Lander Bachert, CEO of the Traverse Bay Children’s Advocacy Center (TBCAC), announced her departure from the organization on Tuesday. Bachert, who has been with TBCAC since March 2024, “will remain through Thanksgiving to support a thoughtful transition.” Nicole Kubon, currently the nonprofit’s Resilience Center director, has been tapped as interim CEO.

“Serving TBCAC has been an extraordinary honor,” Bachert wrote in an email to TBCAC’s subscriber list. “I love this organization, and I am proud of what we have accomplished together for children and families. Knowing when to pass the responsibility to another leader is part of caring for the work and its future.”

Bachert described her resignation as a “personal decision” she had made “after much reflection and conversation with my family.”

TBCAC hired Bachert in 2024 after a period of relative turmoil for the organization. In May 2023, four members of the TBCAC Board of Directors – including Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Noelle Moeggenberg – abruptly resigned their posts, citing concerns about organizational leadership, transparency, growth, and treatment of employees. Moeggenberg then informed TBCAC CEO Lisa Migazzi that she was formally dissolving a partnership between her office and TBCAC to collaborate on forensic interviews of child abuse victims.

Moeggenberg told The Ticker at the time that TBCAC leadership – including Migazzi, former CEO Ginger Kadlec (who had resigned earlier in 2023 and moved promptly into a board seat), and then board chair Patricia Werner – were pursuing a “grow at all costs” approach that had negatively impacted transparency, staff morale, and financial best practices. Moeggenberg said her office would consider working with TBCAC again if both Warner and Kadlec resigned from the board and Migazzi stepped down as CEO. Those three are no longer involved with the organization, and the Grand Traverse County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office continues to support and collaborate with TBCAC.

Bachert came aboard with TBCAC in March 2024, relocating to Traverse City from Montana. There, she had served for nearly five years as the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Big Sky Country.

In her email, Bachert assured that TBCAC “is strong and healthy, with a talented, caring team and an engaged board I deeply respect and trust.”

“My relationship with the board has been a meaningful partnership, and we are working closely together with our colleagues and MDT (multidisciplinary team) members to ensure services continue uninterrupted,” Bachert wrote. “Putting children first is, and always will be, the entire focus of this organization.”

Per Bachert, Kubon steps into the interim CEO role with “more than 18 years of nonprofit leadership experience, an MSW (master’s of social work) from the University of Michigan, and a background in domestic violence services, sexual assault advocacy, and youth support.” Kubon has been with TBCAC since last December.

“With reaccreditation and our annual audit ahead, a priority in planning this transition has been ensuring that these responsibilities receive the preparation and leadership they deserve,” Bachert wrote.