Our Board of Trustees
Our Board of Trustees is responsible for the overall governance and strategic direction of the organisation. They ensure that we comply with all of the required legal and regulatory requirements. Our trustees work for us voluntarily to make sure we’re doing all we can to end domestic abuse and all forms of violence against women and children.
Julie McCarthy (Chair)
Julie is the Quality Manager at Ecosurety, an environmental compliance scheme helping producers meet their recycling obligations. As a qualified ISO auditor, she has the ability to step back, look at the big picture, probe, challenge and provide interesting and objective insights to facilitate decision-making in order to achieve the Company’s strategic goals.
Originally from Manchester, Julie has worked in a number of countries including UK, South Africa and the Netherlands and is now living in Cardiff with her husband.
“I have had the privilege of visiting many countries with very different cultures and have seen, and at times experienced, discrimination of varying proportion which in this day and age should not occur. I am, and have been from an early age, a keen believer in equality be it age, race, gender, or religious beliefs to name but a few and I am passionate about being able to make a difference by helping bring about the required change in our society in whatever capacity I can.”
When not working Julie is an avid reader, likes a good ‘fair weather’ walk and is an aspiring artist.
Shawni Singh
Shawni is a passionate People Professional with a focus on talent and experience, spanning recruitment, learning and development, equality, diversity and inclusion, and employee engagement. Having lived in South Wales all her life, Shawni is passionate about supporting women’s career progression and has volunteered with Young Women’s Trust and FinTech Wales to champion initiatives in this area. She believes strongly in creating opportunities that empower women to thrive in their careers and communities.
Outside of her professional work, Shawni enjoys exploring film and television, breaking down narratives and uncovering the messages behind them.
Patty Diaz-Rhys
Patty is a strategic leader with over 20 years of experience in compliance, regulation, and public policy across government, international organisations, and the automotive and technology sectors. She has contributed to major welfare reform projects in Wales, strengthening support for vulnerable communities and advancing long-term social impact.
She is recognised for shaping forward-looking regulatory frameworks on vehicle technology, and sustainability, contributing to international task forces – including UN Working Group on discrimination against Women and Girls. She brings expertise in domestic abuse policy and protections for women and girls, combining technical insight with a strong commitment to equity and human dignity.
A cross-cultural thinker, Patty champions leadership driven by authenticity, wellbeing, and systems that empower people and society. She initially trained in Economics with postgraduate studies in Business before transitioning into Law, holding both an LLB, and LLM.
She currently works in the automotive sector at Bentley Motors.
Fiona Vera Gray
Fiona is a Professor of Sexual Violence and currently the Co-Director at the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit at London Metropolitan University.
She spent over a decade in the frontline Rape Crisis movement before moving into academia and has worked in an advisory capacity to government including on issues such as public sexual harassment, non-contact sexual offences, and both the primary and secondary relationships and sex education curriculum.
She has published three full-length books on sexual harassment, safety work, and pornography, and written for the Guardian, the Telegraph, the BBC, and is a regular media commentator on pornography, sexual violence, sexual harassment, and rape prevention. Most recently Vera-Gray was part of the academic teams working on the Home Office funded Operation Soteria, seeking to transform the police response to rape in England and Wales.
Treena Davies
Treena is a facilitator and consultant within the public and third sectors, Treena has spent her career listening to, advocating for, and amplifying the voices of those with lived experience. She works with organisations, leaders, and teams to embed lived experience into decision-making and service design, helping them think differently through reflection, curiosity, and compassion.
Drawing on her own lived experience of violence against women, Treena brings insight, empathy, and a commitment to creating meaningful change for women and communities.
Outside of work, Treena enjoys staying active and being outdoors. She also has two young children and a dog to keep her busy!
Trish McGrath
Trish is CEO of Aberystwyth University Students’ Union, having worked in the third sector for 22 years. She is a passionate feminist with a keen active interest and involvement in campaigning for and fighting for equality.
Trish lives in coastal mid Wales with her cats, dog and son. In her spare time she loves singing, wool crafts, the beach and fitness through strength, conditioning and trail running along local coastal paths and hills.
Vicky Friis
Vicky is the Chief Executive of Vale of Glamorgan specialist domestic abuse service, Vale Domestic Abuse Services.
In her previous role, Vicky led Carmarthen Domestic Abuse Services, taking them through quality standards, providing development opportunities for the team, and increasing their income and the services they provide. Vicky also worked as part of the Communities First programme in Rhondda Cynon Taf, developing several successful projects and initiatives.
Obtaining a degree at 32, whilst parenting three children and holding down a part time job is one of Vicky’s proudest achievements.
Nic Danson
Nic works in Human Resources, having previously worked in the charity sector supporting disadvantaged groups to overcome structural inequalities. In 2018, she also held an Executive Officer position to support the Welsh Women’s Aid CEO role.
Nic is a parent governor for her local primary and comprehensive schools and she is passionate about supporting women impacted by VAWG and tackling gender inequality.
Suzanne Sarjeant
Suzanne has worked in the education sector for 30 years as a teacher, headteacher, researcher and professional advisor. Throughout her career she has been committed to securing the best outcomes for children and families.
She has been a strong advocate for developing greater engagement and support for families and has undertaken research in this area in order to support schools develop this. She has had extensive leadership experience and is an alumni associate of the National Academy for Educational Leadership.
She is currently on secondment to the Welsh Government where she has supported the development of the national Community Focused School guidance.
Michelle Pooley
Michelle is the Chief Executive Officer of West Wales Domestic Absue Service, a Welsh Women’s Aid member.
She is an experienced leader and manager in the domestic violence sector, having worked for over 30 years across public, private, community and voluntary sectors on strategy, policy, commissioning and stakeholder engagement.
Michelle is a champion of women’s and children’s rights and an expert in organisational development, promoting equality and diversity; and an experienced community development and domestic abuse practitioner with Masters qualifications in public/community sector administration and partnerships. She is a founder member and coordinator of the first European wide child to parent abuse evidence-based programme – Break4Change.
Our staff and volunteers
Welsh Women’s Aid employs around 50 dedicated staff across Wales, working on membership and engagement, communication, training, policy and public affairs, services development, survivor involvement, business support, and in direct services. We also have regular volunteers who support our work.
Our CEO
Sara Kirkpatrick is the CEO of Welsh Women’s Aid where she has led the team since early 2020, supporting specialist services all across Wales as they experienced the unprecedented challenges of a global pandemic, and national lockdowns in addition to the ongoing scourge of VAWG. Her vision is for “a world where exploitation is not valourised, victimisation not responsiblised and marginalisation not criminalised.”.
Always using a feminist approach to challenge violence against women and girls, she has worked across community and criminal justice settings and for over 30 years. Starting her career providing support in a women’s refuge, she has worked with a range of client groups including male victims, children impacted by domestic abuse, women remaining in abusive relationships and perpetrators of domestic abuse.
Sara’s personal area of specialism is work with perpetrators; recognising that if abusive behaviour is a choice, then change is also a choice. She has contributed to several frontline, innovative projects with perpetrators of IPV.
In addition to her CEO role, Sara is also Vice President of Women Against Violence Europe, a Trustee of the Faith and VAWG coalition, she sits on the national Board of Catholic Women and is a visiting Lecturer at Winchester University in the social work department- a role where she particularly enjoys the opportunity to enable tomorrows frontline practitioners to address gender based abuse safely and effectively.