Our team
Women’s Aid’s Centre for Learning and Practice Development team has a proven track record of designing and delivering specialist domestic violence and abuse training to local and national organisations throughout Ireland.
We support organisations in the statutory, community and voluntary sectors, as well as corporate bodies, to enhance and improve responses to women who are subjected to domestic violence and abuse. All Women’s Aid training is informed and guided by our decades of experience directly supporting women and by models of best practice.
Ana Senesi
Ana is the Training Development Officer, working to support the operation and promotion of the Centre for Learning and Practice Development and ensure our training effectively meets the needs of the participants in their work with domestic abuse survivors. She joined Women’s Aid in May 2024, as Data and Administration Executive in the High Risk Support Project in the Services department. She holds a master’s in Social Data Analysis from University College Dublin. Before working with Women’s Aid, Ana contributed to monitoring and evaluation projects in the UK and Latin America.
Catharina Portich
Catharina works as the Lead Trainer on Women’s Aid Employer Engagement Programme where she supports employers in developing and implementing their workplace response to domestic violence and abuse. She graduated first class from her M.A. in Policy and Management from Potsdam University in Germany and completed her Diploma in Project Management (PMI) from IBAT College in Dublin with distinction. Before joining Women’s Aid, Catharina has led education and training programmes in relation to human rights and sustainable development, both nationally and internationally.
Deborah Warren
As Training Administrator Deborah is responsible for providing administrative support for the Centre for Learning and Practice Development. She started in Women’s Aid in 2018 as a receptionist and has also provided administrative assistance to the Services department. Deborah has obtained qualifications in community development, youth work and cultural studies which has enabled her to work and volunteer in organisations dealing with women’s rights, youth, and migrant justice. She also has experience of customer service from the retail sector.
Hanien Alouzi
Hanien is the Health Lead Trainer, delivering training in healthcare settings, aiming to support professionals in the field to adequately respond to patients and people accessing their service in a safe way. She first joined Women’s Aid at the end of 2022 as Health Training Administrator. She then moved on to supporting training projects, namely the Maternity Project and the Employer Engagement Programme, in her role as Training Officer. Previous to her time at Women’s Aid, Hanien worked within a human rights organisation focused on delivering training programmes within the field of justice and the rule of law, and she also holds an MSc. in Comparative Social Change offered jointly at Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin.
Niamh O’Connor
Niamh joined Women’s Aid in August 2023 and is the Lead Trainer for Children and Young People. She has worked across the domestic abuse sector in various capacities including work with victims-survivors, children and perpetrators of domestic abuse, both in Ireland and in New Zealand. As part of these roles, Niamh has provided practice advice and training to frontline professionals. Niamh’s background includes a B.Sc. in Applied Psychology from IADT, Dún Laoghaire, and a Masters in Forensic Psychology from the University of Kent.
Niamh Wilson
Niamh Wilson has worked in the area of domestic abuse for over 30 years. She has held various positions in domestic abuse organisations primarily working directly with survivors of intimate partner abuse. In addition, Niamh has held positions in training, development and policy work. She combines working as a Lead Trainer for the Voluntary and Community sector in Women’s Aid with independent research and her particular interest is in researching learning supports for frontline professionals responding to domestic abuse. She holds a PhD from Maynooth University.
Suzanna Knight
Suzanna is Head of the Centre for Learning and Practice Development since February 2024, previously working with the organisation as the Survivor Empowerment Project Co-ordinator. Suzanna has worked both in the UK and Ireland in the field of gender-based violence for over 25 years. As police officer in the UK she worked as a Designated Rape Liaison Officer and Child Protection Officer. In Ireland, she has managed a domestic violence support service and was the Regional Development for the Prevention of Violence against Women with HSE Dublin mid Leinster. Suzanna holds a post-graduate qualifications in parent coaching, supervision and counselling and a first class Masters in Psychology. She has developed a range of domestic violence training, including Ireland’s first FETAC (level 5) Advocacy and Domestic Violence training for professionals, volunteers and members of the public. She has worked holistically with those who have been subject to violence, supporting best practice community responses.