Forge Leadership Podcast

Tiria is the North West Coordinator for Just Love, a charity which inspires Christian students to pursue the biblical call to social justice. While at University in Liverpool, she was involved in setting up a Just Love group, was vice-president for the Christian Union, and graduated with a degree in history in July 2018.

Ruth Yimika Afolabi is the Founder & CEO of a women’s faith and lifestyle platform and community called MAGNIFY which she started almost 10 years ago at age 19. Her passion to empower women was encouraged from a young age and her desire to make an impact in society at large was harnessed when she went on to study Politics at Durham University. Upon graduating she went on to work in marketing and client services for L’Oreal and then Burberry. Over the last few years, Ruth has focused on producing a range of bespoke communication solutions for clients namely in the UK, Nigeria and America and now runs Magnify full-time with a staff team, based out of the Magnify HQ in Shoreditch, London. She has been featured in The Huffington Post, Marie Claire and the Mail On Sunday due to a recognition of her work as an influential young woman redefining faith and feminism for her generation. In partnership with IVP, she and her husband have recently co-authored a book entitled ‘More Direction - Navigating God’s Unique Calling for your Life’. Ruth also currently serves as the youngest ever Board Member of the Evangelical Alliance and has a heart for unity and the millennial generation.

Harry has been an advocate for young people in Global advocacy from the age of 15. This started by being selected to be part of the UK delegation to the G8 in Italy in 2009. Since then he has represented Unicef,Plan international and Restless development at the United Nations. In 2014 he Co-founded Youth for Change Global .The success of Youth for Change has spread globally with regional offices in Tanzania, Bangladesh and Ethiopia. Youth for Change has won numerous awards including the prestigious True Honour Award. At grass roots level he coordinated a National schools conference where Youth for Change trained 200 school officials, teachers and police on Female genital mutilation and Early Forced Marriage to make schools a safer place. He has recently been awarded the Queens Young leader award for his services to bettering the lives of young people in the Commonwealth. He recieved this award from Her Majesty the Queen in June 2018. Harry has also worked as a parlimentary researcher and held board positions including 5 years on the board of Unicef UK. He currently works as a policy advisor in the Cabinet Office working on cross government innovation.

Galia Ben-Israel is 24 and is an Associate Pastor at KingsGate Community Church, a multisite, intergenerational, multicultural church family where she radically encountered God and became a Christian at the age of 15, having previously been an atheist. Galia studied Theology and Religion at Durham University and now, with the vision of seeing lives transformed by the power of God’s love, her varied role includes communications, storytelling and social media strategy, mentoring a younger leader, freedom ministry, leading the Bible, Doctrine and Theology stream of the KingsGate Internship programme, and Sunday service support at KingsGate’s largest centre in Peterborough. She has recently been involved with raising leaders and teams for the launch of KingsGate’s latest centre in London, and she loves equipping others to grow in their faith and walk in their God-given purposes.

David takes inspiration from his ancestors, who were bankers, brewers and business owners but also at the same time philanthropists, abolitionist campaigners and people of faith. He has sought to carry on their legacy in a variety of settings and roles - as President of the Oxford University Student Union, Community Organiser on issues of money and debt, Researcher on multiculturalism and Founder of the Buxton Leadership Programme. He has particular interest in the politics of the common good and the possibilities for business to have greater social impact.

Alex is passionate about cultural transformation through the opportunities created by large corporates to shape and influence communities and nations. Working in a variety of roles including finance, strategy and operations analysis, Alex seeks to help organisations make great decisions through data and analysis and see those decisions drive meaningful change to the world. Inspired by mission focused companies, Alex works in the aerospace and defence sector seeking to see the world safer and better connected. Alex loves Old Testament stories of how people such as Nehemiah and Daniel found themselves in positions of great influence and how they used this to restore cities, stand up for truth and transform cultures. Alex lives in Southampton with his wife, two young children.

David Lawrence is a Christian who works in politics. After three years of working in Parliament for different Labour MPs, he has recently started as Senior Political Adviser at the Trade Justice Movement, a pressure group. While at university, David was a founding member of Just Love, a Christian charity that helps students engage with social justice issues. He lives with his wife Hannah in Bethnal Green, London, where they are active members of St Peter's, their local church.

Series 2 Episode 9 with Naomi Partridge by Leadership Podcast from Simon Barrington

Shantelle works with London City Mission as their Communications Manager, working on all of the Comms activity as well as leading a team of four. She is also involved with the youth and young people ministries nationally with Church of God of Prophecy whilst serving as the worship leader at her local church, Jubilee Wood Green. She has a huge passion for seeing people realise their skills and gifting and supporting them to use them to grow God's Kingdom.

Life is an adventure, whether you're fighting frozen eyeballs in Canada, getting benighted by 90mph winds on the side of a mountain and loosing your boots or having to drink your own urine due to dried up rivers. But my real adventure is people, leading people and shaping culture to look more like what God says it should look like. That's what's tough, that's what's rewarding!

Elizabeth Neep is a Commissioning Editor and Publicist for SPCK and writes commercial fiction in her spare time, currently represented by MMB Creative. She is passionate about making faith accessible to all and breaking down stereotypes surrounding Christianity.

In this wide ranging interview with Lesley Dolphin on BBC Radio Suffolk, Simon Barrington talks about life, travels, business and what caused him to found Forge Leadership Consultancy www.forge-leadership.com

Abi Jarvis is the public leadership coordinator at the Evangelical Alliance, seeking to equip Christians with the skills and confidence to be leaders in the places where God has called them. She has a BA in Ancient History, a MSc in Political Communication and is currently studying for a MA in Kingdom Theology at WTC. Abi was formally Public Affairs Executive at International Justice Mission UK. You can find her on twitter: @AZ_Jarvis.

In this episode podcast hosts Jonny Abbott and Simon Barrington speak with Tom Christmas. Tom is the Founder and National Coordinator of Just Love - which is all about raising up a generation of leaders who engage in a lifelong, whole-life pursuit of Jesus and justice. He is passionate about strategic thinking and leadership development. He lives in London where he enjoys following football, listening to Taylor Swift and visiting the restaurant 'Honest Burger'.

Series 2 Episode 3 with Miriam Swaffield by Leadership Podcast from Simon Barrington

In this episode podcast Jonny Abbott interviews Rachel Luetchford and Simon Barrington about their research into millennial leaders. Rachel Luetchford is a millennial and graduated in 2017 with a First class degree in International Development. Before University, she lived in Canada whilst on the Soul Edge leadership course. Rachel has been the key researcher on the Forge Leadership Research report and as part of that has interviewed 50 millennials in leadership. She has been interested in issues of social justice from a young age and is committed to working to provide restorative aftercare for survivors of human trafficking. She is passionate about enabling her generation to make the maximum contribution possible to tackling injustice and transforming society by raising up leaders. Rachel lives with her husband in Suffolk.

Series 2 Episode 1 with Jonny Abbott by Leadership Podcast from Simon Barrington

In this final Episode of Series 1 of the Forge Leadership podcast, Peter Wooding turns the tables on Simon Barrington, Founder and Director of Forge Leadership and asks him what the vision is behind Forge, why he is passionate about raising up a generation of leaders of outstanding character and what he's planning for Forge Leadership in the future

Mark Thomas embodies for me a person who lives out their values in leadership. After 25 years building his business, 8% of his revenues go to supporting charitable work around the world and particularly in India. Mark runs MDNFusion www.mfnfusion.com and is the founder of Child's Trust. Simon Barrington met up with him to find out what makes him tick.

Bonnie Yule-Kuehne is the Global Chief Operating Officer of Alpha (www.alpha.org). Millions of people have tried Alpha, all around the world, and it's been translated into 112 different languages. Alpha has helped many people outside of the church who wanted to explore the Christian faith. Alpha now runs in every part of the global church, including the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church and all mainline Protestant denominations. Simon Barrington caught up with Bonnie and found out why Alpha has been so successful and how she leads such a diverse team across 5 Continents and balances life and work.

Dr. C. Rosalee Velloso Ewell is the Principal of Redcliffe College in Gloucester. She is a Brazilian theologian from São Paulo and has a PhD in theological ethics from Duke University. She is the co-author of a book on the global theological history of mission and evangelism, various studies in inter-faith relations and reconciliation, and research on poverty, wealth and justice. She currently lives and works with her family in a multi-ethnic neighbourhood in Birmingham, England.

This is Simon Lewis who works for the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace, as Dean of St Anselm's Community, a community of Christians aged 20-35 from all over the world who give a year of their lives to living in a 'radical Jesus-centered community of prayer, study and serving local communities - all based at Lambeth Palace in London.'

Andy Hawthorne OBE is Founder and Chief Executive of The Message and an in-demand international evangelist and communicator. He was awarded the OBE in 2011 in recognition of his services to young people. In 2018 Andy won the Sunday Times Non-profit Chief Executive of the Year. Simon Barrington visited Andy in his offices in Manchester and talked about leading a successful organisation. Andy confesses to not having a job description, but if he did have one it would have two lines. Keep Mission hot, Keep prayer hot.

Patrick Regan OBE is the founder Kintsugi Hope - a new charity that exists to create safe and supportive spaces for those experiencing mental and emotional health challenges. Prior to that Patrick was CEO of urban youth work charity XLP. Patrick has travelled to over thirty countries working with and on behalf of the poorest communities and is a regular contributor on radio and TV on issues of poverty and justice. He is the author of four books, the most recent being When Faith Gets Shaken. Patrick was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from London South Bank University in 2016 for his contribution to peace and social justice.

As the director of the CPAS development team and Arrow Leadership Programme, James Lawrence lives and breathes what he teaches. More than just the raison d'etre for Arrow and Growing Leaders, James really does exist to help church leaders to be led more by Jesus, lead more like Jesus and lead more to Jesus. In this interview with Simon Barrington James talk about that calling.

Debbie Duncan is a senior nurse lecturer and advanced nurse practitioner. She is also a church leader, a minister’s wife and writer. Married to Malcolm they have four grown up children. She is author of 40 professional journal articles and co author of Lifelines: a christian novel. She is author of, “The art of daily resilience” which is a blend of experience, theology and life. She calls herself an “intuitive theologian”. Her latest book; “Brave , courage through the seasons of our lives”, has been launched this year at Spring Harvest.

Baroness (Caroline) Cox became a Life Peer in 1982 for her contributions to education and has served as a Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords from 1985 to 2005. Lady Cox now sits in the Lords as a crossbencher and is a frequent contributor to Lords debates on Sudan, India, Nigeria, Uganda, and Burma. Baroness Cox’s humanitarian aid work has taken her on many missions to conflict zones, allowing her to obtain first-hand evidence of the human rights violations and humanitarian needs. Areas travelled include the Armenian enclave of Nagorno Karabakh; Sudan; Nigeria; Uganda; the Karen; Karenni; Shan and Chin peoples in the jungles of Burma; and communities suffering from conflict in Indonesia. She has also visited North Korea helping to promote Parliamentary initiatives and medical programmes. Additionally, Caroline has been instrumental in helping to change the former Soviet Union policies for orphaned and abandoned children from institutional to foster family care. In recognition of her work in the international humanitarian and human rights arenas over the past twenty years, she had been awarded the Commander Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland; the prestigious Wilberforce Award; the International Mother Teresa Award from the All India Christian Council; the Mkhitar Gosh Medal conferred by the President of the Republic of Armenia; and the anniversary medal presented by Lech Walesa, the former President of Poland, at the 25th anniversary of the Polish Solidarity Movement. Lady Cox has also been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and Honorary Doctorates by universities in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the Russian Federation and Armenia.

Mark Heasman loves the outdoors, loves working with young people and children and loves seeing transformation in their lives. Over a 20 year career as a Chief Executive he has led Rock UK - a Christian outdoor pursuits provider, Ormiston Families and now is set to lead the global organisation Christian Camping International. Simon Barrington catches up with Mark during the last week of his current role with Ormiston Families and reflects on what has shaped him as a leader.

Jody Wainwright is a Director of the British Fine Jewellery company Boodles, a family run company where he particularly enjoys finding and acquiring diamonds from around the world. Simon Barrington asks Jody how he applies his Christian faith and values to his work and how relationship is one of the fundamental keys to success in business.

Nic Harding is the Director of Together for the Harvest (www.tfh.org.uk) - a region wide missional unity movement and Kairos Connexion (www.kairosconnexion.org) a national network of Churches and leaders journeying together in mission and discipleship. Nic talks about raising up young leaders, the need to give them space and to be authentic and what it means to be a leader who others can follow closely.

Steve Adams has spent his career helping people, companies, charities and churches become persuasive - because persuasion is the bread and butter of progress. When you communicate, how clear are you on what prompts response in their brain? In 2017 Steve published a book called CentreBrain which identifies how communication prompts, and harnesses the normally subconscious Limbic brain. Steve works with a range of people, organisations and charities helping them apply the prompts and principles to their communications, brand and story. In this episode, Steve explains how the CentreBrain works and how you can be more effective as a leader in communication by understanding this.

This weeks guest is the Rev Dr Hugh Osgood. Hugh is a senior UK church leader, accomplished Bible teacher and preacher, and is known for his thoroughness combined with prophetic and practical insights. Hugh is passionate about equipping fellow leaders and for encouraging churches to engage with their communities. He holds a number of national and international positions, being the Free Churches Moderator and a President of Churches Together in England, as well as being the Co-Chair of the UK Charismatic and Pentecostal Leaders’ Conference and serving as the founding President of Churches in Communities International.

In this episode we interview Dr Krish Kandiah. Krish is the Founding Director of Home for Good, a young charity seeking to make a real difference in the lives of vulnerable children. Together with his wife, Miriam he co-authored a catalytic book “Home for Good” which blends the story of God and addresses challenges of our times. Krish is in demand as a speaker both nationally and internationally. He regularly speaks at larger conferences, corporate events and is a regular broadcaster on radio and television.

This weeks guest is Tim Morfin. Tim is the Founder and CEO of Transforming Lives for Good ( www.tlg.org.uk ) and innovative Christian charity that is partnering with local Churches to come alongside children at risk of being excluded from education. Tim talks about the growth of the charity over 25 years, how it was founded, how he has changed as leader and the other leaders that have had an impact on him. Full of inspiring stories, this is a must listen for budding social entrepreneurs.

Joy's mission is to 'Inspire the Worlds Professionals’ to live a happy and successful life. She is known for her incredible, purpose-filled, healthy perspective to work and everyday pressures. She is the author of ‘Keep Stepping! Essential ways to lead yourself and others through challenge and change’ and has a wealth of experience working with high level executives and coaching managers and their teams. Whereas others push you to work harder and make sacrifices, Joy focuses on working with excellence and stepping through challenges in order to stand out and get better results. www.joymarsden.com

Our guest on the Forge Leadership Podcast this week is Bev Kauffeldt. Following on from the interview with her husband Kendell last week, Bev describes the horror of living through the Ebola crisis, of facing death head on, and of how that experience brought for her a greater understanding of who she was and great freedom to be herself as a leader. It's an emotional and engaging interview that is extremely moving.

In this episode Simon Barrington interviews Kendell Kauffeldt. Kendell is the Country Director for Samaritan's Purse in Liberia. He led his team through the organisations in country response to Ebola during which two of the team members contracted the disease. He talks about leading through a crisis and what kept him going in his darkest moments.

In this episode, Simon Barrington interviews Dr Dave Landrum, Director of Advocacy for the Evangelical Alliance in the UK. Simon asks Dave about the Alliance's Public Leadership programme and why it is so important for Christans to take a stand in the Public Square.

An interview with the leaders of Care for the Family www.cff.org.uk Rob Parsons OBE and Katharine Hill in which they explore issues facing families today, how leaders can make a difference and how character, integrity and vulnerability have been critical in the success of this incredible charity.

Pete and Nicki Sims, Leaders of Skylark Church in Chlemsford talk to Simon Barrington about how worship and leadership connect and how identity and self awareness are critical for a leader.

Paul and Becky Harcourt speak about their experiences of leading the New Wine Network, writing a book together, encouraging and supporting one another in ministry and marriage and leading a local Church. Becky talks about the biggest issues that leaders need healing from

Sim Dendy, leader of Freedom Church, Romsey, speaks with Simon Barrington about the power of vulnerability and weakness in a leader and how this gives access to people and builds environments of trust and hope.

Anthony Delaney speaks to Simon Barrington about the difference between addition and multiplication and how the small decisions we make every day add up to significant transformation. Delaney believes that leadership is influence and so much about people and enabling them to be the best they can be. He also believes that the task of the leader is to move from subtraction to multiplication. All this is achieved through lots of little decisions, daily disciplines and daily actions in the life of the leader which brings about true transformation.

Episode 3 of the Forge Leadership podcast is an interview with Bob Freeman, Associate Professor of Global Leadership at Fuller Seminary in California. Bob talks about the ground breaking Masters in Global Leadership course for established leaders and the role of Spiritual Formation.

This week, Simon Barrington interviews Sky Sports presenter John-Paul Davies on what it takes for a leader to be an effective communicator

Interview with Rev Malcolm Duncan, Lead Pastor of Gold Hill Baptist Church