Sandra joined Vera's Accessing Safety Initiative in November 2006. Prior to joining Vera, Sandra worked on the training and technical assistance team for Project Access of the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault. She has been working in the area of ending violence against women for 15 years. Originally from Louisiana, Sandra began working at her local crisis line and volunteering at her local shelter while still in high school. Upon earning her undergraduate degree, Sandra worked for Turning Point Battered Women’s Shelter. After receiving her master’s degree from Goddard College where she focused on radical feminist analyses of sexual and domestic violence, Sandra became 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 to prevent them from happening. The program—Project Safe—was institutionalized at Vanderbilt in 2004.