About

Rachel Sahaidachny is Executive Director of The Big Silence, a non-profit organization that provides resources and support to anyone directly or indirectly impacted by mental illness. We raise awareness, promote understanding, and aim to bring together people and organizations who want to improve public attitudes towards mental health and normalize conversations surrounding mental health topics and experiences.

She previously served as Executive Director for the Indiana Writers Center, a non-profit dedicated to supporting a thriving literary arts culture in Indiana. She also serves on the board of The R/Evolution Fund working to breakup inequities in arts communities. Sahaidachny has over fifteen years of experience in nonprofit management, with more than a decade spent in arts administration.

Sahaidachny is also a poet, writer, and editor. Her editorial experience spans nearly a decade and includes: associate editor of The Indianapolis Review , co-editor of Not Like the Rest of Us: An Anthology of Contemporary Indiana Writers , and former poetry editor for Booth: A Journal. Recent writing has been published in The South Dakota Review, The Southeast Review, Radar Poetry, Community of Writers Poetry Review, Indiana Humanities, Nuvo, Red Paint Hill and others. She was a finalist in the 2016 Radar Poetry Coniston Prize, and she was awarded first prize in the Wabash Watershed Indiana Poetry Awards. She holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Butler University.

Sahaidachny helps people through writing and Reiki practice. She has led writing support and expressive writing groups for women who experienced domestic violence, survivors of rape and sexual assault, and those experiencing grief and loss. She holds a Usui/Holy Fire III Reiki II Certification granted by The Reiki Center of Indiana, and a Diploma of Journal Therapy from The Center for Excellence.