Directors

Dr Kelly Henderson

Founder & Co-Managing Director

Debs Alderson

Co-Managing Director

Kelly has extensive housing sector experience, including as Interim Director of Housing at a London-based organisation, and in roles spanning asylum, local authority Supporting People Programmes, policy, and research. She holds a Master’s in Housing Policy and a PhD from Durham University focused on housing’s role in a coordinated community response to domestic abuse.

Kelly co-founded the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA), delivering accreditation and supporting housing providers to improve their responses to domestic abuse. She has worked with a national property repairs organisation to embed domestic abuse awareness into operative roles and led the development of an industry standard for recognising abuse through repairs.

Named 24Housing’s ‘Housing Professional of the Year’ and one of the top 20 women leaders in housing (2020), Kelly also co-authored Housing and Domestic Abuse – Policy into Practice (Routledge). She is experienced in partnership working and project management, including leading the Home Office-funded DAWSA project across multiple police forces and overseeing national research into perpetrator interventions. She has also served as a local authority domestic abuse lead, coordinating city-wide responses. Kelly is a Non-Executive Director of Believe Housing.

Debs is a nationally recognised policing leader with specialist expertise in domestic abuse and safeguarding. During her 30 year career with Northumbria Police, she was Head of Safeguarding, Public Protection and Criminal Justice, where she led a wide-ranging portfolio focused on preventing harm, protecting the vulnerable, and driving innovation in multi-agency responses.

Debs was the strategic lead behind the Multi-Agency Tasking and Coordination (MATAC) model - a nationally recognised and adopted system that identifies and disrupts the most harmful and serial domestic abuse perpetrators. Her commitment to partnership working has seen her develop effective collaborations across policing, housing, probation, healthcare, and the voluntary sector. She has championed a whole-systems approach to tackling domestic abuse and protecting children and vulnerable adults and led on implementation of Operation Encompass: The Next Steps, designing and implementing programmes of education for children about domestic abuse and healthy relationships. Debs was also commended by the National Police Chief's Council for her work on Violence Against Women and Girls in development of a national strategy and delivery plan.

In recognition of her outstanding contributions to policing and public protection, Debs has received several accolades, including numerous Commendations for innovation in safeguarding, excellence in leadership and sustained work with the LGBTQ+ community.

Gavin is a distinguished Registered and Chartered Forensic Psychologist, Chartered Scientist, and Fellow of the British Psychological Society. He served for over two decades in the Royal Air Force Police specialising in child protection, sexual offences and domestic abuse. His doctoral research focussed on investigative interviewing of sexual and violent offenders which then laid the foundations for a prolific academic career, attracting approximately £5 million in research funding and producing a substantial body of literature on forensic psychology and human rights.

He remains a member of the United Nations‑backed International Steering Committee that developed the influential Méndez Principles on Effective Interviewing for Investigations and Information Gathering. Through his consultancy company, ETiCA (Global), he provides specialist services & training to organisations worldwide - from the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, to national and international police forces and legal professionals - on ethical investigation and interview practice.

Professor Gavin Oxburgh

Non-Executive Director

Anneka is Strategy & Development Director, Sureserve Compliance, who provides integrated property maintenance services to over 200,000 properties in the social housing sector. Anneka has 10 years’ experience in public sector tendering and project management across a range of industries including compliance, fire safety, recruitment and fleet management. She worked to develop an industry wide standard for the repairs sector on domestic abuse.

Michelle joined Berwickshire Housing Association (BHA) as their Chief Executive in November 2020 with 24 years’ experience in the social housing sector across a variety of roles. Throughout her career, Michelle has been heavily involved in the domestic abuse and wider safeguarding agenda. She believes the social housing sector has a unique role to play in any effective co-ordinated community response to domestic abuse.

Mercy Denedo is an Assistant Professor in Accounting at Durham University. Underlining Mercy’s research is interest in social and environmental issues that affect our everyday realities. Mercy’s research is concerned with how accounting or other alternative forms of accounting could be used to facilitate stakeholders’ engagement, improve governance and accountability, organisational decision making and everyday operations, and the everyday realities of voiceless stakeholders.

Advisory Board

Michelle Meldrum

Mercy Denedo

Anneka Gill

Grace studied criminology at Durham University, with a particular focus on domestic abuse and stalking and is a passionate advocate for social change.

She began her career in the VAWG sector at the Alice Ruggles Trust where she initially served as Social Media Coordinator. Her work quickly evolved to include graphic designing and she began managing the Trust's Durham Schools' Project which focused on educating young people about how to recognise and respond to stalking. In early 2025, Grace was made National Coordinator for the Schools' Project, expanding the Trusts’ impact by overseeing the delivery of vital stalking awareness education across the UK.

Grace is now embarking on a new professional chapter at Waythrough, where she will be supporting families affected by addiction and alcoholism.

Yoric has worked in housing for over 25 years in a variety of front-line, managerial and strategic roles for both local authorities and housing associations. With a background in homelessness and supported housing, he now works across supported and general needs policy, strategy and public affairs at Midland Heart.

His PhD explored the history of supported housing in England, with a particular focus on the development and implementation of the Supporting People programme between 2003 and 2010. He has taught housing policy and practice, plus political philosophy to both under-, and post-graduate students. His publications include: (i) three academic textbooks: (a) Supported housing: Past, present and future; (b) Housing philosophy: Applying concepts to policy, and (c) Housing and domestic abuse: Policy into practice, and; (ii) presentations of several academic papers.

Rebecca Fraser

Grace Wilson

Geetanjali is Head of Department. Sociology, and a member of the Centre for Research in Violence and Abuse, Durham University. Her particular specialism is addressing the intersecting roles of class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and disability in terms of the perpetuation, the experience and prevention, of violence and abuse. She has also worked on social movement responses to violence and abuse in the UK and internationally. She has developed innovative and highly rated training on preventing and addressing VAWG in racially minoritised communities, including domestic & sexual abuse, crimes in the name of honour, and forced marriage.

Her work is interdisciplinary, drawing on, and contributing to the disciplines of sociology, social work, feminist gender studies, legal and policy studies. Theoretical contributions include: intersectional inequalities, conceptual understanding of Indian feminist responses to gender-based violence, and understanding the meaning of women’s violence against women. She is concerned with the implications for practice, and the intersections between policy and practice.

Professor Geetanjali Gangoli

Sue brings over 20 years of senior leadership, knowledge, passion, and expertise to ADA. As former Therapeutic Practitioner, Head of Service, Director, Strategic Partnerships Lead, and Freelanced Consultant, she has a particular focus in the areas of homelessness, mental health and addiction. She brings the unique insight of what it takes to deliver award winning services on the ground that drive innovative solutions to tackling health inequalities complimented with the commercial acumen as a Business Development Professional and skilled Project Manager.

Sue has successfully attracted significant ICB and Local Authority investment on a national scale through direct awards and contractual opportunities in mental health, homelessness, learning disability and complex needs services across the country.

Sue Kellie

Victoria is a leading figure in private sector housing enforcement and currently manages multidisciplinary teams at Durham County Council to improve housing standards and tenant welfare. She champions fairness, transparency, and continuous improvement in housing services. In 2017 she led a national initiative for the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance to raise awareness of domestic abuse in the private rented sector, developing guidance and training programmes that were launched through major landlord associations.

She was successful in building collaboration and launching training through ARLA, NLA/RLA (now known as NRLA). She produced a guidance document for landlords and managing agents which was launched during the 2 year project.

Stephanie is the Policy Lead for Homelessness, Domestic Abuse, and Supported Housing at the Chartered Institute of Housing, the home of professional standards for housing. She works to influence national strategies and support frontline services, driving evidence-based policy to ensure everyone has access to a safe and affordable home. Stephanie sits on the Southeast Homeless Forum Executive and previously led research on the experiences of social housing residents, the cost of living crisis, and the implications of new technologies in the housing sector.

Rebecca has worked for the past decade in the development and implementation of strategic campaigns and thought leadership across various sectors including social housing, domestic abuse, international social services, and education. As an engagement manager at the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), she is focused on building relationships with employers to support CIH stay responsive to the profession and ensure that those working in housing are valued for their knowledge and skills.

Rebecca has worked alongside Addressing Domestic Abuse since the early days, leading on the development of brand identity, direction and strategy, and engaging senior stakeholders to further the work of ADA in the social housing sector. She is delighted to continue her association with ADA.

Stephanie Morphew

Alex is the Lead Associate at Addressing Domestic Abuse (ADA) and Content and Production Manager at the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), where she delivers training to housing associations and homelessness charities.

She leads both the Housing Community Summit, a national collaboration between CIH and the National Housing Federation, and CIH’s UK‑wide events programme, and was recognised as one of Housing Today’s Top 30 Housing Champions in 2025. With more than nine years’ experience in policy, public affairs and events, she previously served as Policy Manager for Victims’ Services at the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office (2018–19), and has worked as a policy analyst and domestic abuse researcher in housing associations and for the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance. Alex also volunteers as a direct service delivery volunteer with Rape Crisis and as an emergency response officer with the British Red Cross.

Dr Yoric Irving-Clarke

Victoria Hall

Alexandra Gibson

Our Associates

Becky has been working in the housing and homelessness sector since 2007, helping to create real change for people with complex needs. Over the years, she has taken on a range of roles in service delivery, leadership, and strategy, always focused on making services more impactful.

Passionate about the power of collaboration, she helps organisations thrive, tackling homelessness, improving and driving innovation in the voluntary and public sector. She has led high-performing teams, helped local authorities refine, improve and focus their offer to people in need of supported accommodation, reviewed homelessness functions and supported organizations to secure vital contracts.

Before taking the step in to consultancy, Becky worked at Executive level in large charities working with people experiencing homelessness, addiction and exploitation including Depaul UK and Changing Lives. In these roles she led operations and business development, leading the growth and improvement of services, supporting teams, building strategic relationships and influencing externally.

With an MSc in Systems Thinking in Practice, Becky is keen to find smarter ways to create change — ‘doing better things’ as well as ‘doing things better’.

Nicole is an Assistant Professor in Criminology in the Department of Sociology, Durham University.

Nicole researches in the area of domestic abuse, Neurodiversity and Interventions, and has a practice background in domestic abuse within a multi-agency, child protection setting. Nicole is currently developing a neurodiversity practitioner toolkit to support neurodivergent clients who access domestic abuse perpetrator interventions (in collaboration with Community Justice Scotland, Neurodiverse Connection, Probation North East and Respect).

She also delivers training on the intersection of domestic abuse and neurodivergence, and the implications for working with this client group.

Dr Nicole Renehan

Becky Elton

Nikki is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Durham University, a registered social worker, and child and family safeguarding specialist. Nikki has practise experience in women’s refuges, child safeguarding, and children with disabilities teams. Nikki has published extensively on the topic of child and adolescent to parent violence and abuse (CAPVA). She has also been recognised as an international leader in CAPVA, after receiving the European Society of Criminology’s Young European Criminologist of the Year 2025 award, due to her CAPVA expertise.

As an applied social work researcher, Nikki has a commitment to research, teaching and practise which has everyday relevance to those working in the field, or experiencing family harm in their everyday lives. Using the findings of her research, Nikki has developed CPD, training, and completed programme evaluations on the topic of both CAPVA, and improving professional responses to children’s disclosures of domestic abuse.

Dr Nikki Rutter

Rebecca Fraser

Katy is an Assistant Professor of Criminology at the University of Nottingham. Her research primarily focusses on women’s experiences of technology-facilitated domestic abuse, with a specific interest in how being under digital surveillance shapes women’s interactions with services. Katy is further involved in projects looking at women’s experiences of gambling related domestic abuse and housing precarity, and safeguarding in end-of-life marriage. Alongside her research, Katy teaches undergraduate courses at the University of Nottingham, providing personal tutoring and supervising dissertation students. Prior to re-entering academia, Katy worked for a Higher Education provider improving pathways to support for student survivors of domestic and sexual abuse.

Katy has extensive experience working with specialist charities and organisations and is happy to receive speaking and collaboration requests. You can read more about Katy and her work, and find her contact details, here: People - The University of Nottingham.