Evidence 2 Action: 2023 Speakers
Mika Mekhribon Abdullaeva, U.S. Department of State
Mika is an established international education and development professional with 20 years of experience. She holds a PhD in Educational Policy, Research, and Administration and has been managing portfolio of global projects at the Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP) Program to End Modern Slavery (PEMS) team. Mika oversees the Bangladesh Program to End Modern Slavery (BPEMS) program that focuses on the nexus of climate change and human trafficking, and a member of the J/TIP Climate Change Working Group. Additionally, Mika has extensive experience working on women’s issues, civic engagement, and governance programs. Her academic research focused on educational policies and practices as they relate to immigrant communities in the United States. She also led research focused on safe migration and trafficking issues in Central Asia and on assessing the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in investigating TIP cases. She received the Margaret McNamara Memorial Foundation Award from the World Bank as well as the Peace International Scholarship for assisting to better the lives of women and children in developing countries and for improving educational practices.
Betsy Andersen, World Justice Project
Elizabeth “Betsy” Andersen is Executive Director of the World Justice Project, leading its global efforts to advance the rule of law, combat corruption, promote open, accountable government, and strengthen respect for human rights. She has more than 25 years of experience in the international legal arena, having served previously as Director of the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative and its Europe and Eurasia Division, as Executive Director of the American Society of International Law, and as Executive Director of Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia Division.
Gregory Bauer, U.S. Department of State
Gregory Bauer serves as the Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance Team Lead for the Office of Regional Security and Policy in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (EAP/RSP), overseeing the bureaus engagement on these issues. Prior to this assignment, he served as the Human Rights Officer at Embassy Jakarta. His first tour was in Chennai, India as a consular officer. Prior to the Foreign Service, he worked at the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), helping establish SIGAR’s Lessons Learned Program. He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cambodia where he worked at a local high school, the Royal University of Phnom Penh, and the Ministry of Education. He received his bachelors in political science from the University of Chicago and a Masters in Security Studies from Georgetown University. Gregory is originally from Iowa City, Iowa.
Vanessa Bautista, Global Survivor Network
Vanessa is a creative and bold advocate for survivors of violence around the world based in the US. She grew up in the Philippines and is a survivor of sexual abuse. Vanessa has served as one of the survivor leaders in the advocacy group Philippine Survivor Network [formerly know as Standing Together to Advocate Rights] in Manila.
Vanessa works on the Global Programs team at IJM. Vanessa is a founding member of the Leadership Council for the Global Survivor Network, an international group of survivor leaders who desire and pursue safe communities through justice systems that protect the most vulnerable. Prior to joining the team, she served as an Aftercare Fellow helping to build the Global Survivor Network, then worked interim as a Campaign Coordinator with IJM Advocacy & Mobilization and Constituent Experience team in 2018. She earned her Bachelor’s degree and license in Social Work in the Philippines.
Mirella Beltram, Polaris
Since 2015, Ms. Mirella Beltram has been supporting the global work of Polaris and the Polaris operated U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline. As Associate Director of Partnerships, Mirella works to engage partners at all levels to further the mission of Polaris and the work of the Trafficking Hotline, through working with corporate partners to identify trafficking within their supply chains and engaging national and international partners that can assist with the Trafficking Hotlines’s case response. Mirella also manages and maintains the Polaris operated Global Modern Slavery Directory (GMSD), a publicly accessible database of over 2,600 organizations from around the world that work on the issue of human trafficking, exploitation, and forced labor, as well as organizations that focus on related issues but are able to serve victims of human trafficking.
Holly Burkhalter, International Justice Mission
Holly Burkhalter is a Senior Advisor at International Justice Mission, supporting the organization’s specialists on trafficking and violence against women and children with research and writing. She has 40 years of experience as a government relations specialist with leading non-governmental organizations, including International Justice Mission, Physicians for Human Rights, and Human Rights Watch. Prior to her NGO career, Ms. Burkhalter was employed by the House of Representatives as a human rights specialist at the House Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations, and legislative staff to then-Representative Tom Harkin (D-IA.)
Eileen Campbell, International Justice Mission
Eileen launched IJM’s U.S. grassroots advocacy and volunteer mobilization program and led those efforts for more than a decade. During that time, IJM volunteers successfully championed the passage of state and federal legislation that resulted in millions of dollars in federal funding to combat modern slavery and violence against children. She currently leads strategy and evaluation for IJM’s global advocacy work and power-building efforts with the Global Survivor Network (GSN), a network of thirty survivor-led chapters representing 4,000 survivors of violence in ten countries. Prior to joining IJM, she worked with Physicians for Human Rights managing the Health Action AIDS campaign, which mobilized health professionals in support of a comprehensive U.S. response to the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. She also served as the Grassroots Coordinator for the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines. She holds a B.A. from the University of Rochester and a Masters in Divinity from Harvard Divinity School. Eileen resides in the Boston area with her husband and two children.
Kate Case, International Justice Mission
Kate serves as IJM’s Head of Mobilization, leading a team to dream and deploy campaigns that mobilize key leaders and communities to shift the balance of power. She joined IJM in 2012 and has since led in IJM’s development of national engagement programs across the United States. These teams focus on building capacity to pass national policy and strengthen the foundation of IJM’s grassroots power so every person of goodwill has the opportunity to join IJM’s mission. Kate received her Master of Public Administration from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at University of Washington. She lives in Seattle, Washington.
Nasir Chowdhury, Winrock International
Nasir Chowdhury is Winrock’s Project Director for the B-PEMS AugroJatra Climate Change project in Bangladesh, a project funded by the US Department of State. Earlier, he served Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS) as the Country Manager Bangladesh where he monitored, reported on, and supported the implementation of GFEMS-funded projects. Before GFEMS, he worked as an Advisor for a Winrock anti-trafficking project to ensure sustainable social and economic reintegration of trafficking survivors. His previous experience includes research, project and syndication (structured) financing, green financing, corporate banking, risk management, skills development and employment, enterprise development and livelihoods generation, strategic partnership, and new business development. Nasir holds an MA in International Development from the School of International Service and Graduate Certificate in Gender Analysis from the Department of Economics, American University, Washington D.C.
Joy Crawford, Eve for Life
Joy L. Crawford is a transformational influencer, co-founder, and Development and Training Coordinator of EVE for Life, Jamaica (NGO). For more than 20 years, Ms. Crawford has facilitated services for girls and young women at risk of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights violations. In 2008, she co-founded EVE for Life, which champions a world where the sexual health and rights of young women and children are protected and upheld. Since 2021, Joy has been a Winrock International partner on several projects, including the Department of State Child Protection Compact Project in partnership with the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies /SALISES at the University of the West Indies Mona Campus Jamaica. Joy’s professional expertise includes addressing cross-cutting issues of human rights, survivor-centered programming, childhood sexual violations, and other socio-health outcomes. She has been a transformative voice, focusing on child trafficking within grassroot communities and challenging socio-cultural norms.
Kenya Datari, Winrock International
Kenya Datari is a Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning (MERL) Lead at Winrock International. She leads Winrock’s John D. Rockefeller III research program and provides MERL advisory support to counter trafficking in persons projects at Winrock. She has more than 15 years of professional experience designing, monitoring, evaluating, and providing learning and adaptive management support to projects in health systems strengthening, service delivery, quality improvement, trafficking in persons, education, and gender, equity, and social inclusion (GESI). Prior to joining Winrock Ms. Datari worked at Abt Associates where she served as Monitoring and Evaluation Lead on the $200 million global Health Finance and Governance Project. Her professional interest include integrating GESI into MERL, particularly learning and adapting. Ms. Datari holds a Master’s of International Affairs from Columbia University.
Joyjit DebRoy, Winrock International
Joyjit Deb Roy is Winrock’s Acting President and Chief Executive Officer. He served previously as Winrock’s chief global programs and development officer, responsible for oversight of a broad portfolio of programs including the Agriculture, Resilience & Water, Human Rights, Education & Empowerment, Clean Energy & Environment, U.S. Programs and other groups. Before joining Winrock, he was a managing director at ACDI/VOCA, where he supported global projects focused on agribusiness, enterprise development, climate change, food security and other initiatives. He has implemented projects for government clients including USAID, USDA, and USDOL; for multilateral development banks including the World Bank; and foundations and private sector partners. A native of India, he has worked in more than 38 countries across Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. He earned a master’s in public administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, with a specialization in international economics and public finance, and completed a master’s in history from Delhi University in India.
Rachel DeLeon, Winrock International
Rachel DeLeon is a Senior Program Associate with Winrock’s Counter-Trafficking in Persons team. She has worked for Winrock for nearly four years on CTIP, child labor, and forced labor projects funded by USAID, USDOS, and USDOL. Currently she supports the USAID Thailand CTIP activity and the Bangladesh Program to End Modern Slavery AugroJatra project, which focuses on the intersection of climate change and human trafficking. Before Winrock Ms. DeLeon worked in international public health and anti-HIV/AIDS efforts.
James Dold, Survivor Alliance and Human Rights for Kids
James Dold is the Founder & CEO of Human Rights for Kids (HRFK) a D.C.-based non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and protecting the human rights of children in the U.S. and around the world. Under James’ leadership, HRFK has successfully authored or co-authored Amicus Briefs on human rights issues impacting children, and the organizations advocacy has led to the introduction of more than two dozen child rights bills in Congress and states across the U.S. Prior to launching HRFK, James developed and implemented the advocacy strategy that led to the quadrupling of states that ban life without parole sentences for children in the U.S. James also led successful state legislative campaigns resulting in the passage of 40 new anti-human trafficking laws across the country. James received dual baccalaureates in Criminal Justice and Psychology from the University of Nevada Las Vegas and graduated Cum Laude from the University of Maryland School of Law. He is also a human rights abuse-survivor himself.
Rhiannon DuBois, A21
Dr. Rhiannon DuBois has been the Global Director of Aftercare for A21 since 2017. Within her role, Rhiannon oversees a global team of caseworkers who provide holistic aftercare support to survivors of human trafficking in six countries – Bulgaria, Cambodia, Greece, South Africa, Thailand, and the US (North Carolina and Texas). As a Clinical Psychologist, Rhiannon is driven by a passion for bringing healing and restoration to brokenness and is committed to ensuring survivors within A21’s Aftercare Program receive best-practice support. Rhiannon also serves as A21’s Designated Safeguarding Officer, overseeing child protection and safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults within A21. From 2008 – 2017, Rhiannon worked in a private psychology practice in Australia, where she served as Acting Clinical Director of Family Challenge Psychology Clinic and The Psychology Cafe. During this time, Rhiannon was involved in developing group-based emotional resiliency programs and posttraumatic growth interventions for victims of war, human trafficking, and natural disasters. Rhiannon received a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and a Bachelor of Psychological Science from The University of Queensland, Australia. Her doctorate thesis investigated risk and protective factors against engagement in deliberate self-harm behaviors.
Tierney Ducharme, International Justice Mission
Tierney Ducharme is the Senior Specialist for Survivor Engagement at International Justice Mission. Since she joined IJM in 2009, she has served in a variety of communications and programming roles. Tierney is an advocate and ally to survivors of violence, and she brings trauma-informed expertise into her role ensuring IJM’s programs are designed and delivered with meaningful engagement from people with lived experience. She also helped to design and launch the Global Survivor Network, which now has more than 4,000 members in chapters across ten countries. Tierney lives with her family in Delaware, in the U.S.
Zeke Faux, Bloomberg
Zeke Faux is the author of “Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall.” For the book, he travelled to Vietnam and Cambodia to research how crypto is supercharging scam compounds, pig-butchering schemes and human trafficking. He’s also an investigative reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek and Bloomberg News and a former National Fellow at New America.
Tricia Fietz, International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children
Tricia Fietz joined the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) in October 2020 and is currently the Executive Director for Government Relations as well as the Chair of the Global Missing Children’s Network. She is an international professional and a retired career diplomat, having served with the U.S. Foreign Service for almost a quarter century. She began her career in 1994 in the United States Information Service in Cairo, Egypt. She subsequently served with the U.S. Department of State in Colombia, France, Hong Kong, Syria, Washington, DC and Toronto, Canada. She served as Consul General in Guayaquil, Ecuador 2014-2017 and as Deputy Chief of Mission at U.S. Embassy Kuwait 2017-2018. Tricia has a Master’s in International Relations from Boston University; a Master’s of Public Policy and a Certificate in Urban Planning from Princeton University; and a Certificate in Hispanic Studies from the University of Salamanca, Spain.
Terence Fitzgerald, International Justice Mission
Terence Fitzgerald leads IJM’s monitoring & evaluation, research, and data science work worldwide. His team is responsible for the vision, policies, standards, guidance, strategy, and approach underpinning IJM’s efforts to build the evidence base for high-quality, scalable, and impactful protection-focused interventions.
Helga Fourcade, Desarrollo y Autogestion Argentina
Helda Fourcade is a specialist in child labor in supply chains with expertise in forced labor, human trafficking, living wage/income, and human rights risks. She has provided professional assessment to the regional teams (Peru and Ecuador) on these topics. Helda holds a PhD in Social Sciences and M.A. in social Anthropology with experience in both qualitative and quantitative research. She has been a teacher of research methodology, cultural anthropology and social policies for undergraduates and postgraduates at several institutions, including New York University (NYU- Buenos Aires Global Site), Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA), Universidad del Salvador (USAL), and Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO).
Sally Frank, International Justice Mission
Sally Frank is a subject matter expert in child sex trafficking and the online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC). As a criminal analyst, she currently supports IJM’s projects related to OSEC around the globe. Prior to her time with IJM, she worked for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Child Sex Trafficking Team, the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center’s High Risk Victims Team, and served as a board member for Outlast Youth, a nonprofit serving youth experiencing homelessness in North Texas. When she’s not traveling for work, you’ll find her at home in Virginia with her two dogs.
Brianna Gehring, U.S. Department of State
Brianna Gehring is a Program Advisor for the Program to End Modern Slavery, contractor on behalf of the US Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. She has worked in the anti-trafficking field for over 15 years, including serving at a residential care center for minors trafficked in Southeast Asia and on extended assignment in Eastern Europe. Prior to joining the TIP Office, Brianna worked and consulted for NGOs and UN agencies, supporting anti-trafficking projects in 18+ countries. She is passionate about the power of partnerships and evidence-backed programming to scale meaningful protection from trafficking in persons. Brianna has a master’s degree in Development Management and Human Rights from American University’s School of International Service. She currently lives in Nashville with her husband and their two children.
Nicole Goodrich, Winrock International
Nicole Goodrich has over 20 years of experience working in the fields of human rights, international development, and foreign relations. In January 2023, Nicole joined Winrock International as a Senior Technical Advisor for Counter Trafficking in Persons. Prior to Winrock, she worked for the US Agency for International Development, the US Department of State, and the Carter Center covering West, East and Southern Africa, Central, South and Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. She holds a master’s degree in international peace and conflict resolution from American University and a master’s of education from Georgia State University. While pursuing doctoral studies, Nicole earned a Fulbright Grant and conducted research on gender and sexual based violence in Sierra Leone.
Eric Heintz, Global Fusion Center-International Justice Mission
Eric is a Global Analyst at International Justice Mission’s headquarters in Washington DC. IJM is a global organization who partners with local authorities in 29 program offices in 17 countries to combat trafficking and slavery, violence against women and children and police abuse of power. Eric and his colleagues are a team of senior analysts who work to support IJM’s field offices and law enforcement partners by leveraging data and technology to identify and illuminate organized criminal networks, identify locations of interest, proactively locate victims, and analyze historic patterns, current criminal activity hotspots, and emerging trends. Recently, Eric has been working closely with International Justice Missions’ Southeast Asia teams to understand the growth of people being forced into cyber scamming from around the world.
Bella Hounakey, US Advisory Council
Bella Hounakey is a Program Manager for ACF/ORR, an agency under the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Prior to HHS, Bella was an Asylum Officer with the Department of Homeland Security. Bella has international development experience, including global grassroots interventions and U.S. Cabinet-level, multilateral, and policy work. Bella testified in front of the U.S Congress, specifically the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability on the impact of human trafficking and survivor engagement; Bella spoke before members of different Parliament in the UK and spoke before the 45th president of the United States. Ms. Bella Hounakey holds a masters and bachelors degree from Western Michigan University.
Bethany Jackson, The Rights Lab (University of Nottingham)
Dr. Bethany Jackson is a Senior Research Fellow in Modern Slavery and Sustainable Ecosystems at the Rights Lab, University of Nottingham. Originally having a background in remote sensing, she has worked on a number of projects applying mixed-methods approaches to investigate the connections between modern slavery, environmental degradation and climate change. Her work has covered this intersection in a number of geographies and sectors, from the food supply to forests, and brick kilns to aquaculture. She was the lead on the Rights Lab response to COP26 (Glasgow 2021) and has led a number of projects focused on the connection between modern slavery and climate change focused on the Sundarbans Region in Bangladesh, and now India.
Mike Jobbins, Search for Common Ground
Mike Jobbins is Vice President of Global Affairs and Partnerships at Search for Common Ground, an international conflict transformation NGO working with 60 offices in 35 countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. He leads Search’s work with governments, NGOs, international organizations, and the private sector, with a focus on complex emergencies, violent extremism, and business and human rights. Mike was previously Search for Common Ground’s Program Manager for the Africa Region, where he oversaw the development and launch of conflict resolution programs across the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, amidst state collapse in CAR, the crisis in South Sudan, and in the wake of Cote d’Ivoire’s electoral crisis. He previously served with Search in the Great Lakes region, managing good governance, media and security sector programs. Prior to joining Search, Mike worked on African affairs at the Woodrow Wilson Center. He has an MA from Georgetown and a BA from Harvard.
Eric Kasper, Humanity Research Consultancy and George Washington University
Eric Kasper is a Visiting Scholar at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and a Senior Consultant at Humanity Research Consultancy. He works at the intersection of social complexity and technology-institution design for a more inclusive, sustainable world. He is concerned and curious about how the everyday functioning of cities drives the emergence of informality and exploitation. Eric’s recent work includes participatory research and policy guidance with Indian Smart City Mission leaders in 4 cities to develop effective urban governance capable of blending data, technology, and social inclusion aspirations across urban space. Currently, he is completing a series of research projects on the complex challenges of trafficking in persons, identifying key systemic mechanisms that lead to exploitation and illuminating the relational, bottom-up pathways for change.
Eric has a BS in physics from Texas A&M University, a Master of Public Policy from the University of Minnesota, and a PhD in development studies from the University of Sussex.
Michele Lee, US Department of Veteran Affairs
Dr. Michele Lee’s expertise in understanding the impact of trauma and mental health issues at the individual, local community, and global level is shaped by her personal experience with 9/11, as it was the first day of her PhD Psychology Internship at New York University. Most recently, she worked as a Vice President at International Justice Mission (IJM), a global organization partnering with local justice systems to end violence against people living in poverty. Michele now serves at the US Department of Veteran Affairs, training clinical psychologists, researching evidence-based interventions, and working with the population that deeply impacted her career following 9/11.
Stephanie Lillegard, Winrock International
Stephanie Lillegard is the Director of Counter Trafficking in Persons and Safe Migration in Winrock’s Human Rights, Education, and Empowerment team. Stephanie has worked in counter-trafficking for over a decade, beginning with work to support the rights of surrogate mothers in Ukraine. During her time with Winrock, she has supported nearly all of Winrock’s CTIP projects around the globe and led the design of dozens of new CTIP programs. Stephanie served as Winrock’s first project director for the U.S. Department of State-funded Jamaica-U.S. CPC project, where she worked closely with government counterparts to strengthen capacity and coordination for responding to child trafficking, including drafting Jamaica’s National Referral Mechanism. Ms. Lillegard holds a master’s in international development from the University of Pittsburgh and resides in the greater Washington, D.C. metro area with her husband and daughter.
Yewande (Lola) Maraiyesa, FAIR Girls
Lola Maraiyesa is currently working as Senior Case Management Coordinator at FAIR Girls, an organization that provides intervention and holistic care to female survivors of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children. As a Case Management Coordinator, she collaborates with clients to develop goals and provide services such as accessing healthcare and supportive counseling, education, and employment opportunities. Lola obtained her B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara and received her M.A. in Global Affairs with a concentration in International Security from the American University in Cairo.
Mike McCullough, USAID
Mike is an attorney who has promoted the rule of law through U.S. government programs around the world for over 20 years. He is currently a senior rule of law advisor with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where he supports design and implementation of the Agency’s rule of law programming. He previously helped lead USAID-funded rule of law programs in Latin America and previously helped manage a State Department program in Mexico. He also served as a home office director for rule of law programs with USAID implementing partners Tetra Tech and Chemonics International. Prior to that, he spent time at the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, served as a public defender in the state and federal systems, and also worked as a civil litigator. He was an international law professor in Mexico, trained criminal justice operators throughout Latin America, and also published a law review article on litigation under the accusatorial system.
Malaika Oringo, Footprint to Freedom and African Survivor Coalition
Malaika Oringo is a prominent survivor leader in the global fight against human trafficking. She serves as the Founding Director of Footprint to Freedom, a survivor-led organization committed to empowering survivors of human trafficking and advancing key causes like abolitionist legislation, gender equality, climate action, labor rights, safe migration policies, victim support, and financial inclusion. Furthermore, Malaika holds a directorship at the Africa Survivor Coalition, where she actively works to amplify the African survivor narrative and develop context-specific solutions to combat human trafficking across the continent. She is also a founding member of the Beyond Survivors cluster and serves as a FAST Global Survivor Consultant. Malaika’s extensive expertise extends internationally, having previously served as a member of the International Survivor Advisory Council under the OSCE (ODIHR). Her dedication to survivor engagement and inclusion led to her current role as a Global Specialist for The Salvation Army’s Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Response Work, where she continues to make significant contributions to the cause.
Lauren Purnell, Winrock International
Lauren Purnell is a Program Manager at Winrock International. Over the past six years, she has supported counter-trafficking programs funded by USAID, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and GFEMS implemented throughout Asia. Ms. Purnell currently supports the USAID Thailand CTIP and Cambodia CTIP activities. Prior to joining Winrock, Ms. Purnell completed her MA at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in International Relations and Economics.
Amy Rahe, Freedom Fund
Amy Rahe is the Managing Director of External Relations at the Freedom Fund, where she manages the major partnerships and engagements through outreach and public speaking while leading fundraising and communications strategies. She is an advocate on the need for survivors of human trafficking to be included in more meaningful ways within the anti-slavery movement through avenues such as employment and leadership. Prior to joining the Freedom Fund, Amy was the Managing Director of Survivor Alliance and prior to that worked at BlackRock as a Chief of Staff to the head of the Factor Based Strategies Team. She taught at UC Berkeley on Domestic Sex Trafficking in 2013 and continued volunteering through MISSSEY as a mentor while working in finance.
Katarina Schwarz, Nottingham Rights Lab
Dr Katarina Schwarz is Associate Director of the Rights Lab and Associate Professor in Antislavery Law and Policy (School of Law) at the University of Nottingham, where she works at the interface of research and policy to deliver evidence-based guidance for contemporary antislavery action. Her research interrogates the law and policy frameworks operating at the global, regional, and domestic levels to determine the elements of effective antislavery governance and map trends, successes, and failures. She has delivered contract research, consultancy, training, and expert evidence to national governments, international and local civil society organisations, private sector actors, and multilateral institutions. Schwarz is also the lead author of the Antislavery in Domestic Legislation Database, the world’s first comprehensive database of international obligations and domestic legislation on slavery and related practices.
Lisa Slavovsky, Federal Bureau of Investigations
Lisa Slavovsky is a social worker with over 20 years of experience working with victims of child abuse and neglect, human trafficking, sexual abuse and exploitation, and other forms of violence. She currently serves as a Child Victim Program Advisor for the FBI, where she provides subject matter expertise on the provision of victim-centered, trauma-informed responses to child and adolescent victims, human trafficking victims, and other vulnerable victim populations. She also supports the development of policies, guidance documents, trainings and resources related to the FBI’s response to child, adolescent, and human trafficking victims, ensuring compliance with relevant laws, national policies, and professional standards.
Prior to her work with the FBI, Lisa spent 15 years leading and advising teams in global settings across Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East to work alongside local law enforcement, prosecution, and social service partners to strengthen victim-centered, trauma-informed responses to victims of crime and to build networks of holistic service provision to empower survivor recovery and reduce risks of re-victimization, with specific focus on the development and implementation of anti-trafficking and child protection programming. Prior to working in this sector, Lisa served as a foster care worker in Atlanta, GA. Lisa received a B.S. degree from Berry College in Family and Community Services and a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Michigan.
Mark Taylor, Winrock International
Mark Taylor has been the Chief of Party of the USAID Cambodia CTIP activity, implemented by Winrock International, since March 2021. He has over 25 years’ experience working to address human trafficking and related issues. Prior to coming to Winrock, he worked for the U.S. State Department for 26 years, of which 15 years involved addressing human trafficking, including 10 years as the Senior Coordinator responsible for the annual production of the State Department’s TIP Report in the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP). While posted to the U.S. Embassies in India and Nigeria, Mark managed Department of State International Narcotics and Law Enforcement assistance programs addressing human trafficking and other crimes in South Asia and Western Africa, and more recently led the Australian government’s “AAPTIP” program of assisting criminal justice responses to human trafficking in the ASEAN region. More recently, he served as the Senior Technical Advisor to the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery, assisting this newly establish fund in designing and managing strategies and projects in the Philippines, Vietnam, Bangladesh and India.
Aicha Traore, Winrock International
Aicha Traore serves as a Program Manager with the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Team at Winrock International. With over 10 years of experience in international development, she has effectively overseen programs targeting vulnerable populations facing various forms of exploitation. Aicha has actively contributed to monitoring livelihood projects covering diverse themes such as nutrition, reproductive health, agricultural production and productivity, youth employment, and multi-use water initiatives. Her professional journey spans various international organizations operating worldwide. Driven by her commitment to equal opportunities for all, Aicha founded a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing educational and employment opportunities to children and youth in West Africa. She holds a master’s degree in Nonprofit Management and Leadership from the University of Georgia, complemented by a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from the University of Central Arkansas.
Peter Williams, International Justice Mission
Peter Williams leads IJM’s Global Programs Center for Excellence, which is IJM’s center of learning and expertise in accompanying governments to protect people in poverty from violence, activating agents of change, and driving thought leadership. Peter also serves as IJM’s principal advisor and expert on programming to combat modern slavery. Prior to his current leadership within IJM’s Global Programs center, Peter had ten years’ counter-slavery experience leading two IJM project offices: IJM Bangalore (2010-2015) and IJM Cambodia (2016-2019). Throughout his IJM career, Peter has led teams to successfully engage justice system responses in hundreds of modern slavery cases involving several thousand victims and survivors. Peter has a Ba/LLB(Hons) from the University of Auckland, New Zealand and began his career as a Crown Prosecutor in Auckland.
Hayley Webster, Legal Consultant
Hayley Webster is a human trafficking expert who has worked in over ten countries on human trafficking, forced labor, child labor, and gender-based violence programs. She spent a decade working at Lawyers Without Borders implementing U.S. government-funded programs, working with governments to draft and amend legislation and regulations, develop curriculums, train government and civil society on human trafficking, child labor, and trauma-informed care, and to help increase coordination through the development of standard operating procedures. Prior to her time with LWOB, Ms. Webster did human rights outreach work in rural Sierra Leone, served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya, and worked at non-profits focused on improving access to education and healthcare both internationally and domestically. Ms. Webster earned a JD from Georgetown University Law Center and MA from the University of St. Andrews. Scotland.