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# Survivor Leadership

Survivor engagement is a central tenet of the federal government’s approach to establishing effective anti-trafficking strategies that address prosecution, protection, and prevention. Survivors’ voices are important in shaping policy, and the federal government is committed to supporting leadership development of survivor leaders. The following are examples of opportunities for individuals with lived experience of human trafficking to engage in current federal anti-trafficking efforts.

### United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking

The United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking, established by the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Actof 2015 (Pub. L. No. 114-22), provides a formal platform for trafficking survivors to advise and make recommendations on federal anti-trafficking policies to the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Each member is a survivor of human trafficking, and together they represent a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences. Council members are appointed by the President for two-year terms. The Council releases annual reports that include key findings and recommendations for the federal government to strengthen policies and programs. The Council’s annual reports are available here. 

### Training & Technical Assistance Opportunities

##### **HHS’s National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center (NHTTAC)**

The National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center (NHTTAC) delivers training and technical assistance on behalf of HHS’s Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) to inform and enhance the public health response to human trafficking. Survivor leaders provide an array of expertise and experience that informs the training and technical assistance NHTTAC delivers. Additionally, NHTTAC provides survivor leaders with professional development, leadership training, and networking through scholarships, fellowships, information, and referrals. For more information about training and technical assistance opportunities, please contact **info@nhttac.org**.

##### Human Trafficking Leadership Academy

HHS’s National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center operates the **Human Trafficking Leadership Academy (HTLA)**, which is committed to developing and expanding survivor-informed services while also providing leadership development opportunities to survivor leaders and allied professionals. HTLA fellows work collaboratively to provide substantive recommendations to inform research, policies, and programs that improve awareness, understanding, and assistance to survivors of human trafficking or those at risk of human trafficking. 

Information about the classes and the application process is available on the **HTLA** webpage.

##### **DOJ’s Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center**

The Office for Victims of Crime Training & Technical Assistance Center (OVC TTAC) provides practitioner-driven, evidence-based training and technical assistance that is responsive to the particular needs of victim service providers, their communities, and the victims they serve, including a specific focus on human trafficking. The types of training and technical assistance include tailored, onsite consultations and trainings in response to specific requests, professional development scholarships, crime victim scholarships, and a number of online resources. For more information about training and technical assistance opportunities, please contact **humantrafficking@ovcttac.org**.

### Human Trafficking Expert Consultant Network

The Department of State’s Human Trafficking Expert Consultant Network (the Network) engages experts, particularly those with lived experience of human trafficking, to provide input on the Department’s anti-trafficking policies, programs, and products, both in the United States and abroad. Network consultants advise the Department on various matters ranging from consulting on multilateral anti-trafficking efforts to grantmaking, as well as publicly available resources.  For example, consultants also delivered the resource, Trauma-Informed Considerations for Anti-Trafficking ”  Consultants also deliver trauma training to Department staff, and drafted topics of special interest for the 2021 Trafficking in Persons Reporton “Navigating the Unique Complexities of Familial Trafficking” and “Unifying Trauma-Informed Practices and Voices of Survivor Leadership.” Please email **Info@HTConsultantNetwork.org** for more information.

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