Plenary session
Improving outcomes: effective collaboration with survivor-leaders
Description
Survivor-leaders and survivor-led organizations bring experiential values unique to the work on combating both sex and labor trafficking. This presentation will focus on how to improve outcomes by collaborating effectively in a trauma-informed and survivor-informed manner as a state agency and mainstream nonprofit organizations with subject-matter experts who have lived experiences in the anti-trafficking movement to further the cause of Safe Harbor.
Survivor leaders with various expertise both within and outside the system will offer practical ways to engage with survivor leaders and survivor-led organizations in a mutually beneficial manner, compensate them for their labor and expenses when they are engaged to provide their expertise to government agencies, nonprofits or community members, and faith-based organizations.
In addition, this presentation will highlight some of the challenges experienced by survivor leaders and survivor-led organizations, and how effective collaboration with these subject matter experts and specialized agencies can help the overall goal of Safe Harbor.
Speakers
Honorable Harold D’Souza, Honorable Robert Lung, Honorable Ronny Marty and Honorable Bukola Oriola
Honorable Harold D’Souza
Harold D'Souza is a survivor of labor trafficking and debt bondage in the United States of America.
Originally from India, Harold is well educated and experienced in sales management. He has a Bachelor's in Business and a Masters of Commerce from The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. Harold stepped down from a senior management position in order to pursue the American Dream which he believed was within his reach.
Harold came to the U. S. following the advice and encouragement of a man who would become his trafficker. For 133 months Harold was exploited at the hands of the human trafficker, losing his freedom and struggling to keep his family safe.
Today, Harold is a Survivor-Advocate and Public Speaker. His experience has given him a new purpose and meaning in life. Harold is the co-founder of Eyes Open International, a non-profit focused on developing prevention efforts through survivor informed research. United States President Barack Obama appointed Harold to the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking in 2015, and he has continued his service under President Trump.
He is also an expert consultant to the Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Harold strives to be the voice of courage, hope, and freedom for trafficking victims. He has recently published a book titled Human Trafficking: A Frog in a Well and is currently working on his memoir.
Honorable Robert Lung
In addition to presiding over a Domestic Relations Docket in Colorado, Judge Lung provides presentations nationally and internationally on issues such as human trafficking, childhood trauma and resiliency. Judge Lung serves as a consultant for the Office of Victims of Crime (OVC) of the Department of Justice, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center (NHTTAC) through the Office of Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) and on the Human Trafficking Expert Consultant Network for the State Department.
In 2017 Judge Lung received Presidential appointment to the National Advisory Committee on the Sex Trafficking of Children and Youth in the United States by our former President and in 2018 our current President appointed him to the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking on which he now serves as Chair.
Judge Lung is currently working on his first book, a biography of trafficking, trauma, resiliency, faith and, above all else, hope. In his “free time”, Judge Lung endeavors to keep up with his two adopted sons in hiking, dirt biking and downhill mountain biking.
Honorable Ronny Marty
Honorable Ronny Marty is a Certified Public Accountant, hospitality manager, independent anti-human trafficking consultant, and anti-trafficking advocate. In December 2015, Honorable Marty was appointed by President Obama to become a member of the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking, a group of eleven survivor leaders who bring their knowledge and experience to advise and provide policy recommendations to the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (PITF). He was reappointed by President Donald Trump in 2018.
After paying a labor recruiter to help him obtain a work visa and travel to the United States for a promised hospitality job, Marty was forced into factory work by a trafficker. He escaped this situation despite threats to himself and his family in the Dominican Republic.
Now, he speaks to national audiences and the media to raise awareness of all forms of human trafficking within the United States, particularly highlighting the existence of labor trafficking. He has been interviewed by national media outlets including The Washington Post and NPR. Marty has consulted with government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime, on how to strengthen their anti-trafficking efforts.
Marty has leveraged over 20 years’ experience working with diverse ethnic groups and cultures to advance in the hospitality industry. He has a B.A. from the Santiago University of Technology in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.
Honorable Bukola Oriola
Bukola Oriola is an international public speaker, author, mentor, advocate, entrepreneur and member of the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking. Appointed by President Barack Obama in December 2015 and re-appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017.
Bukola is also an award-winning journalist and a survivor of labor trafficking, who has dedicated her life to sharing her story and offering practical solutions on how to help victims of human trafficking. Bukola is a consultant for Office for the Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVCTTAC) and the Department of State Trafficking in Person Office.
Oriola holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Individualized Studies with a focus on Community Leadership and Diversity from the Metropolitan State University, St. Paul and an Associate Degree in Mass Communication from The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Nigeria. She is Founder and Executive Director of a Minnesota based nonprofit organization, The Enitan Story. The mission of the organization is to advocate for victims and empower survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence.
U.S. Advisory Council’s 2019 report as all the presenters on our session are members of the Council, although, they are there in their own capacity and not representing or speaking on behalf of the Council.
United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking 2019 Report (PDF)
This conference is produced under #2016-MU-MU-K153, awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and recommendations expressed in this conference are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the U.S. Department of Justice.