#89 Liz Ortenburger: How SafeNest breaks the cycle of domestic violence with hope, prevention, and support

Liz Ortenburger, CEO of SafeNest in Las Vegas, explains how Nevada’s largest domestic and sexual violence nonprofit works across three “buckets”: prevention, protection, and empowerment. She shares why SafeNest is different—because prevention includes working not only with survivors, but also with abusive partners and youth at risk of repeating the cycle.

Liz and Federico explore the science behind adversity and outcomes, including adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and how trauma strongly increases the risk of later violence, addiction, homelessness, and poor health. Liz argues that one of the most overlooked tools is also one of the simplest: building hope. She describes “hope plans” for kids—clear goals, steps, and supportive adults—so young people can see a future that is better than their past and believe they can reach it.

They discuss how emotions are handled in society: boys are often taught to hide feelings, and girls are often dismissed for expressing them. Liz explains how this feeds into violence, and why teaching emotional skills early—anger awareness, de-escalation, and accountability—could prevent future abuse. She also talks about bullying and the idea of asking “What’s the function?” behind harmful behavior.

On the protection side, Liz describes crisis hotlines, emergency shelter, and SafeNest’s partnership with police—responding to high-danger calls like strangulation or assault with a deadly weapon. On empowerment, she shares how SafeNest supports survivors long-term with mental health care, visas, housing, and career development.

The conversation also challenges the current justice system approach: mandatory arrest and “no drop” prosecution can remove survivor choice and still fail to reduce violence. Liz makes the case for separating low-level first-time cases from the courts, focusing courts on high-lethality cases, and expanding real support for abusive partners—therapy, workforce development, and tools to change—because ending violence can’t be solved through a survivor-only system.

They close with a practical call to action: invest in young people, especially by being a steady adult role model, and help kids build confidence and hope—one relationship at a time.

About Liz Ortenburger:

- https://SafeNest.org

About Federico Ramallo ✨👨‍💻🌎

🚀 Software Engineering Manager | 🛠 Founder of DensityLabs.io & PreVetted.ai | 🤝 Connecting 🇺🇸 U.S. teams with top nearshore 🌎 LATAM engineers

- 💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/framallo/

- 🌐 https://densitylabs.io

- ✅ https://prevetted.ai

🎙 PreVetted Podcast 🎧📡

- 🎯 https://prevetted.ai/podcast

- 🐦 https://x.com/PrevettedPod

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00:00 Introduction to SafeNest and Liz Ortenberger

01:02 Understanding SafeNest's Approach to Domestic Violence

02:50 The Importance of Prevention in Breaking the Cycle of Violence

07:50 Building Hope: A Pathway for At-Risk Youth

14:54 The Impact of SafeNest on Survivors and Abusive Partners

32:39 Rethinking Domestic Violence Support Systems

32:47 Understanding Survivor Return Rates

36:52 The Role of the Criminal Justice System

41:13 Revisiting Domestic Violence Policies

48:52 The Importance of Survivor Voice

52:29 The Role of Male Role Models in Prevention