Podcast Summary:

Second in Command: The Chief Behind the Chief with Cameron Herold

Episode 523: Brittany Dunn – Remarkable Resilience and Building Hope in 90 Days
Date: October 30, 2025
Host: Savannah Brewer (co-hosting for Cameron Herold)
Guest: Brittany Dunn, COO & Co-Founder, Safe House Project

Episode Overview

Main Theme:
This episode explores the remarkable journey of Brittany Dunn, COO and co-founder of Safe House Project, a national nonprofit dedicated to eradicating human trafficking in the United States. Brittany shares how she built an impactful organization from the ground up in just 90 days, balancing rapid growth, systemic social transformation, and maintaining her own resilience as a leader. The conversation delves into survivor-centered leadership, preventing burnout in mission-driven teams, the role of partnerships, healthy conflict, and practical leadership philosophies transferable across sectors.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Safe House Project Mission & Early Realities

• Scope of Human Trafficking:
  • At founding in 2017, over 300,000 American kids were trafficked annually, but only 1% were identified as victims.
  • “As a mom, as a military spouse, as a member of your community, and just somebody who believes that what you tolerate, you give permission to exist, my co-founder and I really launched into figuring out how we could use our gifts for service.” — Brittany Dunn [03:10]
• The Problem With Recovery Resources:
  • Only 100 beds for minors nationwide when they started, despite thousands needing safe housing.
  • “You don’t even have to be a business person to realize those numbers aren’t going to work.” — Brittany Dunn [04:33]
• Cost and Complexity:
  • Recovery is not quick; requires investment in education, housing, therapy, and career development.
  • “The cost of treatment is so much higher than prevention.” — Brittany Dunn [04:43]

2. Founding Story & Organizational Growth

• Building Amidst Disruption:
  • Brittany was on maternity leave; her co-founder was also a military spouse.
  • Organization built with “five children under the age of seven” between them, and both spouses deployed within the first months.
  • “I was like, well, if you’ll hold the baby, I’ll help build a business plan.” — Brittany Dunn [06:46]
• National Model from Day One:
  • Because of constant military moves and because victims often cannot recover in their home community, they worked nationwide from inception.

3. Daily Responsibilities & Strategic Impact

• No two days are the same; blend of policy advocacy, survivor support, education/training, sting operations, and leadership.
• Victim-centered Law Enforcement Training:
  • “One of my favorite things is doing victim-centered approach to law enforcement trainings which are full-day intensives to help equip law enforcement. We do sting operations.” — Brittany Dunn [11:12]
• Thought Leadership:
  • Currently co-writing a third book; pushing for a collective impact model drawing business principles into the fight against trafficking.

4. Transferable Leadership Lessons

• From Corporate to Nonprofit:
  • Merger & acquisition skills (integration, finance, pipelines, R&D) translated directly.
  • What didn’t translate: Had to learn trauma-informed, survivor-centered communication; adapt corporate mindset to unique, complex human-centered situations.
  • “You can go into a nonprofit setting and almost be too corporate… we have to allow for their personal autonomy and agency and dignity to take the forefront.” — Brittany Dunn [13:06]

5. Survivor Leadership & Team Composition

• Intentional Survivor Integration:
  • In first two years, team was about 50% survivors, 50% allies.
  • Survivors were core to program design, training content, and consulting — “building with them, not for them.”
  • “If you aren’t speaking to the people that you’re serving, then you’re probably serving yourself and not your client.” — Brittany Dunn [16:04]

6. Preventing Burnout and Staff Wellness

• The Stakes & Emotional Weight:
  • Vicarious trauma is part of the work; the team must be emotionally equipped to handle life-and-death stakes.
  • “Excellence doesn’t mean perfection, but it does mean showing up fully and giving of yourself… They depend on our ability to practice boundaries and self-care.” — Brittany Dunn [18:22]
• Wellness Supports:
  • Weekly one-on-ones, psychological safety, individualized decompression (walks, counseling, spiritual practices), clearly defined stretch periods with promised reprieves.
  • “Clarity is kindness. If we are clearly defining the why we’re maybe in that stretch period and asking people to give that 150%, I find that people are willing to do that… for the predetermined amount of time.” — Brittany Dunn [25:35]

7. Partnership Building

• Importance of taking every call early on, listening deeply, pursuing missional alignment, and finding win-win collaborations.
• “Listening is critical when it comes to partnership... you just have to determine if there’s missional alignment.” — Brittany Dunn [24:24]

8. Healthy Conflict, Radical Ownership & Team Culture

• Conflict as Catalyst:
  • Open, respectful disagreement is normalized at all levels, modeling healthy conflict and failure as learning for the team.
  • “We’ll respectfully disagree and have that constructive discourse. And we don’t hide that always behind closed doors… we’re okay with our team learning that it’s okay to disagree.” — Brittany Dunn [29:50]
• Radical Ownership:
  • Emphasis on trust-based leadership (drawing from Trust-Based Leadership book and eight pillars framework), regular ‘Cuss and Discuss’ sessions for open dialogue, and every team member being part of the ‘succession plan’ regardless of their role.
  • “Every single person is part of our succession plan. We want to be cultivating every single person, regardless of where they currently are at in their career journey.” — Brittany Dunn [34:04]

9. Hiring, Firing & High-Performance Teams

• Deliberate Hiring:
  • Involvement of survivors in interview process, slow to hire, fast and humane to fire.
  • “We really believe in hiring slow and firing fast... Because once you’re ingrained in this work, it is so personal to everybody.” — Brittany Dunn [37:47]
• Letting Go:
  • Recognizes that some team members are only right for a certain season or stage of growth; keeping underperformers can drag entire performance down.

10. Handling Setbacks & Personal Resilience

• Coping with Disappointment:
  • During COVID, honored funding promises at personal sacrifice rather than abandoning partners.
  • Grounding through daily rituals: morning team prayer at 5:30am, gym routines, accountability and outside support.
  • “Doing the right thing rarely means it’s the easy thing… I had to learn where is my identity? Who are my safe people that are outside of the work?” — Brittany Dunn [44:17]

11. Innovation: Simply Report Tech Platform

• New Survivor & Community Tool:
  • Launched the Simply Report app — enables both tips and survivor connections to support, routes and qualifies information algorithmically (over 700 indicators), aiming to more quickly and accurately serve local and national needs.
  • “It allows for a more intentional response… you don’t have to call police, you don’t have to spend 45 minutes on a hotline. You can simply go on and, within usually two to three minutes, submit a full report…” — Brittany Dunn [22:49]

12. Looking Ahead: Challenges & Opportunities

• Big Next Steps:
  • Pushing for statewide adoptions of Simply Report and expanding grassroots awareness.
  • Upcoming documentary to further awareness and keep national attention focused.
  • “We are at a kairos moment in so many ways of seeing this nation hopefully really turn a public wave towards a very complex issue…” — Brittany Dunn [48:04]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Survivor Integration
  • “Survivors are really vital to making sure we aren’t building something for somebody — we’re building it with them.” (14:43)
• On Burnout:
  • “Clarity is kindness. If we are clearly defining the why... people are willing to do that for the predetermined amount of time.” (25:35)
• On Team Culture:
  • “We have no drama... Because Christy and I work really hard to make sure that the mission remains the focus.” (28:38)
• On Innovation:
  • “It’s in the crushing that innovation is born... we are here to continue to innovate, continue to push the boundaries of what people believe is possible.” (43:15)
• On Resilience:
  • “Doing the right things, you’ll get the right results, but that doesn’t mean that doesn’t hurt in the process.” (44:17)
• On Everyone as a Leader:
  • “It really creates opportunities for everybody to see themselves as part of a leadership team, even regardless of whether they're an intern up to, you know, the C suite, it doesn't matter where they are. Every single person is part of our succession plan.” (34:04)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:38] Safe House Project backstory and mission
• [04:18] Scope of the problem: number of beds vs. need
• [06:38] How the co-founders launched amid personal chaos
• [09:32] What daily leadership looks like at Safe House Project
• [11:59] Transferable corporate skills and gaps in trauma work
• [14:42] Building a survivor-led team
• [18:17] Emotional weight & burnout in this work
• [20:17] Launch and function of Simply Report app
• [24:05] Building mutually beneficial partnerships
• [25:28] Processes for preventing burnout
• [28:28] Navigating partner/friend/visionary dynamics at the top
• [32:03] Trust-based leadership and radical ownership
• [37:47] Intentionality in hiring and firing
• [41:10] Brittany’s lowest professional moment and overcoming setbacks
• [43:53] Resilience routines and daily personal care
• [46:58] The biggest upcoming challenge: national adoption of Simply Report
• [47:47] Signs of hope and what excites Brittany about the future

Final Takeaway

This episode provides a raw, practical, and inspiring look at leadership under pressure, weaving together trauma-informed practice, business rigor, and relentless hope. Brittany Dunn’s insights on radical ownership, trauma-aware leadership, survivor empowerment, and honest self and team care will resonate across sectors. Her story is a testament to the power of clear mission, adaptable strategy, and tenacious compassion in building something that transforms lives at scale.

To learn more, volunteer, or support Safe House Project:
Visit safehouseproject.org