HomeOffice to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in PersonsRemarks & Releases...Biographic Information for Members of the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking

# 									Biographic Information for Members of the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking							

Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons

### Dr. Marlene Carson

Marlene Carson, SurThrivalist, Minister, Author, Publisher, Founder of Rahab’s Hideaway and CEO of The Switch Anti-Trafficking Network, is one of America’s foremost authorities on the subject of human trafficking. While many have a textbook knowledge of the perils faced by teenage girls who are forced into prostitution, Marlene knows from her own personal experience. At age 15, she became one of the tens of thousands of girls and young adult women who are exploited daily. She is a native of Columbus, Ohio, but her heart for injustice knows no boundaries. Marlene’s work has been a leader in changing legislation. Her work has been featured on Katie Couric, Oprah (website), and the CNN Freedom Project, as well as on international and national news. As a consultant, one of Marlene’s desires is to educate and empower organizations that have a passion to protect, a desire to provide, and ability to see victims as priceless. Marlene has received many awards and commendations including President Barack Obama’s Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award.

----

### Rafael Bautista

Rafael Bautista is a subject matter expert on labor trafficking and a graduate of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ first Human Trafficking Leadership Academy. With his expertise and real-life experience, he has helped and supported different organizations across the country and internationally in creating training programs, strategies, videos, and outreach materials for human trafficking awareness. As an active advocate, Mr. Bautista has testified in support of bills that provide better services for survivors of human trafficking. The California Department of Social Services recognized Mr. Bautista as a leader in the fight against human trafficking in California. Mr. Bautista has shared his skills and expertise with his fellow advocates and his fellow survivors, believing that no matter your race, culture, sexuality, or kind of trafficking – labor or sex – all survivors of human trafficking deserve proper support.

----

### Josie Heyano

Josie Heyano, LMSW, is a Deg Xinag Athabascan woman from Alaska. Her passion for this work includes bringing more awareness to the intersections of MMIR and Human Trafficking and to address the gap in knowledge and services surrounding forced drug trafficking. Her experience working in Alaska has fueled a passion for creating equitable systems and building service networks that understand historical trauma and cultural resiliency. She is driven to better use data to understand risk factors for trafficking and create community specific preventing programs. Josie has several years of experience providing systems navigation and clinical mental health for youth experiencing homelessness, exploitation, and trafficking in Alaska.

In 2022 she completed a graduate fellowship with Prevention Now, an anti-trafficking non-profit that leverages data and technology to uncover why human trafficking occurs, where she completed a landscape analysis of Human Trafficking data needs in Alaska and co-created the Alaska Human Trafficking Data Needs Assessment which launched the first annual Alaska Human Trafficking Data Summit. In 2023 she was awarded the Federal Bureau of Investigations Directors Community Leadership Award for her service to the community of Alaska and her collective stakeholder approach to Human Trafficking prevention and intervention. Josie currently serves her community as a training consultant and mental health counselor.

Her work is done in memory of all the girls we loved who are still waiting for justice.

----

### Jose Alfaro

Jose Lewis Alfaro is a lived experience expert, dynamic public speaker, accomplished author, and dedicated activist. His steadfast advocacy centers on spreading awareness on the domestic trafficking of minors, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, males, and highlights the importance of the need for systemic change to prevent trafficking within marginalized communities.

Alfaro collaborates with anti-trafficking organizations from around the world, demonstrating his commitment to combating this pervasive issue. Currently serving on the board of directors for both the Human Trafficking Legal Center and Heal Trafficking, Alfaro plays a crucial role in shaping the initiatives of each organization in their engagement with lived experience experts and their work to eradicate human trafficking.

Alfaro has conducted numerous trainings on human trafficking for law enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the UK Border Force. His involvement encompasses public speaking engagements, insightful lectures, public advocacy efforts, and consultation with attorneys and healthcare professionals.

Alfaro currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts, where he began his career in the beauty industry. He decided to make the shift to full time advocacy work after testifying in thefederal trial against his trafficker in Texas. Alfaro was recently appointed to the governors council where he is helping to create legislative and systemic change within the state of Massachusetts.

----

### Chris Ash

****Chris Ash is an anti-violence advocate and educator who started their community healing work in 1994 as a suicide hotline counselor and LGBTQ activist/organizer. Currently, they are the Survivor Leadership Program Manager at the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (Cast), where they manage the National Survivor Network. Before coming to Cast, Ash was the Anti-Human Trafficking Specialist, and later the Prevention Education Program Manager, for the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NCCASA). As coalition staff, Ash provided training and technical assistance to rape crisis centers, dual domestic violence agencies, and human trafficking programs across the state. Before coming to NCCASA, Chris worked in sexual violence prevention and crisis response for a decade, answering hotlines, leading support groups, and providing hospital and legal accompaniment for survivors.

Ash’s current work brings together lived experience and years of direct service and community-based consent and prevention education work, as well as graduate study in social justice, human rights, and gender theory. Ash is a member of the speaker’s bureaus for both Freedom Network USA and HEAL Trafficking and is known as a dynamic speaker, trainer, and writer. Their clients and collaborative partners include the Modern Slavery Policy and Evidence Centre, the University of Liverpool Centre for the Study of International Slavery, the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery, FreeFrom, Futures Without Violence, VALOR US, Survivors Agenda, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, and the DHS Blue Campaign. They are passionate about violence prevention, harm reduction, and Full Frame Initiative’s Wellbeing Framework.

----

### Tris Lester Bacani

Tris Lester Bacani is an immigrant from the Philippines who came to the United States legally with a work visa in 2006 to seek the “American Dream,” only to find himself in a human trafficking situation. Since escaping from that nightmare, Mr. Bacani has become part of several organizations who are committed to ending human trafficking in all its forms. Many survivors of trafficking understandably wish to put their ordeal behind them and focus on the difficult process of recovering and reestablishing their independence. Mr. Bacani has done an admirable job of advancing himself professionally and personally, while making time for advocacy efforts to help prevent the exploitation of others and to improve services for future victims. While it is not easy to identify publicly as someone who has suffered mistreatment and great hardships, he does so in order to help others. Mr. Bacani, now a Registered Nurse, is truly an inspiration to others. He turned his life experiences into hope as he advocates for victims and at the same time works toward recognizing trafficking and intervening in healthcare settings. Mr. Bacani’s goal is to serve as an inspiration to other survivors of human trafficking as proof that victims still have the chance of pursuing the American Dream, no matter what the price. He believes that if you have the aspirations and a dedicated work ethic, your dreams are achievable. According to him, the “American Dream” is about being able to pursue your passions while remaining optimistic about the future.

----

### Andrea Hipwell

Andrea Hipwell currently serves as the Director of Participant Transition and Persistence at Wellspring Living in Atlanta, Ga. Andrea graduated from the Wellspring Living Women’s Residential Program in 2009 and never imagined that she would have the honor of supporting survivors exiting the same life she is now free of. She is passionate about survivor leadership as she understands the importance of including survivor voices in the development of programs and services for survivors. Andrea is well versed in the areas of trauma informed care and strength based leadership and care. She has been recognized for her incredible determination and motivation for change in the area of survivor leadership and her tenacity to support survivors as they begin a new life. Andrea earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in the area of Criminal Justice from Georgia Gwinnett College in 2016. Andrea serves on several task forces and coalitions including the GA Statewide Human Trafficking Task Force and the GA Coalition to Combat Human Trafficking.

----

### Bella Hounakey

Bella Hounakey has dedicated her professional life to encouraging and supporting victims as they navigate the recovery process. Since 2011, she has served as an advocate, organizer, and speaker on anti-trafficking programs and policies.

She previously served on the Board of the Human Trafficking Coalition in Michigan. She has also counseled female victims of sex trafficking at a specialized residential Trauma Recovery Center. Since 2015, she has worked with and supported the most vulnerable trafficking victims in the foster care system.

Throughout her career, Bella’s ambitions have remained steadfast: raise awareness, reduce risk of victimization, educate members of the judicial system and general public, and advocate for victim protection and treatment. Bella received a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and Spanish; and a Master’s degree from Western Michigan University.

----

### Sameer Jain

Sameer Jain is a native of India. He advocates for a scientific and a data-driven approach towards prevention, identification, prosecution, protection, rehabilitation, and assistance in cases of labor and sex trafficking. A subject matter expert on labor trafficking, he has spoken at various governmental and non-governmental organizations on the subject of trafficking and aims to focus on cases involving individuals/groups of people moved to the United States through legal channels. He wants to increase awareness at the federal, state, and local government levels as well as leverage and engage faith-based and ethnic minority-serving organizations to increase public awareness about trafficking.

Mr. Jain moved to the United States on a visa for specialty occupations, spending all his life previously in a white-collar profession. Despite his social, educational, and financial background, he lived through the horrific experience of trafficking. Instead of pushing him into the corner, this horrific episode made him determined to play a lifelong role in combating trafficking.

----

### Fainess Lipenga

Fainess Lipenga, a survivor activist, is the training advisor at the Human Trafficking Legal Center. She has been an active member of the National Survivor Network since 2013, and a board member of Survivor Alliance from 2018 to 2022. As a survivor of labor trafficking, she uses her voice and experience to educate the community and raise awareness.  Her mission is to prevent other survivors from being re-victimized and give them hope and courage to heal, become leaders, and achieve their dreams. She served on the Steering Committee for the Freedom Network USA. Prior to her role as training advisor, Lipenga served as a consultant to the Human Trafficking Legal Center for more than five years. Lipenga has testified before Congress regarding the challenges that survivors face, and has presented to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. She has trained pro bono lawyers, law students, physicians, law enforcement officials, healthcare professionals, and federal prosecutors. She has spoken at national conferences and developed expert training materials. In 2019, Lipenga testified before the Maryland General Assembly to advocate for passage of the Anti-Exploitation Act. With the help of her testimony, Maryland passed the bill, making labor trafficking an illegal act for the first time in Maryland.  Lipenga is a recipient of the Justice for Victims of Crime Award from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Washington, DC. She believes survivor voices and leadership are essential to advocacy on human trafficking.

----

### Christina Love

Christina Love, a proud Alutiiq/Sugpiaq woman (she/her), brings her authentic voice and transformative spirit to the forefront as an internationally acclaimed speaker, educator, consultant, recovery coach, and civil and human rights activist. Born on the beautiful land of Fairbanks, hailing from the rich ancestral lands of Egegik village and nurtured in the vibrant village of Chitina, Alaska, Christina embodies the strength and resilience of her heritage and each community that has raised her.

With a deep commitment to systems change and advocacy for marginalized/targeted populations, Christina’s journey has been shaped by her own experiences as an adult and child survivor of physical and sexual abuse, a formerly incarcerated individual in long-term recovery, and as a person who has experienced homelessness and disabilities. As an educator and storyteller, Christina focuses on the intersectionality of trauma, substance use and mental health with a primary focus on how we heal as individuals and communities. Christina is part of leading a collective movement that works to end violence, oppression, shame, and stigma through the liberation of education, community healing, and storytelling.

----

### Suleman Masood

Suleman Masood is a subject matter expert on domestic labor trafficking and male victimization. Since 2013, his advocacy experience allowed him to work with state and federal government agencies and non-profit organizations. Mr. Masood’s expertise includes collaborating with victim service providers and task forces to advocate for ways to improve the quality of services for trafficking survivors. This work emphasizes the need to build partnerships with survivors and to ensure that strategies and implementation are created with a survivor-informed approach. Mr. Masood’s partnerships with service providers and first responders include serving as a senior program specialist on behalf of the Office for Victims of Crime and working as a consultant for various law enforcement agencies across the United States.

In 2017, Mr. Masood was credited with coining the phrase “survivor-informed,” which was adopted and published by the United States Department of Health and Human Services; a term now integrated throughout the anti-trafficking field. In 2022, Mr. Masood wrote, produced, and narrated a one-of-a-kind visual PSA on labor trafficking with the New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking. Mr. Masood graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Criminology/Victimology from Fresno State University and currently attends the University of the District of Columbia – David A. Clarke School of Law, where he aspires to create meaningful change within the criminal justice system.

----

### Brenda Myers-Powell

Brenda Myers-Powell’s advocacy began in 1997 fighting for victims of sex trafficking. As a community organizer, she assists in organizing, training, and empowering victims to speak with legislators to bring change for their communities. She has been featured in numerous print and broadcast media outlets. She has been the key researcher in several research projects related to violence and the exploitation of women. Brenda is an outstanding public speaker, dealing with topics relating to poverty, violence against women, and criminal justice reform. She has been bestowed with several honors including the Chicago Magazine’s honoree, Illinois Coalition for Victims of Sexual Assault award for community activism, the 2010 Chicago Foundation for Women Impact Award, and many other special honors. She is the co-founder and executive director of the Dream Catcher Foundation and has sat on the board of numerous organizations including Sophia’s Circle, CAASE and PART. She considers herself fortunate to have survived many challenges in her life but is now able to use those experiences to assist others in their personal journeys of empowerment and recovery.

----

### Rachel Thomas

Rachel Thomas, a graduate of UCLA and a personal survivor of human trafficking, has extensive experience teaching, training, curriculum writing, public speaking and mentoring. As the founder of Sowers Education Group and lead author of Ending The Game: An Intervention Curriculum for Survivors of Sex Trafficking,

Rachel has helped millions to become more aware of human trafficking and has helped hundreds of survivors break the bonds of attachment to traffickers and the lifestyle of commercial sexual exploitation.

She and her work have been featured on numerous media outlets including New Day Morning Show on CNN, Inside with Chris Cuomo: Anyone’s Daughter on HLN, The T.D. Jakes Show, The New York Times Upfront Magazine and ABC’s Newsmakers.

Tags

Human TraffickingOffice to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons

Back to Top