Dr. Pierre Berastaín joined The SAFE Alliance as Chief Executive Officer in December 2025 where he leads the largest organization serving survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, and child abuse in the Southern United States and the third largest nationwide.
As CEO of The SAFE Alliance in Austin, Texas, Dr. Berastaín oversees a team of 300 staff members who provide housing services and comprehensive care to over 1,000 people each day across Central Texas. The organization offers a full range of services for survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, sex trafficking, and child abuse, including emergency shelter, family shelter, women’s shelter, long-term housing, trauma counseling, legal advocacy, medical care, and 24/7 crisis response.
Dr. Berastaín brings nearly 20 years of experience working to end violence and support survivors. His career has focused on building programs that serve survivors of domestic and interpersonal violence and sexual violence, with special attention to Latino communities and other underserved groups.
Before joining The SAFE Alliance, Dr. Berastaín served as Regional Director of North America and Interim Global Executive Director for the Centre for Public Impact, a global organization that helps governments better serve their communities. He is also the Co-Founder and former Chief Strategy & Operations Officer of Caminar Latino – Latinos United for Peace and Equity, a nationally recognized program supporting Latino families affected by domestic violence. Caminar Latino is home to the federally designated National Center to Advance Peace for Children, Youth, and Families.
Previously, he served as Deputy CEO and Chief Strategy & Operations Officer for the District Alliance for Safe Housing in Washington, D.C., the largest housing provider for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in the nation’s capital. There, he led major expansions in emergency housing, transitional housing, and support services for survivors. He also directed Harvard University’s Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response, where he oversaw counseling services, advocacy, education, and prevention programs for those affected by sexual violence and relationship abuse.
Earlier in his career, Dr. Berastaín served as Assistant Director of Innovation and Engagement at Esperanza United, the federally funded, Latino-specific resource center for gender-based violence in the United States. In this role, he led multi-year programs funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Justice, focused on preventing and responding to domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse in Latino communities.
Dr. Berastaín has also worked directly with survivors at Renewal House, a domestic violence shelter in Massachusetts, providing crisis counseling and advocacy to women and families fleeing abuse. He served as Co-Chair of the Massachusetts GLBT Domestic Violence Coalition, working to ensure LGBTQ survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault had access to safe shelter and supportive services. He co-founded the Massachusetts Restorative Justice Collaborative and was named one of Boston’s Top 25 Most Influential LGBTQ People of Color in 2019.
Throughout his career, Dr. Berastaín has managed more than $50 million in funding supporting over 100 organizations worldwide working to end domestic violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, and child abuse. He has trained service providers across the country and internationally on trauma-informed care and culturally responsive approaches to supporting survivors of violence and abuse.
Dr. Berastaín currently serves on the board of ImmSchools, a national organization working to make schools safer for immigrant students. Previously, he served on the boards of MERGE for Equality and Transition House.
Pierre holds a B.A. in Social Anthropology and a Master of Divinity from Harvard University, and a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the author of more than 40 articles and has contributed to multiple books on domestic violence, sexual assault, and violence prevention.
Originally from Peru, Dr. Berastaín immigrated to the United States in 1998 and became a U.S. citizen. He lives in Austin, Texas with his husband.
