It’s The Place To Be for New Executive Director

It’s The Place To Be for New Executive Director

By Peyton Tochterman

Judith Hanley had several offers from various philanthropic organizations in the region, but after serving as interim executive director for A Place to Be and then being offered the position, minus the interim, she knew this unique Middleburg nonprofit was precisely where she wanted to be.

“People here in Middleburg genuinely love each other and want success,” she said, sitting in her office on North Jay St. decorated with 14 flourishing plants from the local Safeway. “This town is a profound place all because of the people here.”

Judith Hanley, new executive director of A Place To Be

“I chose A Place To Be for me and my son, who was diagnosed with autism and ADHD. I worked in the corporate world in my 20s but felt a void…I went back to school (and) I got my doctorate from the University of Maryland at College Park in human development specializing in child development, with an emphasis on child brain development research.”

Since then, she hasn’t looked back on the corporate world. Instead, her focus has been specifically directed toward helping the communities within which she has lived. She’s also the chief executive officer of Loudoun Citizens for Social Justice/Loudoun Abused Women’s Shelter (LAWS).

From 2007 to 2017, Hanley, who lives in Bluemont, was the director of the Loudoun Child Advocacy Center (CAC), a program of LAWS, before becoming its CEO. She was awarded the 2010 Crime Victims Service Award presented by the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office for outstanding service to crime victims.

And in 2018, she was awarded the SCAN award, which honors five remarkable heroes working to protect children, support families, and prevent child abuse and neglect across Northern Virginia.

Accolades aside, Hanley reiterates that she continually learns and grows from those around her. “I love this staff and our families,” she said. “I get to see, day to day, the profound human transformation that our families experience. And that our staff works with neuro diverse children, I feel like I can learn a lot and help my son.”

In her role as executive director, Hanley will be in charge of dayto-day operations and oversee the business, financial and strategic planning, and expansion.

“We’re expanding to Leesburg, but our offices will always stay in Middleburg,” she said. “Many families in Leesburg need our services, and we want to make it reasonable for them to get to us.”

Tom Sweitzer, co-founder and creative director of A Place to Be, is excited for Dr. Hanley to join the staff. Sweitzer and co-founder Kim Tapper started A Place to Be twelve years ago and focused on individual music therapy.

“We had 13 clients,” Sweitzer said. “By 2011, we had 50, realizing that our population needed groups and productions. Now we have a 75-family waiting list…(Hanley) was our interim after John (Tong) left. And within weeks the board knew that we did not want her to leave…The buildout for our Leesburg space begins in early spring, and we are launching a pop-up theater in December to showcase what our program is about.

The opening show is called “Snow Monster,” Hanley said with a giddy smile.” A Place to Be is a place for me. We need to get a little bigger so we can serve more people who can benefit from the remarkable work our staff does daily.”