GCP is staffed and managed by engaged local people who care about their community here in Globe Town, Tower Hamlets.

Director

Maṇiprabhā, aka Esther Cann, has worked in the third sector for 18 years. At the international level, she worked on gender justice in India and human rights in the disputed territory of West Papua. At community level, she volunteered with women’s and refugee groups in Yorkshire where she grew up, and taught creative writing to people with sight loss and those recovering from addiction in London. After facilitating a Compassionate Action event for GCP in 2018, followed by a six-month consultancy later that year, she joined as Programmes & Operations Manager in 2020 and became Director in 2022. Maṇiprabhā lived in Globe Town for five years and has been practicing within the London Buddhist Centre community for fourteen years.

Projects & Operations Officer

Mohammed Kenawi currently serves as a Projects & Operations Officer at Globe Community Project, ensuring the smooth running of projects and supporting organisational growth. With six years of experience at Save the Children International, he managed operations in several projects supporting the African refugees in the Middle East, providing technical support and ensuring compliance within international development projects. Mohammed holds an Engineering degree from Egypt, which equips him with a strong foundation for strategic problem-solving and operational excellence.

Finance Officer

Tom Elliott is CIMA - Level 1 certified in accounts and has 6 years experience helping charities with their finance and admin needs. He works round the corner from Globe Road in The Green House, helping the NGO Earthsight report on illegal timber coming into the EU and US. When he’s not doing spreadsheets, Tom is a keen reader and fan of pretentious cinema.

Wellbeing for Over 60s Facilitator

Karen Liebenguth is a coach, mindfulness teacher and restorative facilitator for conflict resolution. Karen originally designed GCP’s six-week wellbeing courses for over 60s (Level 1 & 2), and is delighted to see her work making a difference in Tower Hamlets, where she has lived and worked for 14 years. Karen brings a mindful, creative and personable approach to her work with corporate, public and charitable organisations across London, helping to develop a compassionate and effective culture. She helps clients grow their confidence and make life more meaningful, and specialises in using natural settings, including Victoria park. Ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order in 2018, her Buddhist name is Vimokshini. She teaches at the London Buddhist Centre and co-leads retreats.

Wellbeing for Over 60s Facilitator

Rebecca Glyn Jone worked with, and managed projects for marginalised young people (including teenage parents, new arrivals to the country and young offenders) in Newham.  She has also worked extensively on European social projects, working with partner organisations in Europe to develop training programmes for a variety of client groups including refugees, women entrepreneurs and young adults.  She is a practising ordained Buddhist and lived for six years in a Buddhist community in the lock keeper’s house by the canal in Bow.

Wellbeing for Over 60s Facilitator

Miia Chambers is an accomplished mental health practitioner with extensive experience in developing impactful, evidence-based services. She is qualified in several Mindfulness and Compassion based approaches e.g MBCT, MBSR, MSC, ACT, and as a high performance coach in sports and workplaces. Miia has worked with Mind for the past decade, now in the role of a Consultant Trainer and Supervisor, and previously as a founding Director of Rainbow Mind, an LGBTQ+ service. Previously a Co-Chair of City & Hackney LGBTQ+ Group, Co-Chair at British Association of Mindfulness Based Approaches and EDI lead. Her commitment to EDI spans decades as an advocate for equity-based action and practice.

Project Lead - Touching Safe Ground

Vimalamani (aka Sally Ramsden) specialises in mindful yoga, nature connection and therapeutic wellbeing services. Working in partnership with GCP and Praxis she developed an innovative method for teaching English through yoga for refugee and migrant women during GCP’s original The Language of Wellbeing programme. She spent many years working with Palestinians in the Middle East in education and communications, and loves developing learning methodologies. She’s also worked as a journalist for the national press and as a participatory trainer/facilitator for diverse organisations from Oxford University to Citizens Advice Bureau. Sally is part of the London Buddhist Centre community and lives in Bethnal Green. She runs Natural Connection offering yoga for everyone, outdoors, online and in the workplace. 

Outreach & Engagement Lead

Ahmed Hussain has lived in Tower Hamlets for over 30 years, has worked with third sector organisations in East London for 20 years, and lives in Bow. Previous roles have involved monitoring and evaluation, and successful delivery of grant funded projects.  He is very passionate about community work and likes to help people. He is very committed to family life and likes spending time with them.

Anna Norbury

Anna supports organisations with their communications and marketing functions, particularly non-profits and female-owned businesses. She is also a trauma-informed yoga teacher and worked for years with survivors of human atrocities, asylum seekers and refugees. She is part of the London Buddhist Centre community and is training for ordination into the Triratna Buddhist Order.

Arslan Hussain

Arslan is a local resident and an experienced strategy and operations professional. He has worked at large technology companies, including Amazon and Uber, and fast growing start-ups. He is keen to apply the knowledge and skills gained from high growth business environments to help tackle social issues and promote increased community wellbeing through his role as a trustee for Globe Community Project.

Ripon Ray

Ripon worked intensively in Tower Hamlets as a debt adviser for many years, and hopes to help build links in the local community by being part of Globe Community Project. During the pandemic, Ripon became a leading platform provider to a number of minority communities in London. The platform became a hub for Covid-19 campaigners all over the country when every aspect of their lives was in turmoil. At the same time, Ripon captured the personal stories of many Bangladeshis under the banner of BritBanglaCovid. He can't wait to share these stories with the wider world soon, making sure their struggles are not forgotten.

Julian Haxby

Julian Haxby has recently been appointed as a trustee for GCP. Julian learned about the Globe Community Project from friends at the London Buddhist Centre, which he has been attending regularly for the past three years. Julian has recently semi-retired, after working as a linguist for almost 45 years. He is now keen to devote more time to activities that can benefit others. Julian is particularly committed to protecting the rights of people living with the challenge of a learning disability or similar disadvantage and is Chair of the Alliance for Camphill. Julian is GCP’s Company Secretary.

Lily Wong Le

Lily is a policy advisor for the UK government. Her work has focussed on leveraging science, technology, and innovation, from sleep and anaesthetics to self-driving vehicles, with an aim to improve quality of life. Lily as undertaken several volunteer roles to this end and hopes to continue doing so through Globe Community Project. Outside of work she enjoys writing about mental health and wellbeing, dancing ballet, and learning about new ideas through culture and travelling.

Robert Tame

Robert has 30 years of business experience working for large corporates and created his own hospitality business that he owned and operated for 15 years before selling to a large USA hospitality business. He recently completed a one-year Applied Compassion Training course at Stanford University, USA. He has since created a website and podcast series to share stories and elevate awareness of workplace compassion. Robert continues to act as an independent business consultant.

Bethan Charnley

Bethan has lived in Bethnal Green since 2007.  She is a lawyer specialising in criminal and regulatory investigations on behalf of the government.  Outside of work she spends a lot of time enjoying the parks and amenities of Tower Hamlets with her family. She learnt about the work of GCP through the East London Business Alliance and was inspired by GCP’s vision and mission.  She hopes to give back to the local community as a trustee of GCP.

Kate Pumphrey

Kate is a behavioural designer specialising in interventions that bridge political divides, strengthen relationships and build communities. She has a murky background as a corporate lawyer, but ever since extracting herself from that has worked with socially-minded start-ups and in the not-for-profit sector. She’s a member of the Triratna Buddhist Order, lives in Lower Clapton, relishes feeding people and reads an unfashionable amount of fiction.