Biography

Jen O’Connor is the Staff Disability Liaison Officer at the Disability Service, which was a role founded in early 2026. In this role, Jen strives to:

• Act as a central point of contact for staff disability-related queries and supports for disabled staff members of Trinity College Dublin
• Coordinate workplace needs assessments and reasonable accommodations.
• Guide managers and teams on disability inclusion and inclusive employment practices
• Support the implementation of the Code of Practice Applying to the Employment of People with Disabilities
• Contribute to institutional reporting and continuous improvement in staff disability inclusion
• Work collaboratively with HR, Estates, IT Services and other stakeholders to address accessibility and participation barriers

Jen joined Trinity in 2023 after working within the disability support sector for two years. She holds a master’s degree in Disability Communication Needs from the University of Galway and is currently undertaking her PhD in Social Work and Social Policy at Trinity.

Jen’s primary area of interest is storytelling and finding ways to enhance how the stories of typically underrepresented communities are communicated. Having completed her bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing and Modern Languages from the University of Galway, Jen recognised that her core passion resided with narratives. This influenced her academic journey, and her current PhD research aims to explore the personal narratives of AuDHD (co-occurring autism and ADHD) individuals. In her free time, Jen continues to explore her interest in narratives further by writing both fiction and creative non-fiction.