Dr. Pegah Faed Named Chief Executive Officer for Safe & Sound

Dear Safe & Sound Community:

On behalf of the entire team at Safe & Sound, we are thrilled to announce the successful conclusion of a comprehensive CEO search process. Dr. Pegah Faed will be the new CEO of Safe & Sound beginning April 17th.

Dr. Faed brings a compelling depth of experience. While dedicating her career to lasting change for children and families, Dr. Faed has demonstrated a track record of designing, implementing, and evaluating successful programs, policy, and systems change efforts. Highlights include:

• Leading First 5 Marin in a strategic planning process that engaged families, community partners, and other stakeholders in reimagining how community systems can better serve children and families. The Commission approved a new 8 year strategic plan in June 2022.
• Working closely with San Francisco Mayor London Breed and partners across San Francisco to coordinate the mental health pillar of the city’s COVID-19 response work, and oversee initiatives to invest more in mental health and trauma-informed care for San Francisco residents ages 0-24.
• Building relationships with key community stakeholders and leaders to deepen the work of child-serving organizations and reduce disparities for disenfranchised communities.
• Serving on the Center for Youth Wellness’s California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity steering committee since 2015 to raise awareness about the effect of adversity on children, youth, families and communities, as well as address the gaps and inequities in systems to prevent and better respond to adversity and build resilience.

Dr. Faed shared that “I am honored and excited to join the Safe & Sound team as the organization enters its 50th year of operation. I feel fortunate for the opportunity to build upon their significant success, and to support the next chapter of growth. As we emerge from a pandemic that shined a bright light on the broken and inequitable systems of care, we now have an unprecedented opportunity to reimagine these systems to help children, families, and communities thrive. I want every child to have a safe future, strong family, and a sound community, and I will never stop striving to remove the barriers to equity for our most marginalized communities.”

Dr. Faed comes into an organization that has significantly grown its services and impact over the past sixteen years under the leadership of former CEO, Katie Albright. Safe & Sound has become a nationally-recognized leader in child advocacy. Highlights include:

• Partnering with national, state, and local leaders to create a child and family well-being system to prevent maltreatment from the start. This includes the recent release of Safe & Sounds issue brief, Creating a Child & Family Well-Being System: A Paradigm Shift from Mandated Reporting to Community Supporting, which has created a groundswell of momentum for policy and practice change.

• Mobilizing government and community partners to deliver emergency pandemic relief and monetary support to thousands of children, parents, and caregivers, reaching over 43,000 individuals and raising more than $25M for the Bay Area community.

• Merging with the Center for Youth Wellness, the organization founded by the former California Surgeon General, Dr. Nadine Burke-Harris, to advance equitable and just policies to reduce the frequency of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress.

• Launching Safe & Sound’s recently approved strategic plan as a guide through the leadership transition. The strategic plan is built upon Safe & Sound’s value of equity and inclusion, as well as our anti-racist and trauma-informed practices to create a healing organization focused on understanding trauma, striving for cultural responsiveness and humility, and listening to the voices of those with lived experiences in all aspects of our work.

Katie shares our excitement, and stated that “Pegah is a champion for children and a true leader in the work of strengthening families and building communities. She brings a wealth of experience, unwavering commitment to our mission, and a vision for the future that is deeply inspiring. I am confident that she will take Safe & Sound to new heights, and I look forward to watching the organization make an even greater difference in the lives of children and families across our community, California, and the country.”

Safe & Sound’s Chief Development Officer, Brian Byrdsong, will serve as Interim CEO until Dr. Faed begins. We offer our deepest appreciation to Brian for helping ensure continuity and strong leadership during this transition period.

We are energized to embark on the next chapter for Safe & Sound. This is an occasion to both reflect on our past to celebrate the successes we have achieved, and look to the future to deepen Safe & Sound’s positive impact in our community and beyond under the leadership of Dr. Pegah Faed.

If you have questions or would like additional information, please reach out to Brian Byrdsong, Interim Chief Executive Officer, at 415.425.8526 or brian.byrdsong@safeandsound.org.

Very truly yours,

Sarah Whitelaw and Bill Barnes, Board Co-Chairs; and
Doug Tom, Chair of the Search Committee and the CEO Success Committee