Liz Roberts

Liz Roberts began her tenure as CEO of Safe Horizon in February 2021, following a national search. Liz is a social worker with more than thirty years of experience addressing the needs of survivors of violence and abuse. She first joined Safe Horizon as Chief Program Officer in 2010 and served as Deputy CEO from 2014 to 2020. During her tenure at Safe Horizon, Liz was instrumental in launching several innovative programs, while establishing field-leading training, supervision, and quality improvement systems. Under her leadership, the organization nearly doubled its budget and secured the 2018 New York Non-Profit Excellence Award.

Previously, Liz served as a Deputy Commissioner for the New York City Administration for Children's Services, where she developed innovative preventive programs; improved the child welfare system’s response to domestic violence, mental illness, and substance abuse; and was the founding chair of the agency’s first Task Force on Racial Equity and Cultural Competence.

Earlier in her career, Liz provided direct services to children and adults affected by violence and abuse as a grassroots shelter and hotline worker, children’s advocate, and trauma therapist. She is a national expert in addressing the intersection of domestic violence and child abuse from a survivor-centered perspective and has held teaching roles at the Columbia University School of Social Work and Wheelock College.

She is a graduate of the Belle and George Strell Executive Leadership Program at the Silberman School of Social Work, and a 2017 recipient of the 50 over 50 Award from New York Non-Profit Media. She has presented widely on child abuse and domestic violence, co-authored numerous articles in academic journals, and been quoted in numerous media outlets, including Good Morning America, National Public Radio, the New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

Liz received an MSW from Salem State University and a BA in Social Anthropology from Harvard/Radcliffe.