What was it about Woman’s Trust that made you want to lead the organisation?
What really drew me to Woman’s Trust was the organisation’s very clear understanding that domestic abuse does not end when the immediate crisis ends. Too often, services quite understandably have to focus on safety, housing, legal processes or emergency response. All of that is essential, but it is not the whole story.
Woman’s Trust understands the long-term mental health impact of domestic abuse, and that recovery is not a quick intervention or a neat linear process. It is about giving women the space, time and specialist support to rebuild confidence, autonomy and a sense of future.
I was also struck by the organisation’s legacy. Woman’s Trust has been doing this work for 30 years, with real expertise, an exceptional team, and trustees who are deeply committed to the mission. The impact is already significant, but I could also see the potential to do more: to reach more women, strengthen the organisation, and influence how systems understand recovery after abuse. That combination of depth, competence and possibility was very compelling.
Throughout your career, you’ve worked across mental health, women’s support and refugee communities – what experiences have shaped the leader you are today?
I have worked with people and communities who have often been failed by systems, or who have had to be extraordinarily resilient because systems were not built around their realities. That changes how you lead.
It has made me very practical. I believe in kindness, but not vague kindness. I believe in structures, clarity, good decisions, good governance, and teams that know what they are doing and why. People doing emotionally demanding work deserve leadership that is steady, honest and supportive – not chaotic, performative or heroic.
I have also learned that good leadership is not about having all the answers. It is about creating the conditions in which people can do their best work, challenge each other well, learn, and stay connected to purpose. I care a lot about modelling that, because the quality of leadership inside an organisation ultimately affects the quality of support people receive outside it.
What do you hope women accessing Woman’s Trust will feel when they first reach out for support?
I hope they feel that we understand. Not that we know exactly what their experience has been, because every woman’s story is different, but that we understand the dynamics of abuse, the impact it can have on mental health, and how hard it can be to ask for help.
I would want women to feel safe, respected and not judged. I would also want them to feel that they are not entering a service that is going to tell them who to be or what recovery should look like. Our approach is person-centred: we are here, we get it, and we can walk alongside women – but the recovery process belongs to them.
In one sentence, what would you say to Woman’s Trust’s clients?
We understand why this may feel hard, we are here with specialist support, and your recovery will always be led by you.
Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future of Woman’s Trust?
What excites me is the opportunity to build on a very strong foundation. Woman’s Trust already changes women’s lives through specialist counselling, therapeutic groups and workshops, and the outcomes speak very clearly to the importance of this work.
The next chapter is about strengthening what already works, reaching more women, making the organisation as effective and sustainable as possible, and using our evidence and expertise to influence wider systems. I think Woman’s Trust has a very important role to play in shifting the conversation from “how do we respond to crisis?” to “how do we support long-term recovery, safety and thriving?”
That is the work that excites me.
What do you think society still misunderstands about the impact of domestic abuse on women’s lives?
I think society still underestimates how deeply domestic abuse affects a woman’s sense of self, safety, trust and possibility.
There is still a tendency to think about domestic abuse as a series of incidents, or to focus on the point at which someone leaves. But the psychological impact can last much longer. Coercive control, fear, isolation and emotional abuse can affect mental health, relationships, parenting, work, housing, finances – everything.
I also think we sometimes misunderstand what the word “survivor” really means. Women are not survivors because of what happened to them. They are survivors because they adapted, endured and kept going in circumstances that many people would struggle even to imagine. That takes intelligence, courage and extraordinary strength – but survival should not be the end of the story.
What Woman’s Trust understands very well is that recovery is not simply about being “out” of the abusive situation. For many women, that is when the emotional processing really begins. Specialist, trauma-informed mental health support is not an optional extra; it is central to rebuilding a life.
What’s the biggest opportunity you see right now to improve how women affected by domestic abuse are supported?
The biggest opportunity is to stop treating domestic abuse, mental health, housing, justice, children’s services and community support as separate worlds.
Women do not experience their lives in service categories. They may be dealing with trauma, financial insecurity, housing pressure, parenting, court processes, immigration issues, work, and isolation all at the same time. We need systems that understand that complexity and work around women, rather than expecting women to navigate fragmented systems while already under immense strain.
There is also a real opportunity to invest earlier and more consistently in specialist therapeutic support. There is no acceptable number of women who are brave enough to ask for help but cannot access support because capacity is not there.
We often hear about domestic abuse in moments of crisis. What conversations do you think we’re still not having enough?
We are still not talking enough about what happens after crisis.
We talk about leaving, reporting, emergency accommodation and immediate risk – and of course those conversations matter. But we talk much less about recovery, rebuilding confidence, parenting after trauma, returning to work, loneliness, shame, and the long period where a woman may be technically “safe” but still carrying the impact of abuse every day.
We also do not talk enough about thriving, actually. Recovery is not only about surviving. It is about women being able to imagine a life that is bigger than what happened to them. That is where long-term therapeutic work can be so powerful.
In your view, what needs to change – culturally or systemically – so women can access support earlier?
Culturally, we need to get much better at recognising abuse before it reaches the point of visible crisis. That means understanding coercive control, emotional abuse, isolation, financial control and the slow erosion of confidence.
Systemically, we need earlier referral routes, better training for professionals, and more joined-up services. Health professionals, housing teams, schools, employers, courts and community organisations all have a role to play. But they need the knowledge and confidence to respond well.
We also need to value specialist women’s organisations properly. The voluntary sector is increasingly being asked to hold communities together, respond to trauma, build trust, and fill gaps left elsewhere. I believe we can do that work incredibly well, but it has to be recognised, funded and treated as essential infrastructure, not as a nice add-on.
Has there been anything you’ve seen in the news recently about women’s safety or inequality that has made you feel angry – and why?
I feel angry when women’s safety is treated as a recurring headline rather than a structural issue.
Across the country, we are seeing political, economic and social pressures that are increasing inequality and making life harder for many women and families. At the same time, voluntary and community organisations are being asked to respond to more need, more complexity and more trauma.
What makes me angry is not only the harm itself, but the predictability of it. Women have told us what they need: proper mental health provision, safe spaces, specialist support, economic security, housing, legal protection, and communities that believe them early enough. Yet too often the response comes late, is fragmented, or depends on where someone lives.
Anger can be useful, though, if it is disciplined. I am interested in turning that anger into better services, better partnerships and stronger systems.
And finally, outside of work, what keeps you grounded or brings you joy?
Strength training keeps me very grounded – it is a deeply humbling practice where there is absolutely nowhere to hide. You can either do the pull-up or you cannot.
I also love being in the water. Freediving is ironically one of the things that makes me feel most grounded, probably because it requires calm, focus and trust in your own body. It is hard to be performative underwater.
And, on a more personal note, at Woman’s Trust people tend to call me “A-li-che”, the Italian pronunciation of Alice. I like that. It reminds me that behind any job title there is still a whole person, and I think that matters in leadership too.
