Trustees

Five Talents also has an International Board, Advisory Council and Patron. See the International Site for details. http://www.fivetalents.org. Five Talents UK has an independent board of Trustees:

1. Keith Sinclair - Keith Sinclair is the Bishop of Birkenhead. Before taking up this position he was Vicar of Aston where he focused particularly on building good relationships within the community, evangelism, and social justice. Prior to this Keith worked as a solicitor. Bishop Keith is married to Rosemary and has three children aged 10,13, and 14.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Graham Carr - Graham is a Chartered Accountant (FCA) and has spent most of his career in East Africa, first as Chief Accountant and Company Secretary of a coffee business. He subsequently practiced as a Chartered Accountant, establishing firms in Uganda (1970), Kenya (1973) and Malawi (1977). In 1983 he joined World Vision International as Regional Controller for Africa, based in Nairobi.
   
   In 1987 he returned to the UK with World Vision, and in 1993 became CEO of Scripture Union England and Wales. In 1995 he returned to Africa to establish Aclaim Africa, an ethical accounting firm and management consultancy based in Uganda. He successfully handed-over to a Ugandan CEO in 2004 and returned to the UK in 2005 where he is now “semi-retired”. Graham is married to Fiona and they have 3 grown-up children and 5 grandchildren.
   
   “Having worked in the MicroFinance Industry, knowing Africa and adding my Christian commitment, Five Talents is an excellent vehicle in which to put my experience to use.”



3. Charles Eve - Charles is a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs and has worked for the Investment Bank for over 20 years. For most of that time he traded Convertible Bonds but he spent 5 years in Japan running their Equity Division in Tokyo and returned with his family in 2003. Charles is currently Head of Compliance for Europe, Middle East and Africa. He completed an Alpha course in 2003.
   
   "Like many people I wore a white bracelet for the Make Poverty History campaign however I was frustrated and wanted to do more that simply wear a band." I was very interested when I heard about Five Talents as it addresses 3 key issues that are important to me. (1) Microfinance is wealth creating, (2) the money goes direct to where it is needed most, and (3) it embraces the important Christian principles of helping the meek and the poor" It is a pleasure to be part of this fast growing charity and using my talents to lend 'talents' to the active poor. I would highly recommend anyone interested to go on one of the 5T "Business as mission" trips. I went on one to Uganda - we are changing peoples lives."



4. David Fletcher - David has been in Media Communications for over 20 years and has worked with almost every type of business. He’s been a Christian since his mid-teens and worships in a small, diverse, urban anglican church in West London. He is married to Janet and they have 3 teenage children. You'll usually find the whole family playing some form of musical instrument in church on Sunday.
   
   “Like many of my generation, Live Aid in 1985 was my first significant encounter with issues of world poverty (and I still have the T-shirt!). But it was only in 2004 when I visited Uganda that I really got to understand some of the complexities of the underlying issues. The whole thing can feel utterly overwhelming until you see the individual stories of hope – which are at the heart of Five Talents.”






5. David Mace - David trained as a barrister and then worked for British Petroleum for 34 years. His last two jobs were Head of Health, Safety and the Environment and Regional Co-ordinator for Africa and Latin America. He lives in Godalming, Surrey and is married to Jill. They have 2 children and 5 grandchildren.
   
   David has been a Christian most of his life and has been involved in Christian work wherever he has been around the world. He was ordained in 1995 to a non-stipendiary ministry in his local church. He chairs the Diocesan Audit Committee and is involved with various charities.
   
   “I am excited to be involved in Five Talents because its work is so much focussed on those who have so little and because its method of working is so simple and straight-forward.”






6. Shona Passfield - Shona is a full-time Christian and a Marketing Consultant by profession. She runs her own specialist consultancy partnering large corporates who wish to leverage each others brand affinity to maximise their marketing capability. Shona has been married to Andrew for 20 years and they live in Sawbridgeworth, Herts along with their two cats. She is a Trustee of CMS and has developed a strong interest in Business as Mission - using her own business as start point. Shona has visited Africa several times and is connected with a number of projects in Uganda and Kenya.
   
   "I think God has so many creative ways to help us to help others and Five Talents is a shining example. My own experience of business taught me that material wealth on its own is empty and pointless, that's why I am delighted to be involved with an organisation that has the ability to change lives physically and spiritually both in developing countries and here in the developed world as we link people directly into the programmes they support. Five Talents has the capability of making a real difference to the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals. It is also assisting in a global shift towards self help through business growth. This is a two way street with something for everyone involved, that's why I am so excited about Five Talents".
7. Elaine Thomas - Elaine has spent her career as a journalist and producer for the BBC. She began in Bristol, producing and occasionally presenting the local [radio] programme. She then moved to London to work in [television] News and Current Affairs; including Newsnight and the Nine O'Clock news. She has worked on films and documentaries, with four years on the Money Programme and Family Matters. She now works in radio on the political programmes, including the Westminster Hour and currently edits the weekly World Service programme “People and Politics”.
   
   Elaine attends St Margaret's Church, Westminster, and she took part in the Alpha course at St Michael's, Chester Square. She is involved in a Trust called "Christian Responsibility in Public Affairs" which is working with Five Talents to start the "Mama Bahati” Micro-Finance Project in Tanzania in 2006.
   
   “I heard the Archbishop of Tanzania, Donald Mtetemela, speak about “Mama Bahati” in London in 2003. He explained the remarkable impact that small loans can achieve for local people, and I was stirred to get involved. Five Talents is a natural fit with my interests and I am excited to be involved.”
8. Sam Millar - Sam was educated at Cambridge University and the University of Illinois and now works for Liquid Capital Group as the Head of Legal. He qualified as a barrister and then as a solicitor. Sam attends St Paul's church in Hammersmith and is chairman of the PCC. He is a founding Director of SPEAR, a charitable programme run by the St Paul's Centre for disadvantaged young people aged 16-24 in the West London area. He is passionate about Uganda (which he has visited twice) and about the work of Five Talents in relieving the plight of the poor.
   
   "I am excited to see Five Talents reaching out to the poor and bringing vision and hope. I look forward to working with the Five Talents team to develop this fantastic work."





9. Cheryl Freeman - Cheryl is Director of Social Transformation at Alpha International and Holy Trinity Brompton. She became a Christian in 2004 - on an Alpha course! - and soon after gave up her career in the City to do full-time Christian work. She started her working life at Unilever and then, after her MBA, spent 15 years in management consulting, most recently as an Associate Partner at Accenture. Her work has primarily been in marketing and strategy, and she holds a Doctorate in business.
   
   In 2004/5 she spent six months in Uganda volunteering at an HIV/AIDS programme, where one of her roles was to run a microfinance programme. She is passionate about God and about the role of the Church in addressing global poverty.
   
   "Having seen at first hand what an amazing difference microfinance can make to people's lives, I am delighted to be involved in Five Talents. And I am particularly excited by its links with the local church"”



10. Grant Masom - Grant has spent his working life in the high technology industry. during the 1990's, he was Chief Executive of two venture capital backed businesses, both of which were acquired by publicly quoted companies. For the last ten years, he has pursued a "portfolio career", chairing numerous businesses and guiding management teams facing the challenges of transition, turnaround, or growth. In the last two years, he has been offering these same skills and experience to a number of charities, involved in social action, public policy, young people, and international development. He has been a Christian since university days, and is married to Caroline, a freelance writer. They have two sons aged 17 and 20. They worship at a large Anglican church in South Bucks.
    
    "Like many Christians, I've become increasingly challenged by Jesus' concern for the poor, against a backdrop of huge disparities in wealth across the world, and the obstacles that global structures often put in the way of the poorest. Five Talents offers real hope to people trying to get on the first rungs of the ladder of development, and being administered through the local church offers a great way to offer that hope with compassion and accountability".