Celebrating 5 Wonderful Years with Our CEO

In January 2016, our current Chief Executive Officer / Executive Director (CEO/ED), Sandra Ziebold, accepted the role of CEO/ED at Beacon of Hope Crisis Center. In these last five years, she has guided us and encouraged us to grow as an agency as well as individuals. Today, we want to wish her a Happy Five Year’s at the agency. In her first year as CEO/ED, Sandy changed the agency name, making it more inclusive to all victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, no matter age, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or gender preference. She also relocated the agency to a more central location to better serve all victims within Central Indiana, including under served communities. 
 
She has curated a team of exceptional leaders, victim advocates, contractors, interns, volunteers, and collaborative partnerships. Our agency has not only grown in size of employees and volunteers, but we have served more victims under her leadership. With her compassion, dedication, and leadership, we have been able to serve over 1200 victims annually over the past few years. She helped lead and worked with the team in serving 1271 victims in 2020 despite an ongoing pandemic. In addition to increasing the number of victims served, we have been able to form strong collaborative partnerships with numerous local law enforcement agencies, local hospitals, veterinary agencies, rescue shelters, community centers, other domestic violence and sexual assault agencies/shelters, etc., while under her leadership. Reaching victims and ensuring that they are being served, has not only been a priority, but so has ensuring that all victims including pet victims are receiving adequate and timely services at BOHCC. In 2017, she played a critical role in presenting to the Indiana State Senate and advocating for pets to be eligible to be added as protected parties on protective orders. That was approved by the Indiana State Senate and victims can now add their pet/s as protective parties on their protective orders.  In 2018, she expanded accessibility by ensuring that we can serve anyone despite if they are non-English speaking, deaf or have any other accessibility needs.  In 2019, she served as an Expert Witness for the State in a Sentencing Hearing and the result was the defendant receiving the maximum sentence for Domestic Violence Animal Cruelty a Level 6 Felony.  In 2020, she served as an Expert Witness for the State in an Attempted Murder Trial and the jury found the defendant guilty of domestic battery, strangulation, intimidation, and disorderly conduct.
 
We recognize that the success of this agency is amplified thanks to her dedication, compassion, understanding, commitment, impressive business decisions and advice. Even with the unexpected pandemic, Sandy has prioritized the health of the employees and the clients we serve. She has always done thorough research and made decisions with careful deliberation to ensure that everyone is cared for in the best way possible.
 
We, as an agency, are so grateful for Sandy and her continued support and advocacy for victims as well as all of us at BOHCC. Thank you, Sandy for an incredible five years leading the BOHCC team. We look forward to having many more with you! Happy Work Anniversary!