Our board of trustees
Their role is to oversee the programme and govern Near Neighbours by establishing its policies and objectives, ensuring the legal duties of the charity, its finances and operations, are carried out properly.
REV JESSICA FOSTER, CHAIR
The Rev Jessica Foster is the Bishop of Birmingham’s Chaplain and a tutor at The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education, where she teaches Christian approaches to different faiths to ordinands.
Between 2011 and 2016 she worked as Near Neighbours Coordinator in Birmingham, and since then has been involved in different roles in many organisations and community-based interfaith activities. Before ordination in 2015, she worked in journalism and PR, latterly as communications director for Birmingham Diocese.
She is passionate about creating relationships that cross religious and ethnic boundaries and has an excellent network of contacts from different faiths both nationally and regionally.
The Very Revd. Rogers M Govender
For the past fifteen years the Very Revd Rogers M Govender has served as Dean of Manchester, where he has learnt much about how a city and diocese operates and the importance of networks and partnership working to achieve the purposes of God in mission, ministry and outreach to the community.
He is convinced that partnership working is crucial if we are to serve well and develop both Church and society for the common good.
He is married to Celia and has two children Jonathan (34) and Claire (29), he is a keen cook and enjoys walking and fishing, in addition to reading books of history, biographies, spirituality, theology, and leadership. He also enjoys travel and over the past few years has travelled to the US, Israel, Palestine, Finland, Barbados, Portugal and Australia.
Katie Hodkinson
Katie Hodkinson is training for Ordained Ministry in the Church of England and currently serves in a local church in Boscombe, whilst studying for a Masters in Theology.
From 2014 to 2019 she worked in the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Inter Religious Affairs Team at Lambeth Palace and has been working with a range of voluntary and faith networks at local level.
She is a trustee of Embrace the Middle East, a Christian charity serving people of all faiths in the Middle East.
REVD DR RICHARD SUDWORTH
Archbishop of Canterbury’s Secretary for Inter Religious Affairs and National Inter-Religious Adviser for the Church of England. Richard was ordained in 2010, after working for 10 years for CMS in North Africa and then Birmingham where has been in parish contexts committed to ministry and the common good amongst other faiths. Richard has a doctorate in Christian-Muslim Relations from Heythrop College, University of London and is one of the Church of England’s leading practitioners in inter faith matters. He was appointed to his present role in July 2018.