Beshara Trustees

Javida Bowers BEd (commendation)

Javida has had a career in teaching specializing in English as a Second Language in Primary schools. This gave her a broad experience in working with both children and parents from different cultures and religious faiths. She now works as a Core Process Psychotherapist in private practice. Core Process is based on a contemplative Buddhist approach. She has for many years studied at the Beshara school at the Chisholme Institute and has recently facilitated a weekend meditation course there. She sees herself as an ongoing student.

Martha Cass, MPhil

Martha raises money for the University of Birmingham, looking after legacies and bequests to the University. She is also an MPhil student there in the School of Education. She has studied at the Chisholme Institute and supervised courses there for several years.

Michael Cohen BSc, PhD

Michael studied Mathematics at London and Warwick Universities and did research at Newcastle. For many years he has taught A-Level Mathematics and Statistics at a London tutorial college. He has an abiding interest in the connections between science and spirituality.

Julia Dry, BA (Hons)

Julia studied Fine Art (Painting) and trained in Horticulture with the Royal Horticultural Society and at Pershore College. She works as a professional gardener in Gloucestershire and is a Director of Beshara Publications.

Hannah Kenner, BSc

Hannah trained in the Life Sciences, specialising in Neuroscience and Pharmacology. She lives in Oxford and works as a Commissioning Editor for science in secondary education.

Elizabeth Roberts, MA Oxon, MPhil
Chairman

Elizabeth studied English at Oxford and Philosophical Inquiry at Glasgow University. For most of her life she has worked in education, from teaching English as a Foreign Language in Indonesia with V.S.O. to secondary school teaching, community education, and lecturing at Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities. More recently Elizabeth worked as adult guidance network coordinator for the Scottish Borders and as Team Leader with Careers Scotland. She has now turned her hobbies into her current job as a yoga teacher and practitioner of ayurveda.

Michael Tiernan

Michael hails from Sydney, where he developed a typical Aussie's fondness for outdoor pursuits. After pondering a life on the land, he thought better of it and went into health education for some years instead. When he moved to the UK in 1989, yet another career, this time in publishing, beckoned. Michael now works as a freelance copy-editor, typesetter, and proofreader, and is a partner in Anqa Publishing. He and his wife live in beautiful Northumberland.