Ana Bernardes
In 1998, I started dancing and studying Psychology, and I walked these 2 paths separately until they began to intertwine.
As a Vocational Counsellor and Trainer, my career began in 2004, focusing on developing soft skills. This brought me into human resources consulting, training organisation, facilitation, and project management.
After several years working in the corporate setting, in 2013, I entered the field of social entrepreneurship and experience design. Among other events, I co-founded a festival for innovation in education in Vienna (stEFFIE – Experimental Fun Festival for Innovative Education).
In 2019, I started working at a game design agency, where I was responsible for people management, finance and organisational development, as well as creating and hosting events and developing game concepts for companies.
In what felt like a parallel world, my first class as a dance teacher was in 2000. For ca. 20 years, I taught social dances, mostly ballroom and salsa, and I’ve learned many more partner dances, such as tango or kizomba. In 2017, I came across Biodanza, which was the first step in using dance as a way of expression and healing.
In recent years, I’ve added several embodiment and dance practices to my skill set, such as Social Presencing Theater, Authentic Movement, Embodiment Coaching, and Holistic Dance.
Since 2021, I’ve been developing my work under the umbrella of Moving with Ana, where I focus on embodiment. I design learning journeys that promote collective transformation, starting from inner leadership.
PODCASTS, ARTICLES & LECTURES
Life beyond numbers
a podcast by Susan Ni Chriodain (May 2023)
A conversation about embodiment and how it relates to aligning our thoughts, feelings, and actions.
EMCC Conference
Warwick University, UK (July 2025)
Active listening through body movement (90-minute workshop)
Leading with Wholeness, Congruence & Flexibility
SOME ORGANISATIONS I’VE COOPERATED WITH:
(as an employee, partner or service provider)
Detailed CV
09/1998 – 07/2003
Degree in Psychology – Universidade de Coimbra (Portugal)
DATE
Organisation
Job Role
DESCRIPTION
Since 06/2021
Self-employed (Vienna, Austria)
Facilitation / Embodiment Training / Experience Design
Design of learning programs for personal and organisational development focused on embodiment, somatics and non-linear thinking.
Training, facilitation, experience design and event organisation
From 10/2022 to 09/2025
Movement Lab (Vienna, Austria)
Admin Manager
Design of learning programs for personal and organisational development focused on embodiment, somatics and non-linear thinking.
Training, facilitation, experience design and event organisation
From 05/2019 to 05/2021
Playful Solutions (Vienna, Austria)
Executive manager (replacement)
Operations Management: People Management, Finances, Office Management and Organisational Development. Experience designer, workshop facilitator and game designer. Project Management in B2B projects and projects funded by the Vienna Business Agency.
From 08/2017 to 04/2019
Out of Context
Founder
Support to individuals and organisations in changes related to the Future of Work, mostly focused on promoting a local network to support remote workers in Portugal.
From 09/2017 to 04/2018
Hardware City (Aveiro, Portugal)
Event Manager
Support to individuals and organisations in changes related to the Future of Work, mostly focused on promoting a local network to support remote workers in Portugal.
Self-employed (Portugal)
Trainer & facilitator
Corporate training focused on the topics of Leadership and Interpersonal Relationships; personal development workshops using tools from Theory U, Social Presencing Theater and Art of Hosting; dance teacher
Total Fun (Coimbra, Portugal)
L&D Consultant
Development of corporate events in the MICE department of a travel agency.
12/2016 – 07/2017
Erste Group Services (Vienna, Austria)
Training Organisation
Organisation of training programmes for the Erste School of Banking and Finance, part of the Group Talent Management and Learning from Erste Group, which serves its employees in Austria and Eastern Europe.
08.2015 – 07.2016
Ajado GmbH (Vienna, Austria)
Event Manager (02.2016 – 07.2016)
Executive Assistant to the CEO (08.2015 – 11.2015)
Organisation of business events developed by ajado GmbH. Support for the Digital Marketing Consulting department.
Support to the companyʼs management, namely Accounting, HR and Office Management.
01.2014 – 01.2016
dieLICHTFABRIK (Vienna, Austria)
PROJECT MANAGER, EXPERIENCE DESIGNER, FACILITATOR
Participation in the general management of the association dieLICHTFABRIK, namely in developing the business plan, and support to the accounting process. Event Design and Facilitation of events based on social experience design. Graphic design.
CO-FOUNDER AND PROJECT MANAGER – stEFFIE Festival
Development of stEFFIE Festival – a yearly event for Innovative Education in Vienna, which aimed to showcase and further develop projects with a disruptive intention in the field of learning. Organisation of monthly crowdsourced learning events (stEFFIE talkinʼ).
10.2009 – 12.2012
Klim Consulting (Aveiro, Portugal)
SENIOR CONSULTANT
Business Unit Manager (Leadership and Coaching department) – project management, development and implementation of methodologies in Talent Management, Performance Evaluation, and HR systems.
Consultant: Support in the areas of Business Strategy and Innovation. Trainer: mainly focused on soft skills (leadership, communication, time management) and people management.
Event manager: development of off-site events for our clients and seminars.
04.2009 – 09.2009
VLM Consultores (Aveiro, Portugal)
BUSINESS UNIT MANAGER
Project Manager: development and management of a training business unit (Academia VLM) focused on the development of top executives. Recruiter: Recruitment and selection in internal processes.
07.2008 – 04.2009
Advance Station (Portugal)
TRAINING COORDINATOR / ASSESSMENT & DEVELOPMENT. CONSULTANT
Training coordinator: Pedagogical coordination of the company courses in the centre of Portugal (15 schools). Management of trainer pools. Consultant: development and implementation of Assessment & Development Centres.
06.2007 – 05.2008
Randstad (Portugal)
HR ASSISTANT (in-house services)
Management of flexible worker pools; recruitment plans development; selection; workersʼ support and performance evaluation; administrative management of the flexible workers’ contracts and legal aspects; CRM.
10.2006 – 03.2007
Alert Life Sciences Computing, S.A. (Portugal)
TRAINER / ON-SITE FACILITATOR –
Trainer and on-site facilitator of the clinical software Alert ® in the emergency departments of Portuguese Hospitals.
02.2006 – 09.2006
Soporcel Austria Gmbh (Vienna, Austria)
MARKETING AND SALES ASSISTANT
Support to the Marketing and Sales office, working with Central and Eastern Europe.
09/2005 – 12.2005
Leonardo da Vinci Project “People” (Vienna, Austria)
INTERN
● Karriere Club: Insight into the following areas: single consultation, diagnostics for professional selection, personnel development, personnel selection and communication techniques. Participation in the field of international projects.
● Waldorf Schule: support to the classes of Eurythmy and Music Therapy.
09/2004 – 04/2005
Centro De Formação Profissional De Coimbra (Coimbra, Portugal)
TRAINER
Preparation and delivery of the classes of “Citizenship”, “Learning to Learn” and “Interpersonal Relationships” in groups of Vocational Training.
10/2002 – 06/2003
Instituto de Emprego e Formação Profissional
INTERN
Vocational Counsellor – cooperation in the selection of candidates for the Vocational Training groups. Development and implementation of a Cognitive Promotion Program with Vocational Training students.
LANGUAGES
Mother Tongue:
Portuguese
Other languages:
- English – Level C2 (“Certificate of Proficiency in English”)
- German – Level C1 (B2 – ÖSD Prüfung 11/2014)
- Spanish – Level C1
PEDAGOGY
Trainer Pedagogical Skills Certificate
Issued by IEFP – Portugal (since 2004)
E-learning
Fastaoestudo, Portugal (2009)
Presentation Skills
KLIM Consulting – Portugal (2009)
MOVEMENT
Holistic Dance
(Vienna, Austria)
Holistic Dance and Movement Pedagogy Teacher Training (2020-2021)
Teachers Training Advanced Seminars:
- Healing (2021)
- Touch (2021)
- Nature (2021)
- Intimacy (2022)
Authentic Movement
Authentic Movement Circle – Alas, Barcelona and Madrid (98 hours – 2023-2024)
Authentic Movement Deepening Circles – Betina Weissman, Madrid
- March 2025
- November 2025
- March 2026
Movement Analysis
Introduction to Bartenieff Fundamentals – Susanne Montag-Wärnå (18,5 hours – 2025)
EMBODIMENT
Certification of Embodiment Coaching and Facilitation – Embodiment Unlimited (2021)
Social Presencing Theater
Deep U – Vasco Gaspar (Lisbon, 2018)
SPT basics – Arawana Hayashi, Presencing Institute (Berlin, 2019)
SPT Deepening Workshop – Arawana Hayashi (Vienna, 2021)
SPT Practitioner days – Arawana Hayashi (Vienna, 2023)
Body-Mind Centering
Perception as a Key to Embodying and Repatterning the Nervous System, with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen (2023)
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project Management;
KLIM Consulting – Portugal (2009)
MS Project
VLM Consultores – Portugal (2009)
PEOPLE MANAGEMENT
Recruitment and Selection
Conclusão, Portugal (2006)
Assessment and Development Centres
- Assessment and Development Centres Management;
- Development of Competency Models;
- Assessor Skills;
- Feedback Skills
A&DC (2007-2008),
Social Accountability Auditor
VLM Consultores – Portugal (2011)