Meet our Director and Associates
We bridge experiences of division, polarisation and conflict as they are playing out in the UK with the experiences of other countries, recognising also that many of today’s most pressing challenges reverberate through diaspora and global solidarity and pressure movements. We do this by convening a number of associates with decades of experiences across different settings.
Phil Champain
Director
Phil Champain OBE is founder and director of ‘In-Difference’. Previous roles include CEO of the UK charity Faith & Belief Forum and Director of Programmes for the peacebuilding NGO International Alert. Phil has worked in many fragile and conflict affected regions, including the South Caucasus, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and the Philippines. He specialises in dialogue processes and was the founder of the Conflict Cafe in London which encourages dialogue through the sharing of food. He pioneered conflict sensitivity for the private sector and is an advocate for restorative approaches to peacebuilding. Phil is co-founder of the Faith & Belief Policy Collective, a Senior Adviser to Climate Conflict Action Asia, Adviser to the Cambridge Interfaith Programme, a trustee of Who is Your Neighbour?, and a member of Nuffield Council of Bioethics' Oversight Group. He was awarded the OBE in 2024 for services to faith and integration.
Shermara Hoyte
Associate Partner
Shermara Hoyte is a multi-award-winning international speaker, thought leader, peacebuilder, and advocate of faith in public life. She is Principal Officer for Pentecostal, Charismatic and Multicultural Relations at Churches Together in England. Previously, she served as Director of the William Seymour Programme at the Centre for Theology & Community and founded the Open Table Homeless Initiative at St George-in-the-East. Holding an MA in Leadership and Theology, Shermara has worked across faith, civic, and community sectors on issues of leadership, social cohesion, and peace building, including contributing to reconciliation initiatives in South Africa and the United States. In 2019, she signed the Declaration of World Peace in New York and was appointed a Global Ambassador for Peace by the Women’s Federation for World Peace. In September 2022, Shermara was selected to read prayers at the State Funeral of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II before an estimated global audience of 4.1 billion. She currently serves as a Trustee of the Sir Halley Stuart Trust and previously served as Youth Representative for the Global Jamaica Diaspora Youth Council through the auspices of the Jamaican High Commission.. Shermara is a regular broadcast contributor on BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day and other faith-based media platforms. She is the Executive Editor of Kingdom Over Nation, an ecumenical resource responding to the rise of nationalism, and a contributing author to Coming Home: Christian Perspectives on Housing, Anglicans and Pentecostals in Dialogue, and Lived Mission in 21st Century Britain.
Jessica Banfield
Associate Partner
Jessica Banfield is a conflict, peacebuilding and governance specialist. She has held the positions of Director of Programmes, Africa Regional Manager and Uganda Country Manager for International Alert, and Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding Specialist with UNDP. She holds an MA in International Studies and Diplomacy from the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies and has published a number of thematic studies exploring conflict in different geographies. Jessica supports clients in delivering quality research and policy outputs, designing programmes as well as organisational strategy frameworks that are geared towards tackling root causes of division and mistrust. She provides gender and conflict-sensitivity as well as localisation advice. She is currently supporting the North-West Nigeria Governors’ Forum in developing a Peace, Security and Development Framework for the region as part of a UNDP team. In her voluntary work, Jessica is also Chair of the UK Board of Kijana Kwanza (Young People First), a small charity providing support to vulnerable young people in Moshi, Tanzania, and previously served as a Trustee of Sufra NW, tackling food poverty in Brent.
Mike Hardy
Associate Partner
Mike Hardy CMG OBE FRSA is Professor and was founding Director of the Coventry Centre for Peace and Security researching and writing on public leadership, social cohesion and intercultural relations. He is Board Chair of the International Leadership Association; adjunct Professor of Leadership at the LSPR Communications and Business Institute in Indonesia; member of the International Advisory Board of The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; and Senior Adviser to the World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, the Baku Process. In 2023, his assessment of global leadership was included in the SAGE Encyclopaedia of Leadership Studies. Professor Hardy was awarded the OBE in 2001 for his work in the Middle East and appointed a Companion of Honour of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours June 2010 for his work internationally in Leadership.
Associate Partner
Tariq Bashir
Associate Partner
Tariq Bashir has worked in community based dialogue since 2006. He has worked closely with Programme for a Peaceful City at Bradford University and as an associate with local groups such as Together for Peace in Leeds, with the Centre for Good Relations and national and international organisations including International Alert and the British Council. Since 2011, Tariq’s focus has been on facilitated dialogue in white communities about immigration, race and cultural difference. Of all the different work Tariq did before moving into dialogue, being a mental health advocate in psychiatric wards and mental health units was particularly significant, confronting him with the cultures of institutions and getting him thinking about power some people have and some don’t, and things we all need like dignity and being heard.
Markus Mayer
Associate Partner
Markus Mayer is head of the competence centre on crisis response and peacebuilding within the governance and conflict department of the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), providing thematic leadership to the design of programs, methodologies, and approaches in key areas such as conflict sensitivity, peacebuilding, transitional aid, disaster risk management, climate security, forced displacement and migration governance. Before that he was International Alert’s Asia Director covering peacebuilding work in Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Tajikistan and Sri Lanka. He also worked for the South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg, as Resident Representative to Sri Lanka for promoting academic collaboration and research. For over 25 years he has focused on issues related to socio-economic dimensions of conflict, social security and youth employment in fragile setting, peace process management, Diaspora engagement and business for peace interventions. He holds an PhD from Heidelberg University on the topic of youth conflict and development planning.
Francisco Lara
Associate Partner
Francisco J. Lara, Jr., Ph.D. is a political economist and peacebuilding specialist whose work focuses on conflict, political economy, and governance in fragile and transitional contexts. He has served as Country Director of International Alert Philippines and Senior Peace and Conflict Adviser for Asia at International Alert UK, and is a retired Professor with the University of the Philippines. Dr. Lara has led pioneering and award-winning researches on shadow economies, clan politics, and the roots of violence in Mindanao, and continues this work through the Council for Climate and Conflict Action Asia (CCAA), where he serves as Executive Director and a key figure in promoting evidence-based strategies for sustainable and inclusive peace and development.
Nikki de la Rosa
Associate Partner
Nikki Philline C. de la Rosa is Senior Adviser of Climate Conflict Action. She brings three decades of experience in politico-economic research, program management, and strategic advocacy. She has worked with international and local NGOs, and academia, focusing on conflict monitoring systems, conflict analysis, identity violence, conflict-sensitive economic governance, natural resource management, and the intersection of climate change—particularly energy and water issues—with violent conflict. Nikki co-founded and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Council for Climate and Conflict Action Asia (CCAA) and was previously the Country Director of International Alert Philippines. She co-authored the chapter “Robustness in data and methods: Scoping the real economy of Mindanao” in the book Out of the Shadows: Violent Conflict and the Real Economy of Mindanao, which won the 2017 National Book Award for Social Science. Nikki co-authored the chapter “Lorries and ledgers: Describing and mapping smuggling in the field” in the 1st edition of The Routledge Handbook of Smuggling, published in 2022, and co-edited all Conflict Alert publications of International Alert Philippines. She holds an undergraduate degree from the University of the Philippines and an MSc in Development Studies (with distinction) from the London School of Economics.
Jonathan D Smith
Associate Partner
Jonathan Smith works at the intersection of religious diversity and social action in multicultural societies. He is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Religion and Public Life, University of Leeds, and a Visiting Lecturer at the Center for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. His research explores how religious groups participate in social movements and respond to shared social challenges in complex and surprising ways. Some examples are: 1) local environmental social movements in Indonesia, 2) interfaith solidarity movements in South Africa, 3) intermediaries in humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees in Jordan, 4) management of multi-faith spaces at UK universities, and 5) faith, belief and belonging in London. He worked for ten years in the UK charitable sector on interfaith and social action projects with the Lokahi Foundation and the Faith & Belief Forum. Jonathan holds a PhD in Theology and Religious Studies from the University of Leeds, and an MA degree in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame, USA. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jsmithconnect/ https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jonathan-Smith-65
Lucy Jaffé
Associate Partner
Lucy Jaffé has worked extensively with people who have been affected by crime and malpractice, including the founding of the non-profit organisation, Reunite, for parents of abducted children. She also built up Why me? to be a leading UK-based restorative justice charity. Lucy believes that services and support only truly work when those most affected are at the heart of the solution. She has also worked in the UK software industry, delivering bespoke solutions to the Lloyds of London market and other niche insurance providers. Lucy is a trained restorative facilitator and has experience of working across a spectrum of harm, including serious and complex crime cases to disputes between children in educational settings. Lucy works as a coach, trainer and strategy consultant with www.Jaffeworks.com, is a Director of Restorative and is on the Board of the European Forum of Restorative Justice. In her spare time, she loves camping in the wild and spends her holidays running children's camps across the UK.
Abdul Rahim
Associate Partner
Abdul Rahim is a mediator and facilitator with over eighteen years’ experience in the design, development and facilitation of complex multi-party, multi-issue dialogue processes within and between the public, private and third sector, and communities. He has worked across England and more recently in Scotland using civic mediation processes to build understanding and relationships in contexts where long-standing racial and cultural tensions are evident. He has experience of international conflicts, working with survivors of the Tsunami Disaster in Sri Lanka, and with marginalised Roma communities in Slovenia. Abdul is a qualified trainer in civic mediation and peace-building methodologies. He is a founding Director and Senior Practitioner for the Centre for Good Relations.
Maureen Lacuesta
Associate Partner
Maureen Lacuesta is a Senior Programme Manager of Council for Climate and Conflict Action Asia (CCAA) with experience in project management and communications. She has managed and led the Conflict Alert and the Critical Events Monitoring systems of CCAA. She developed the production of Aksyon Alerto!, a daily radio programme that informs stakeholders on critical events and emerging issues in the Bangsamoro. Prior to CCAA, she served as senior programme officer and senior communications officer for International Alert Philippines. She holds a degree in Development Communication from the University of the Philippines and is currently pursuing an MA in Development Studies at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex UK.
Craig Oliphant
Associate Partner
Craig Oliphant is a Senior Adviser at the Foreign Policy Centre, in London. He has also been working for over ten years in the non-governmental sector, as a policy adviser at the NGOs Saferworld and PCi, and focuses on protracted conflicts and regional security issues. Until 2011 his career was in the British diplomatic service and he was Head of Eastern Research Group at the FCO dealing with Russia and Eastern Europe. Other posts held at NATO and the OSCE (in the 1990s), where he was latterly Senior Adviser to the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, from 1996-99, in The Hague. In the 1980s he worked at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, based in Munich. Until recently, Craig was also Vice-President of the Council of Europe's Advisory Committee (FCNM), working on national minorities in Europe (2014-18). He is a Trustee and Board Member of the John Smith Trust. He was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in June 2011.
Fiona Andersson-Bauer
Associate Partner
Fiona Andersson-Bauer’s passion for interfaith work and human rights began during her student years and has remained at the heart of her journey. She spent many years with the London Committee of Human Rights Watch before co-founding the Friends of Vamizi Trust, a charity dedicated to marine conservation and community empowerment in Mozambique. Through this work, she has focused on supporting women, strengthening education, and encouraging sustainable small businesses, always with an emphasis on dialogue across faiths and cultures. Until January 2025, Fiona served as a Trustee of the Faith & Belief Forum. She also brings with her a love of entrepreneurship, having grown up in an innovative family business, and later building her own international career as an interior designer. Today, alongside her professional work and her board role with PubTokens Ltd, Fiona continues to pursue her commitment to fostering connection, inclusion, and collaboration across diverse communities.
Jessica Hazrati
Associate Partner
Jessica Hazrati has worked in the interfaith sector for over a decade. She is currently the Centre Manager of the LSE Faith Centre, working to promote religious literacy and interfaith leadership through student programmes and global engagement, along with research into the role of religion in global society. She is also secretary of the UK Buddhist-Christian Dialogue Forum. In previous voluntary and paid roles, she has delivered place-based community building projects and hosting events celebrating faith communities in the UK. Passionate about interfaith dialogue, she enjoys hosting spaces where religious diversity can be discussed and used to build positive relationships and effect change. She holds a Master of Theology and Philosophy, Religion and Ethics BA, both from Heythrop College, UoL, and is particularly interested in political theology and how faith engages with social justice. Her Mth thesis argued for the renewal of theological practice in the response to the increasing polarisation of the Post-Truth era.
Associate Partner
Hariet Vickers
Associate Partner
Harriet Vickers is a conflict transformation, dialogue and learning design practitioner with over a decade of experience across community cohesion, peacebuilding, trauma-informed practice, leadership development and participatory learning. She is co-founder and director of Peace Collective CIC and works independently as a consultant and associate practitioner. Harriet previously worked at the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Peace Foundation, where she held research, programme development, dialogue and learning roles. Her work included designing and facilitating peacebuilding, dialogue, education and community cohesion programmes with young people, practitioners, community groups, victims and survivors of conflict, and people affected by violence and social harm. She has contributed to work on mediated dialogue, difficult conversations, extremism, prejudice, reconciliation and peace education in the UK and internationally. Harriet is particularly interested in creating structured and relational spaces where people can explore difficult issues around conflict, harm, identity, belonging and social repair.