Leadership & Governance

National Safe Place Network (NSPN) provides national leadership, oversight, and strategic direction for the Safe Place® program. Strong governance ensures the integrity, quality, and consistency of Safe Place services across the country and supports the expansion of youth safety initiatives nationwide.

Leadership Committed to Youth Safety

NSPN is led by experienced professionals with long-standing backgrounds in youth and family services, crisis response, national program administration, mental health, nonprofit leadership, law enforcement partnerships, and community-based systems of care. This leadership guides the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of Safe Place across the United States.

Executive Leadership

NSPN’s executive team provides vision, operational excellence, and national coordination to ensure Safe Place remains a trusted, accessible pathway to safety for youth in crisis.

Board of Directors

The NSPN Board of Directors represents a diverse array of national industries, sectors, and perspectives—including corporate leadership, banking, logistics, public safety, human services, community development, and nonprofit management.


Their role is to provide governance, accountability, strategic direction, and fiscal oversight, ensuring Safe Place remains effective, sustainable, and responsive to the needs of youth and communities.

Directors are drawn from nationally recognized organizations such as:

  • CBRE
  • Republic Bank
  • Discover Financial Services, a division of Capital One, N.A.
  • National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS)
  • QuikTrip Corporation
  • Papa Johns International
  • Children’s Aid Society
  • Sea Haven for Youth



View the full board of directors at www.nspnetwork.org.


President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Laurie Padilla, MBA, BSW, is the President and CEO of National Safe Place Network (NSPN) and a nationally recognized leader in youth crisis response. With more than 37 years of experience in the Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY) field and over 20 years of involvement with the Safe Place® program, she provides strategic direction and executive oversight for Safe Place, TXT 4 HELP, and NSPN’s national initiatives.



Before joining NSPN in 2010, Padilla served as Associate Executive Director at Synergy Services, Inc. in Kansas City, Missouri, and previously worked with Cedars Youth Services in Lincoln, Nebraska. Her career spans executive leadership, federal grant oversight, program development, and systems-level partnerships across youth services, child welfare, and domestic violence programs.

Padilla holds an Executive MBA from the University of Missouri–Kansas City and a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Nebraska–Kearney. She serves on the Board of Directors for the National Network for Youth and Florida Network is dedicated to strengthening national responses that keep youth safe, supported, and connected to caring adults.

Advisory Board

The NSPN Advisory Board includes thought leaders, practitioners, and subject-matter experts in youth services, public safety, mental health, transportation, and community-based programming.


They offer guidance on emerging issues affecting youth, best practices in crisis response, and opportunities to strengthen Safe Place’s national reach and impact.


Advisory members help ensure Safe Place remains:

Responsive to youth needs


 

Informed by community realities

Grounded in proven practices


 Positioned for innovation

Our Commitment to Accountability

Safe Place is built on trust. NSPN maintains strong governance practices to ensure accountability, transparency, and excellence, including:

  • Annual independent audits with a record of clean findings
  • Strong fiscal and compliance management for federal grants and cooperative agreements administered by NSPN
  • Continuous program quality assurance
  • National program standards, training, and technical assistance for Safe Place implementation
  • Partnerships with local, state, and national organizations
  • 

These structures ensure that every Safe Place location, partner agency, and national program component operates with the highest level of integrity and consistency.