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Sandra Harrell

Associate Director

917.478.4590 (voice)
212.941.9407 (fax)
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Sandra has been working in the area of ending violence against women for 15 years. Originally from Louisiana, Sandra began working on her local crisis line and volunteering at her local shelter while still in high school. Upon completion of her undergraduate degree, Sandra was hired to work for Turning Point Battered Women’s Shelter, where she learned from fellow advocates and residents. Upon earning her master’s degree from Goddard College – where she focused on radical feminist analyses of sexual and domestic violence – Sandra was hired as the Project Director for Vanderbilt University’s Grant to Reduce Violent Crimes Against Women on Campuses. She worked for nearly five years to establish a comprehensive program to both respond to violent crimes against women and stop it from happening in the first place. When the program at Vanderbilt – Project Safe – was institutionalized by the University in 2004, Sandra felt free to pursue other areas of interest in the area of violence against women.

In February 2005, Sandra accepted a position with the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault to work on their Training and Technical Assistance team to provide T&TA to recipients of grants to end violence against women. That program – Project Access – introduced her to an avenue for social justice that was entirely new to her – the nexus of violence against women and disability. When Project Access’s funding ended, Sandra was thrilled to have the opportunity to continue working on this important issue with the Vera Institute of Justice. She joined the Vera team officially on November 13, 2006 and looks forward to working with the Accessing Safety Initiative to ensure the success of the disability grant projects funded in FY 2006 and beyond.