Yemisi Onigbinde

Yemisi spent 9 years working in various departments of local government but it is in her role of working in the Equalities and Social Inclusion Unit for 5 years that equipped her with the vast skills and experience of government policy and agendas around valuing diversity, social inclusion and community cohesion.

It was whilst working in this capacity that she realised the lack of proper synergy of work between the faith community and local government. Hence the entrepreneurial within her has prompted the beginnings of Faith Action.

Faithaction module: (local government) + (statutory agencies) + (faith community + local businesses) = positive social change.

She hopes that Faithaction will inspire, encourage and equip the local churches to actively take part in community social action so that those marginalised people in society get the right help that they need in order to contribute towards society in a positive way.

Rt. Hon. David Burrowes MP, Shadow Minister for Youth Justice

At the 2005 General Election David contested the seat of Enfield Southgate which he won against expectations, ousting the then Minister of State at the Department for Education and Skills Stephen Twigg (2001 majority, 5,546) with a majority of 1,747 votes (8.7% swing). He made his maiden speech on June 20, 2005. In October 2006, he was appointed shadow Minister for Justice with responsibility for prisons.

He has contributed to debates on a range of topics such as Violent Crime, Fatherhood, Criminal legal Aid, Council Tax Revaluation, and Equalities. He is a member of the Public Administration Select Committee.

Most recently David has run a youth justice review and led a debate on the Hospital superbug c-diff, highlighting this bacterial infection as quickly becoming a bigger killer in hospitals than MRSA.

Rev Nims Obunge MBE - Patron

Rev Nims Obunge is the Pastor of Freedom's Ark Church and also the Chief Executive of The Peace Alliance The Peace Alliance is a national crime reduction charity working on a local basis in partnership with faith, community and volunta ry organisations, the police and local councils and other statutory agencies.

He is a member of the Home Office Round Table on Gun Crime and a member of The Metropolitan Police Trident Independent Advisory Group. He serves on the National Crack Advisory Board and on the London Crimestoppers Advisory Board. He is also a member of the Metropolitan Police Association scrutiny panel on Stop & Search. Rev Obunge also chairs the Criminal Justice Board's (CJB) Advisory Group. He is often consulted by senior Home Office and Scotland Yard officials on issues related to ethnicity, diversity, young people and crime.

In Haringey, Rev Obunge serves on the Executive Board of the Crime Reduction Partnership, the Local Strategic Partnership and chairs the Communities and Availability Task Group (a subgroup of the Drugs & Alcohol Action Team). Whilst serving as an Ecumenical Dean, in his voluntary role as a police Chaplain, he provides support to police officers as the need arises.

Carmen Gonzalez - Board Member

Highly successful fundraising and project manager with over ten years experience in the charitable/voluntary sector. Supporting and assisting Haringey's voluntary and community organisations to review their financial policies and procedures and introduce best practice in their organizations. Consultant for over 80 local charities on project monitoring and evaluation.
Fundraiser & Community Development Manager at the Baytree Centre.

She is also the Founder of "eyes wide open" a voluntary organization that aims to help people look at life in a positive way through photography, www.ewo.org.uk.

Paul Whitnall - Board Member

I've worked for the past 15 years as a charity manager, in various roles and places. For 10 of those I've worked with and for the YMCA. My work is to strengthen charities and churches, usually around improving the range and mix of income.

I'm interesting in breaking through to the really exciting potential developments which the people of the Kingdom of God are pregnant with I'm good at capturing and re-telling your ideas and plans, to turn them into funded reality!I try to stimulate a creative energy and bring a positive voice into the discussions we're
all going to have about a better brighter bigger future.

David Westlake - Tearfund - Board Member

David works for Tearfund as Integral Mission Director, where he is responsible for a number of projects. These include how we as Tearfund can help UK Christians engage with churches in some of the poorest communities in the world and what we mean by the term Integral Mission.

David set up and is also the Director of Soul Action, a partnership between Tearfund and Soul Survivor which seeks to raise up a generation of young Christians who understand God's heart for justice and what that means for the poor.He has written three books, one of which is "Lift The Label" and was one of the founders of Soul Survivor Church, Watford, which he now attends. David has been happily married to Minu for 14 years and they have a beautiful daughter called Ellie, who is 6 years old.