across the whole school community.

With 20 years’ experience across charity, education and religious sectors pioneering small community projects, she works to equip children, young people and families to know and understand their agency and voice to effect change and build community cohesion.

Along with her husband, Louisa also worked for many years with Spanish speaking communities across London on immigration matters and helping people to build connections in order to flourish. She is fluent in Spanish, having studied it as a degree, lived in Spanish speaking countries for several years and married an Ecuadorian!

Her MA research into the intersection of identity, culture and faith, reinforced her passion for the power of dialogue to create a more confident sense of self and more peaceful, inclusive communities and she is excited to continue to work together with others to share this passion.