meet the onespirit team
Welcome to the OneSpirit Interfaith Foundation family! We’re a small, passionate team working remotely from various corners of the UK — connected not by one building, but by a shared commitment to compassion, spiritual exploration, and deep care. From tutors guiding students through transformative journeys, to staff weaving together the threads of our day-to-day operations, to trustees shaping our long-term vision — every person here plays a part in holding this work with heart. We’re so glad to introduce you to the people behind OneSpirit.
THE ONESPIRIT STAFF TEAM
The organisers, communicators, and quiet champions behind the scenes — keeping things flowing with warmth and care.
Alan (he/him)
Executive Director
Alan was a builder, tree-feller, furniture maker, and woodturner before he started work in the charity sector supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Now with over 17 years of experience gained across the fields of mental health, youth justice, and drug and alcohol services, Alan’s work is driven by his passion for innovation and finding creative solutions.
He led a national programme to roll out gatekeeper training in Wales to equip frontline services and community members with the skills and confidence to prevent suicide and advised the Welsh Government on the development of a national suicide and self-harm prevention strategy.
Alan has five grown-up children and two grandchildren. In between work and shed-building (Alan believes you can never have too many sheds) relaxation takes the form of long walks with the dogs, reading, painting and meditation.
Danielle (she/her) 
Finance Officer
Danielle left her native Texas in 1983 intending to travel around Europe for a year or so. She never went back – and is now settled in the UK with dual nationality. She is fluent in French and speaks a little Spanish and Italian. She comes from a business background in sales, theatre design and architectural administration, and along the way also picked up bookkeeping skills. She trained as a labyrinth facilitator in 2002, which then led her into training as a OneSpirit interfaith minister.
Ordained in 2006, Danielle took on the role of Finance Officer with OneSpirit a year later. She trained as a teacher in The Spiritual Laws of Prosperity with Rev Maggy Whitehouse in 2013 and now incorporates that work as a way to support students with their fees and money/scarcity issues. Her hobbies are crafts, knitting, swimming, walking on the beach, watching movies and dancing the Dances of Universal Peace.
Maddy (she/her)
Learning Design Specialist
Maddy has always had a deep interest in spirituality and went on to complete a degree in Theology and Religious Studies. Maddy then trained and worked as a secondary school Religious Studies teacher before moving into SEN education, working holistically with young people with autism; seeing first-hand the power a holistic approach to education can have on the lives of young people. She then returned to university, completing a master’s degree specialising in feminist Biblical studies in relation to motherhood, identity, and Goddess spirituality.
Having always been passionate about social justice work, Maddy was drawn to working with OneSpirit to reconnect with others committed to building a compassionate and thriving global community.
When she’s not working, Maddy loves to spend as much time as possible outside exploring the world around her. Having recently become a new mom, she is connecting with the world in totally different ways than she ever had before. She loves travelling to different places (near and far!) with her favourite places being India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Her time in these places taught her to always look for the sacred in the everyday.
Kailee (she/her)
Communications & Marketing Lead
Kailee’s lifelong fascination with diverse cultures has taken her around the globe, both as a traveller and educator. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Global Studies online from Arizona State University, which gave her the flexibility to explore the world while pursuing her studies. With minors in History and Women and Gender Studies, Kailee turned her passion for communication into action, teaching English to children in Italy and China.
Originally from Boston, her academic journey continued in Scotland, where she completed a Postgraduate Diploma in History, focusing on the religious, cultural, and gender dynamics of the Middle Ages. Her creative talents extend into social media and marketing, where she believes inclusive communication can spark innovation and connection.
Previously, she worked in Washington D.C., serving as an Inclusion Programme Coordinator, advocating for youth engagement, disability rights, Indigenous rights, and gender equality. She remains passionate about intersectional justice and empowering marginalised communities.
In her free time, Kailee enjoys reading, rewatching Indiana Jones movies, listening to music (too loudly!), and experimenting with vegan recipes. A solo traveller at heart, she loves meeting new people and experiencing the world’s rich cultural diversity.
Lavinia (she/her) 
Community Development Lead
From London to Jamaica to Liverpool and many flights in between, Lavinia has always been passionate about community building and the many forms this can take. Her goal is to empower individuals to recognise and harness their power and influence within their community spaces.
Within her local community, she functions as a project manager, consultant, and support for local organisations on initiatives that focus on area regeneration, social justice, and empowering individuals to take ownership of their community’s transformation.
Alongside her role at OneSpirit, Lavinia is actively engaged in community projects focusing on mental health and emotional well-being. She’s committed to creating inclusive, diverse environments that speak to and actively support their members. She believes in building communities where everyone feels seen, heard, and valued. Additionally, as a Hypnotherapist and Healing Practitioner, she works with people one-on-one and in groups to support their healing journeys through generational and intergenerational trauma.
When not working, Lavinia enjoys watching Star Trek, reading Sci-Fi, and being defeated in rock paper scissors by her son.
Kim (she/her) 
Operations Manager
Kim has been an operations manager working in charities and not-for-profits for over 15 years. A passion for easeful and supportive processes and procedures is underpinned by her ability to problem solve and hold space, with a way of seeing under the tangles and layers to the heart of the sticky matters.
Having grown up in South Africa she wonders and feels deeply into what divides and separates people from each other, the other than the human world and the earth and what are the pathways back into connection. These wonderings have led her to the way of the council, grief tending and transformative justice spaces, learning and facilitation.
Kim is also an avid reader, practicer of Ashtanga yoga, dancer in her living room, carrot cake maker, succulent enthusiast, mountain hiker, aunty, barefoot walker, wild swimmer and potter.
THE ONESPIRIT FACULTY TEAM
The guides, mentors, and space-holders who accompany students through their two-year journey of growth and discovery.
Annie (she/her)
OneSpirit Core Tutor
Annie’s passion for experiential spirituality and for the profound heart of humanity has led her, over the last three decades, into diverse faith paths, spiritual traditions and cultural communities. Through study but also relationships with friends, neighbours and colleagues, Annie has been touched by the privilege and challenge of being welcomed into others’ worlds. Annie shares this ongoing and self-reflective enquiry into how to really listen deeply to and connect with another in the Ministry training programme.
Alongside her tutor role at OneSpirit, Annie is currently engaged in a ‘grassroots’ voluntary ministry in a local urban project, where she is the ‘garden chaplain’ of a therapeutic gardening project for vulnerable members of the local community. Annie is drawn to this ministry through her lifelong affinity with the natural world and finds meaning in empowering others to share in cherishing and regenerating green spaces, particularly in improving the quality of life for all in urban environments. Annie is an experienced spiritual accompanier/coach and qualified chaplain, with NHS training in mental health spiritual care in an interfaith context. She draws on a degree and MA from Cambridge University in Theology and Religious Studies and her professional formation as a teacher, undergirding her commitment to diversity and social justice issues of inner cities.
Annie joined OneSpirit as a tutor in 2016 and is ordained. She enjoys working with classes in day workshops, residential and online contexts and is interested in how we form deep, mutually enriching connections through these different approaches. With a side-line in mural painting and a prolific writer, Annie has published numerous books and articles offering reflections and ceremony resources, particularly about key interests in the Feminine Divine, deep ecology and the mystical heart of sacred texts.
Dawn (she/her)
OneSpirit Core Tutor
Dawn’s greatest passion is to be part of the human experience that unfolds when we come together in a heart space to achieve something for the greater good of all. She started her working life in therapeutic communities and worked with many aspects of psychotherapeutic practices such as art therapy, psychodrama and group dynamics.
After many years of exploring earth-based spirituality and healing practices (often under the umbrella name of shamanism), she became co-director of Eagle’s Wing College of Contemporary Shamanism, and co-founder of both Celebrating Woman and Medicine Woman, Medicine Ways.
Over the last 20 years, Dawn has been offering one-year courses and short courses in healing, earth connection and practitioner training. She has also developed a one-to-one practice offering many lenses to help people know, love, heal and accept themselves, and in turn to know themselves as part of the Divine, Great Mystery of life. Dawn was ordained with OneSpirit in 2018.
Monica (she/her)
OneSpirit Group Tutor
Monica shares her time between Birmingham and Barbados. She shares her ministry online through The Wild Wisdom Sanctuary, Wild Wisdom Oracle Cards, Wild Wisdom Groove and Ritual and offline through retreats, ceremonies and workshops.
In her daily work, she is a love alchemist and certified relationship coach who helps courageous souls to heal their hearts and love again after break up, separation or divorce. She delivers this work through love and relationship coaching in groups and 1:1 as well as the Delightful Dating.app.
Her personal passions are barefoot walking, yoga, singing, dancing, goat whispering and eating raw chocolate.
Sarah (she/her)
OneSpirit Group Tutor
Sarah was fortunate to encounter T’ai Chi aged just 16 and she’s been practising ever since. T’ai Chi led to Qigong, a related Taoist practice which includes meditation, healing, creativity and spiritual development. She is now a respected teacher of the Hua Gong style. Wishing to find a stronger means of embodying the benefits of her practice in the world, she joined OneSpirit and was ordained in 2014.
She served as a mentor for the class of 2017. The healing practice led her to explore health in all its forms and she holds an MA in Health Education. She has worked extensively in the voluntary sector, supporting people with addictions, mental health issues, homelessness and a history of offending before joining the Bristol Cancer Help Centre in 2003. She is now responsible for developing psycho-spiritual education programmes for people with cancer, and for training and accrediting facilitators to run them.
She has an abiding interest in holistic health and healing, a strong call to sacred activism and an abiding love of the wild. She lives in Bristol with her husband and 3 teenagers.
Una (she/her)
OneSpirit Group Tutor
Una has worked as an Occupational Therapist and mental health service manager for over 3 decades in Ireland and London. She is a qualified Gestalt psychotherapist who believes that allowing vulnerability in a safe situation will lead us towards experiencing sacred support. She has trained in Family Constellation work. She was ordained as a OneSpirit Interfaith minister in 2017.
Joining the OneSpirit Interfaith family has demonstrated her sacred support as a felt experience through the practice of spiritual counselling, ceremony and joint endeavour. Another beautiful lesson for Una on the Interfaith course was the use of creativity as an expression of our spirituality.
Una has a fine art degree and has had her paintings in a number of exhibitions, she plays music and writes. Una lives in Spain on an avocado farm. She uses her garden for conducting ceremonies and is learning to grow food and speak Spanish.
Guest Tutors
OneSpirit Guest Tutors
In addition to our core tutors, we’re honoured to welcome a range of guest tutors and ordained ministers into the training space throughout the year. These guests offer valuable perspectives, lived experiences, and unique ways of ministering — all of which enrich the learning journey and deepen our collective understanding of what it means to serve.
Guest tutors may lead sessions on specific spiritual traditions, sacred practices, or aspects of ministry that complement the core curriculum. Others may share personal stories of challenge, growth, and how their OneSpirit training continues to shape their life and work. These visits are often some of the most memorable moments in the training, a chance to hear from those who are actively walking their path, holding space in their communities, and responding to the world’s needs in their own meaningful way.
By weaving in diverse voices, we aim to reflect the richness of the interfaith experience and remind our students that ministry can take many forms: all rooted in presence, compassion, and care.
THE ONESPIRIT TRUSTEE TEAM
The stewards of OneSpirit’s mission, bringing wisdom, governance, and long-term vision to help our work grow and endure.
Joanna (she/her)
OneSpirit Chair of Trustees
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.
Eleanor Tabi (she/her) 
OneSpirit Trustee
Eleanor Tabi is the president and CEO of The Paradigm Forum GmbH (TPF), a global consultancy and think tank operating at the nexus of talent innovation, social justice and workplace redesign. Previously, she was the senior vice president of Global Learning Strategies at Catalyst Inc. where she designed cutting-edge initiatives to promote organisational inclusion and innovation in diverse cultural contexts.
She was also the first general manager of Catalyst Europe AG, founded in 2006, where she partnered with distinguished corporate and academic members, as well as governments. Before Catalyst, Ms. Haller-Jorden held the positions of officer at J.P. Morgan; lead partner at HNC Consulting; executive director at The Learning Labs; and founder of the Public Policy Centre in Philadelphia. An early publication she co-authored for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was hailed as “a definitive source for innovative public participation practices tied to environmental planning projects.”
Ms. Haller-Jorden is a frequent speaker and recognized voice in the international media and has been interviewed for the New York Times, Asahi Shinbun, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Business Today, Reuters, CNN, SRF2 Radio and BBC Radio 4; and was a commentator for “The New World of Work” on FNN. She has been named a European Thought Leader by the IBM Global Innovation Outlook initiative and a Woman Worth Watching by Profiles in Diversity Journal. Ms. Haller-Jorden has been featured in Careerpreneurs (Lessons from Leading Women Entrepreneurs on Building a Career Without Boundaries) by Dorothy Perrin Moore and Capitalizing on the Global Workforce by Michael S. Schell and Charlene Marmer Solomons.
Malaika (she/her)
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 learning new. This will be her 3rd time applying for the role of trustee, they say the 3rd time is 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 (he/him)
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.
Sonia (she/her)
OneSpirit Trustee
Sonia is passionate about fairness and justice. It is the lens through which she understands the world and it flavours the way that she goes about her work.
She has had a highly successful career in academia, having being the author of the UK’s first 3-year undergraduate degree in Community development, which incorporated a professional qualification in Youth Work. She has also been a member of the Education and Training Standards body of the National Youth Agency, and an External Examiner on several undergraduate and post graduate programmes.
She has sat on a number of Boards including several housing associations, a Community Voluntary Services infrastructural organisation and a Primary Care Trust. She is currently a Co-Director of two Community Interest Companies. Sonia works freelance as an Organisational Development Consultant, Facilitator and Coach, supporting redesign and practices that bring fairness, peace and compassion to people living and working in organisations.
Her work extends across Europe and Africa. At the moment she is working hard at becoming a creative writer.
Josh (he/him)
OneSpirit Trustee
Professionally, Josh is a lawyer specialising in media and copyright, and currently works for the BBC group in London.
Outside of work, he has a keen interest in spirituality and a long, non-exclusive affiliation with the Buddhist tradition. With experience in both Theravada and Tibetan Buddhism, he is now most closely affiliated with Plum Village which is rooted in Vietnamese Zen.
Josh is also interested in a wide range of other spiritual and religious traditions, and in the mystic heart at their core. Raised Anglican, he believes truth and value are to be found in all paths, and that none has a monopoly. He has been fortunate to travel extensively and experience many beliefs and practices accordingly.
He is attracted to the non-dogmatic, open inclusiveness of OneSpirit, which aligns with his values and inter-spiritual approach. He may undertake the interfaith ordination training when times permits but for now is pleased to contribute in the role of trustee. Josh loves to study, including a recent post-graduate certificate in Philosophy, Science and Religion and has an MA in Buddhist Studies, although his first degree was in History, and has various professional qualifications in Law. He is also producing a feature-length documentary film about reincarnation, and volunteers in other capacities when he can. Josh lives with his partner and two pussycats in Ramsgate, by the coast in Kent, where he can see France on a clear day.