Advisors and Trustees

John Inge is Bishop of Worcester. He read and then taught chemistry prior to ordination. As a priest he worked for several years in education as a chaplain, latterly at Harrow School, before becoming vicar of an inner-city parish on Tyneside. He then moved to Ely Cathedral to become Canon Missioner before becoming Bishop of Huntingdon in 2003. In 2008, he was enthroned as the 113th Bishop of Worcester in which capacity he exercises oversight of the 281 churches in the Diocese of Worcester as well as fulfilling a number of national responsibilities.

Bishop John has a long standing interest in civic life and chaired the Board for Mission and Social Responsibility in the Diocese of Newcastle. He served for several years as a Trustee of Common Purpose, an international leadership organisation dedicated to bringing together leaders from the public, private and voluntary sectors to work for the common good. He is now a Trust Protector the organisation.  

Bishop John is fascinated by international affairs and cultural variety and has taken groups to Africa (on seven occasions), India, South America, Russia and the Holy Land. He is a longstanding supporter of the World Development Movement and Amnesty International. Bishop John’s doctorate is in systematic theology and his book A Christian Theology of Place was short listed for the Michael Ramsey Prize for Theological Writing. His latest book is Living Love: In Conversation with the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.

He is married to Dr Denise Inge, an American, who is a writer.  They have two young daughters.

Chris White was elected as Warwick and Leamington's new MP at the 2010 General Election, having previously stood at the General Election in 2005. Before his election he worked locally in Public Relations, having previously worked at Longbridge with MG Rover. Chris lives in Warwick, and plays an active role in the local community, serving as a governor of Myton School and as a a trustee of the Warwickshire Association of Youth Clubs.

David joined Odey in 1995 initially as Chief Executive Officer and today he is Chairman focusing on business supervision and strategy and heads investment research. David joined Odey from Leopold Joseph, the UK merchant bank, where he was CEO and had worked since 1980.  David graduated from New College, Oxford, in 1980.

 

George was elected in 2010 for the new constituency of Mid Norfolk, with a majority of 14,000, after an innovative campaign (It Starts Here! ) focussed on the need for a fresh start in politics. He was appointed PPS to the Minister for Climate Change, Greg Barker MP and elected Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science & Technology in Agriculture.  He has spoken and written widely on the potential of UK science, technology and entrepreneurship to lead a sustainable economic recovery. In July 2011 he was appointed Adviser on Life Sciences to the Minister of State for Universities and Science, Rt Hon David Willetts MP.

Greg Clark is a Minister of State in the Department for Communities and Local Government, with responsibility for overseeing decentralisation, and the Member of Parliament for Tunbridge Wells. Born in Middlesbrough in 1967, Greg attended the local St Peter's Comprehensive, South Bank. He went on to study Economics at Cambridge University and was awarded his PhD at the London School of Economics. Before entering politics, Greg worked for the Boston Consulting Group, one of the world's top business strategy firms, and was posted to the USA, Mexico, South America and Iceland, as well as working for clients in the UK. Greg was Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for Trade & Industry - the Rt Hon Ian Lang MP - from 1996 until the General Election in 1997. Subsequently, he was appointed the BBC's Controller, Commercial Policy. He entered the Shadow Cabinet in October 2008, having previously been Shadow Minister for Charities, Social Enterprise and Volunteering 2006-2008. Before becoming an MP, Greg was Director of Policy for the Conservative Party from March 2001 for three successive Leaders - William Hague, Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard - before being elected to Parliament in 2005. He was a Member of Public Accounts Committee from 2005-2006.

John Hayes is Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Member of Parliament for South Holland and The Deepings. He was born in 1958 and married Susan Hopwell, who he has two sons with, in July 1997. He was educated at Colfe’s Grammar School and University of Nottingham, where he graduated with a BA Hons Politics and a PGCE in History/English. John was elected as Member of Parliament for South Holland and The Deepings in 1997, following 12 years as a Conservative Councillor in Nottinghamshire. Following his election he was appointed Secretary of the Agriculture Select Committee and Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Backbench Education Committee before becoming a Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party until July 2000. Since then John has been appointed an Opposition Whip, Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Shadow Minister for Local & Devolved Government, with particular responsibility for Housing and Planning and Shadow Minister for Transport. He has served as the Shadow Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education, and has developed a reputation for assiduously progressing the skills and widening participation agenda. John has also been the chairman of the All Party Group on Disability, and secretary of the all party group on brain injury. In his spare time he enjoys travel, reading, history, tennis and jam-making.

Malcolm Brown is Director of Mission and Public Affairs for the Church of England, responsible for the church's engagement with political and ethical issues in Britain and internationally. He has been an Anglican priest since 1979, working in inner city and rural parishes and as an industrial chaplain. During the 1990s he was Executive Secretary of the William Temple Foundation, a think tank within the University of Manchester working on theology, economics and urban issues, where he completed his PhD on the dialogue between Christian ethics and economics. Malcolm has taught at universities in Britain and Finland, most recently in the Cambridge Theological Federation where he was Principal of the Eastern Region Ministry Course from 2000 until taking up his present post in 2007. In addition to numerous articles and contributions to collections of essays, his books include: After the Market (Peter Lang, 2004), The Church and Economic Life (Epworth: 2006), Faith in Suburbia (Contact Monographs: 2006) and Tensions in Christian Ethics (SPCK: 2010). He lives in a village outside Cambridge.

Oliver Rothschild is known for philanthropy, as Patron and Promoter of the Arts and Charitable causes, and his international network of connections crosses over both the Arts and the Sciences but also embraces and promotes social enterprise. His media involvements include presenting programmes for the BBC and Channel 4 and co-production of a BBC series. Oliver is also involved with numerous charities as Patron and Ambassador and has held several key positions including Chairman of UNICEF (Appeals Committee); he is now President of ACEVO Solutions. Fluent in French, German, Spanish and Italian, Oliver is actively developing business opportunities throughout the US and Europe including the former Eastern European Block countries. Oliver has been elected The Senior Entrepreneur Fellow of Essex University and Chairs the Industry & Entrepreneurs Forum and The Sustainable Business Steering Group. He is invited as a VIP Delegate to UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) and inaugurated The Council of Atomium Culture Conference.

John Milbank is Research Professor of Religion, Politics and Ethics and Director of the Centre of Theology and Philosophy at the University of Nottingham. Previously he held a Readership at Cambridge University and a named Chair at the University of Virginia. He is the founder of the Radical Orthodoxy Movement and the author of many books, including 'Theology and Social Theory' and 'The Future of Love.'

Simon Lee is the Emeritus Professor of Jurisprudence, Queen’s University Belfast and was formerly Vice-Chancellor of Leeds Metropolitan University and Rector and Chief Executive of Liverpool Hope University. He is also Chair of Level Partnerships Ltd., which provides services to foster partnerships in sport, the arts, education, housing, diverse communities, businesses, health services and the wider public sector, and chair of the John Paul II Foundation for Sport. He has taught law at Queen’s Belfast, King’s College London and Trinity College, Oxford and studied at Balliol College, Oxford, as a Harkness Fellow at Yale Law School and at the English College, Gregorian University, Rome.  Simon was one of the co-founders of Initiative '92, a citizens' movement which commissioned an enquiry into ways forward for Northern Ireland. Together with his own writing on the troubles, this was not just an important part in what became the peace process but a forerunner of what we now call the Big Society.

He has served on numerous public and private Boards including the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights (1992-1996); South & East Belfast Health & Social Services Trust (1994-1995); National Standards Task Force, Department for Education (1997-2001); Arriva/Merseytravel joint venture for Liverpool trams (Chair, 1997-1999); Netherley Valley Partnership (Chair, 1998-2002); Liverpool Education interim monitoring board (Chair, 1999-2000); Everyman & Playhouse Theatres (Chair, 1998-2002); The Tablet (2003-2006); Harrogate International Festival (2005-2008); Northern Ballet Theatre (2006-2010); Plater Review (Chair, 2007-2008); Leeds Carnegie Rugby Union (Chair, 2007-2009); Podium coordinating universities/colleges for London 2012 (Chair, 2008-2010); Leeds Teaching Hospitals Charitable Foundation (2009-present).

Simon has written extensively including:  Law & Morals (1986), Judging Judges (1988), Believing Bishops – co-author (1989), The Cost of Free Speech (1990), Freedom from Fear – editor(1991), Learning Legal Skills - co-author (1993), Uneasy Ethics (2003), Hand of God – forthcoming (2011).

Steve Wyler OBE is the Chief Executive of Locality, a nationwide movement of community organisations ambitious for change. Locality brings together over 600 settlements, development trusts, social action centres and community enterprises. Locality’s vision is for every community to be a place of possibility, and all its work, on community assets, community enterprise, and social action, is driven by a belief in social justice and community self-determination. 

Locality was formed in 2011 through the merger of bassac and the Development Trusts Association, where Steve was Director from 2000.  Over the previous fifteen years Steve worked for voluntary and community agencies and independent grant-makers. For example in the 1990s, working with homeless agencies, he ran Homeless Network, co-ordinated the Rough Sleepers Initiative in London, and set up Off the Streets and into Work.    

Steve has been a member of various Government advisory groups on social enterprise, community organisations, and the third sector (Cabinet Office, CLG, Ministry of Justice).  Steve is also vice-Chair of the Social Enterprise Coalition, and Board member of the Adventure Capital Fund, the National Communities Resource Centre, and Thames Reach.  He was awarded an OBE in the 2011 New Year Honours List.

 

Zac Goldsmith  is the Conservative MP for Richmond Park and North Kingston.  He was the Editor of the Ecologist Magazine for 10 years and remains Director of the Ecologist. In 2005 he was asked to oversee a wide-ranging review of environmental policy for the Conservative Party. The Quality of Life Policy Review was delivered to David Cameron in September 2007. Many of the recommendations have since become Party Policy. In between his work with The Ecologist and his political campaigns, Zac raises funds for groups around the world dealing with issues ranging from agriculture and energy to conservation and climate change. In 2003 Zac was the recipient of the Beacon Prize for 'Young Philanthropist of the Year'. In 2004, he received the Global Green Award for 'International Environmental Leadership’. In September 2009, Zac’s book, 'The Constant Economy' was released. It looks at the key environmental problems we face, and provides a workable programme for action.