By Mary Claire Molloy for Mirror Indy.
Broadcast version by Joe Ulery for Indiana News Service reporting for the Mirror Indy-Free Press Indiana-Public News Service Collaboration.

A little more than a year after launching a plan to address the needs of Black women, the Domestic Violence Prevention Network is in turmoil.

For months, several staff have been challenging leadership over concerns that the nonprofit is failing to meet the plan’s promise following what they describe as years of mismanagement and toxic workplace culture. Since 2022, two Black employees have been fired and there have been at least four resignations, including by two Black employees. One of them filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint.

The conflict came to a head in February. That’s when nine unnamed employees submitted a nearly 70-page letter to the nonprofit’s board, detailing their complaints about the organization’s executive director at the time.

In the letter, the employees called for her to be fired.

“We cannot, in good conscience, continue to promote inclusivity, equity and healthy relationships if those principles are not genuinely reflected within the organization itself,” staff wrote in the letter.

The tensions couldn’t come at a worse time. The nonprofit is already at risk of losing some funding as the Trump administration targets programs that focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. DVPN has locked down parts of its website, including information about programming and an about page.

It’s also a bad time for Indianapolis, a city where Black residents face a disproportionate amount of domestic violence. For years, DVPN has provided an important service here, helping thousands of victims by training community members and local organizations to recognize signs of abuse.

Now, the nonprofit is leaderless. A week after employees sent the letter to the board, executive director Kelly McBride resigned, ending her nearly 12-year tenure leading the organization.

Reached by phone, McBride declined a Mirror Indy request for an interview but agreed to respond to emailed questions.

“These claims are false and inconsistent with my character and leadership style,” McBride wrote March 17. “At no time did I behave in an illegal, improper or unethical manner.”

McBride did not specifically answer Mirror Indy’s question about why she resigned. But in an email to supporters and community members, McBride said she “decided to embark on a new chapter in my professional journey.”

The nonprofit’s board, meanwhile, told staff in a March 10 email about plans to update the organization’s discrimination policies and provide harassment training. That decision came after the board hired an attorney to conduct an internal investigation.

Board president Kristen Moreland declined to specifically answer Mirror Indy’s questions about allegations of a toxic workplace and the experiences of Black staff under McBride. In a phone call, Moreland said she couldn’t comment because they were confidential personnel matters.

In a follow-up statement emailed to Mirror Indy, Moreland said McBride’s resignation was a “personal decision” and noted the internal investigation found no evidence of illegal activity.

“Our priority remains clear and focused: supporting victims of domestic violence, promoting prevention efforts and enhancing the services we provide to our community,” the statement said, in part.

To do that, according to 12 current or former employees interviewed by Mirror Indy, the nonprofit’s board must first repair the years of harm. But most remain skeptical about the board’s motives, believing the members are trying to maintain a positive image publicly while neglecting their duties inside the workplace.

Mirror Indy agreed not to publicly identify the current employees because they feared they would be fired for speaking to journalists.

That fear appears to be justified. On March 10, Moreland sent an email to staff saying they could lose their jobs for speaking with the media.

“They’re trying to make it look like DVPN isn’t as harmful and dysfunctional as we are,” one employee said.

‘I was the Black poster child’

Niesha Neal, 44, knows what it’s like to suffer in silence. She carries the scars from being stabbed by a previous partner.

Two decades later, in September 2021, she started working for the Domestic Violence Prevention Network to help other survivors.

Inside the office, though, Neal said she was underpaid and tokenized by McBride.

Neal is one of at least four Black staff members who have been fired or resigned under McBride’s leadership since 2022. All told Mirror Indy their departures were part of a pattern at the organization: They said Black employees were paraded around donors and community members, then discarded when leadership decided they weren’t useful anymore.

Neal said McBride “dumbed down” her title to pay her less than the previous person who held the same position, according to an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint filed in February 2023. At the same time, according to the complaint, McBride, who is white, sent Neal to predominantly Black neighborhoods — including a time when Neal said she was told she needed to be “the face of DVPN” in a community video “if she wanted to get paid.”

“I was the Black poster child for the organization,” said Neal, who resigned in October 2022.

The last straw was fried chicken. That’s what McBride wanted to serve people in Martindale Brightwood for a Thanksgiving meal, Neal said.

“Out of every protein we could serve the Black community,” said Neal, pointing to the damaging history of the racial stereotype. “I was taken aback.”

In her statement to Mirror Indy, McBride did not specifically address the concerns about the Thanksgiving meal.

“I have worked hard to ensure that education and support services are available throughout all areas of our community,” McBride told Mirror Indy in her statement, “especially with historically marginalized communities.”

McBride also said that she initiated a study to ensure staff were being compensated “fairly and competitively,” and noted that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found no wrongdoing by her or DVPN.

Neal, however, said the commission gave her the right to file a discrimination lawsuit and the matter was resolved through her lawyers. She declined to specify whether she reached a settlement with the nonprofit.

In 2023, Elle Roberts and Charlie Redd were hired to start a restorative justice program, which focuses on repairing harm. They would use a $250,000 grant from the Hogsett administration and the Indianapolis Foundation to lead healing circles with victims and perpetrators of domestic violence in predominantly Black neighborhoods.

But in a letter shared with the board, Roberts and Redd said they were abruptly ousted in June 2024 after McBride verbally accused them of “stealing” the restorative justice framework from the organization to start their own projects.

McBride did not respond to Mirror Indy’s questions about the reason behind the terminations.

Roberts and Redd said they were hired because of their past work freelancing in wellness and equity spaces, and they still don’t have formal documentation about why they were fired.

“The wildest thing is that nobody owns restorative justice,” said Redd, 35. “This is a pattern of leadership being so flippant with the hiring and firing of Black queer people.”

Redd and Roberts said McBride verbally cited two other reasons for their terminations: They used “outdated” marketing materials and took too long to respond to emails.

That reminded Imani Jones of their time at DVPN. The 26-year-old said they resigned as the youth program coordinator in March 2024 after finding out leadership had documented six infractions against them.

“There was no communication about what I did wrong,” Jones said. “I didn’t feel safe.”

Witnessing Roberts and Redd’s firings — among others — reminded them of their own abusive childhood home.

“It’s the way they just give people infractions and fire them and then say they have grant money and can send you on trips,” Jones said. “Throwing gifts on top of issues and errors to keep people comfortable.”

Board threatens staff with terminations

Multiple employees interviewed by Mirror Indy said they felt hopeful in January 2024 when the nonprofit announced the “Beyond Equity” plan to focus on the needs of Black women.

At a launch event that month, McBride said the nonprofit would move beyond “white feminism.”

Since then, though, the employees said they’ve grown frustrated by the organization’s failure to address the concerns of employees. Now, they believe the publicly released plan was for posturing more than anything else.

Six employees spoke to Mirror Indy on the condition that they not be publicly identified because they feared they would lose their job or otherwise face retaliation from DVPN. Another two employees initially agreed to be identified, but then asked to withdraw their names from this article.

That happened after Moreland, the president, emailed staff to tell them it was against policy to discuss “confidential personnel information” with the media.

“If we learn that any employee has violated this policy, (they) may be subject to discipline, up to or including termination,” Moreland wrote.

In follow-up emails, Moreland sent a list of talking points developed by a PR firm to share with funders and the public.

“We are in crisis communication mode,” Moreland wrote in a March 14 email.

Employees said the board didn’t take their concerns seriously until they started speaking to journalists. And rather than spending money on the mission, they said, the board is protecting the Domestic Violence Prevention Network’s image.

One employee pointed to a portion of the PR document: “What is DVPN doing to address the harm caused by this situation?”

“As an organization committed to restorative justice, we are taking steps to acknowledge, address and correct any harms caused,” the PR response said. “We believe in leading by example and in the power of collective action to heal and move forward.”


Mary Claire Molloy wrote this article for Mirror Indy.


get more stories like this via email

By Savana Capp / Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi reporting for the Kent State NewsLab-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.

Ohio legislators are considering increasing the penalty for repeat voyeurism in Ohio, as newer technology and smaller cameras makes it easier for voyeuristic crimes to be committed. 

The current charges for voyeurism, acts of invading someone else’s privacy typically for the purpose of sexual gratification, range from a misdemeanor to a fifth-degree felony. House Bill 110 introduced Feb. 18 by state representatives Josh Williams, R-Sylvania Township, and Cecil Thomas, D-Cincinnati, would increase the penalty from a misdemeanor of the first degree to a felony of the third degree if the offender has previously pleaded guilty to or been convicted of two or more of the same voyeurism violation. 

“I think the individual's right to privacy should always be paramount,” Williams said. “I think the state has an interest in preserving an individual’s right to privacy especially in their most intimate moments.” 

The case that got him interested in this legislation came from his own district near Toledo. A man was arrested after allegedly putting a camera in a toilet at St. Vincent Medical Center. There was another recent case in Kent where a man was arrested and charged with voyeurism for allegedly taking photos of a woman in a store’s fitting room.

While using hidden cameras is already criminal in Ohio, Williams said the penalties are not high enough. 

“For voyeurism, recording someone for your own sexual gratification, violating their privacy, making them feel so violated in their most vulnerable moments,” Williams said, “we need to increase those penalties, so individuals that are trying to perpetrate those types of crimes in the state of Ohio understand that that type of deviant behavior is not going to be permitted.” 

Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence, the designated sexual assault coalition for Ohio, supports this bill. The OAESV works to support all of the rape crisis centers in Ohio and advocates for more protective legislation.

Emily Gemar, OAESV director of public policy, said voyeurism can be a part of a larger abuse pattern. With the evolution of technology, she has seen a lot more voyeuristic and digital crimes. 

“We know that it’s not always a one-and-done type of offense, it can be very repetitive,” Gemar said. “It can involve a lot of surveillance of somebody and multiple violations of their privacy over a long period of time.” 

Gemar explained that while it often starts with something like spying, it can lead to stalking and physical sex offenses. 

In a sexual assault in Ohio study from 2016-2023, the Department of Public Safety found voyeurism and importuning, soliciting a minor under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity, to be the lowest reported offenses of all sexual assault. 

Gemar said voyeurism, like most sexual offenses, is not commonly reported and leads to feelings of helplessness during and after the incident. 

“This crime, like many sex crimes, can cause really deep feelings of violation and powerlessness and the trauma can be long-lasting,” Gemar said. 

If the act of voyeurism involved taking pictures or images, the victim can feel even more powerless because of the difficulty in working to truly remove them from the internet, Gemar said. 

Williams said there has also been an increased market for invasive hidden camera videos on OnlyFans and other adult websites. 

Along with public restrooms, hidden cameras have been found in smoke detectors, shower heads, dorm rooms, phone chargers and light switches in Airbnb’s. 

“Victims can become distrustful of others, especially in settings that they once believed were private or intimate,” Gemar said. “It can affect their sense of safety at home, at work or in public places, and that really isolates victims.” 

As it stands, the current statute says no matter how many times someone violates section A (no person for the purpose of sexual gratification shall surreptitiously invade the privacy of another) or B (no person shall surreptitiously film or photograph another person in a place where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy), it is only a misdemeanor. 

With a rise in voyeuristic and digital crimes, other states have also been reevaluating their penalties, Williams said. South Carolina and New York are among them. 

“I don't think this is a controversial bill at all,” he said. “So as soon as it gets moving, it’ll move fast.”


This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.

Advocates are urging Ohio lawmakers to preserve critical funding for rape crisis centers in the upcoming state budget.

The request comes amid deep federal cuts and growing demand for services across the state.

Supporters of House Bill 96 say the $15 million state allocation it provides would fund emergency hotlines, hospital accompaniment, legal advocacy, and education efforts.

Rosa Beltré, president and CEO of the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence, said thousands could be left without help if the bill doesn't pass.

"This is about telling survivors, 'we are here, we believe you,'" said Beltré. "'And when everything fails, we will continue to support the programs that are giving you, your autonomy, your voices, your visibility back, because it was lost in a rape.'"

Between October 2023 and September 2024, Ohio's rape crisis centers responded to over 40,000 hotline calls and provided more than 5000 hours of legal advocacy each week.

Beltré added that a gap created by a 77% drop in federal funds provided by the Victims of Crime Act could leave centers struggling to meet demand.

She said the impact of sexual violence ripples far beyond the immediate trauma.

"Within their families, within their household," said Beltré, "their mental health, their ability for sustaining a job, their ability for healing. They won't be able to contribute financially to society."

Ohio lawmakers are considering the final version of the 2026 budget in coming weeks. Advocates say preserving the full $15 million will safeguard essential services and show survivors they are not alone.

A new report showed programs serving domestic violence survivors in Ohio are stretched thin, with hundreds of people who need help being turned away due to lack of shelter.

Their advocates said maintaining state funding is critical to meet the growing demand for services.

Mary O'Doherty, executive director of the Ohio Domestic Violence Network, said the latest 24-hour census highlighted the strain on programs across the state.

"During that time, our program served 2,701 victims," O'Doherty reported. "Our programs did not have enough resources to meet 347 requests for help. Most of the people who (were) turned away were looking for emergency shelter."

According to the 19th annual Domestic Violence Counts report, conducted by the National Network to End Domestic Violence, 100% of Ohio's 75 identified domestic violence programs participated in the national count on Sept. 4 of last year, providing shelter and services to thousands statewide.

The Ohio Domestic Violence Network reported one in every two people seeking help in the state was turned away during the count due to lack of funding. O'Doherty acknowledged Ohio lawmakers are under pressure to cut state spending this session but said advocates are pushing for funding to help survivors.

"There currently is $20 million in the Ohio budget for domestic violence services," O'Doherty pointed out. "Right now, there's an extraordinary amount of pressure to cut spending, public spending, and we are working hard to make sure that the Legislature keeps those funds in the budget."

As lawmakers debate the state budget, she added concerned Ohioans can contact their state senators to express support for maintaining funding for domestic violence shelters and survivor services at current levels.