Posts in 2015
Tim Wedge

Tim Wedge has worked in the field of computer forensics/high tech crime for 15 years. He has developed and delivered over a dozen courses in high-technology investigations to over 3,000 law enforcement officers. His experience includes conducting computer forensic examinations for U.S. Army Intelligence in Iraq, where he first encountered human trafficking. Tim now directs his talents to the fight against human trafficking, currently teaching Digital Forensic Science at Defiance College.

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2015Walaa KananTim Wedge
Joy Washburn

Joy Washburn is an Associate Professor of Nursing at Grand Valley State University and a member of HEAL Trafficking. She believes knowledge of human trafficking is an issue of importance in healthcare education. Assisted by C. Forslund, R. Perkins, and C. Bartman, her perseverance was instrumental in developing a clinical simulation in which the patient is a victim of human trafficking. Annually, 200+ students in the BSN program at GVSU participate in this clinical simulation experience.

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2015Walaa KananJoy Washburn
Cynthia Turner

Cynthia Turner, Executive Director, is a founding member of SeraphimGLOBAL. She has 33 years of experience in international development. She has been a strong advocate of integrating mental health and psychosocial services into national and community health systems and international development programs.

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2015Walaa KananCynthia Turner
Tanya Toyer - Erika Wright

Tanya Toyer is a Licensed Professional Counselor and hold licenses in the state of Georgia and Ohio. Toyer is the CEO/Owner of the Wellness and Trauma Recovery Center located in Conyers, GA. She is currently an affiliate member of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and serve as a referral source for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children/Family Advocacy Outreach Network Program

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Toni Thompson

Toni Thompson, an occupational therapist with 39 years in pediatrics and mental health, worked in Ecuador, Venezuela, and US. International presentations and publications address cultural competence and pediatric OT. Her current interest is developing evidence-based recovery programs for sexual trafficking survivors.

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2015Walaa KananToni Thompson
Ramhari Thapa

Ramhari Thapa is from Nepal. Thapa has a national non-profit organization, Save The Life Nepal. Thapa is the President and Founder of Save The Life Nepal. He worked at Tiny Hands Nepal as a security coordinator and case manager 3 years ago.

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2015Walaa KananRamhari Thapa
Dureti (Mimi) Tadesse

Dureti (Mimi) Tadesse was born in Oromia, Ethiopia. My husband and I left Ethiopia after we were jailed and released because we are Oromo and our Christian belief. In 2013, I started Christian based Nonprofit Organization called “C.G. Women’s Empowerment (CGWE)” whose mission is to empower women in Oromia. I have BA in Business Administration from Franklin University, Columbus, OH.

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Kenny Summer

Kenny is a retired teacher whose passion for fighting human trafficking led to the creation of the very first organization in his area to fight human trafficking, known as SAFE (Support, Advocate. Fight, and Educate). SAFE has become very active in Rocky Mount and the surrounding counties in providing prevention education to a wide variety of community members and organizations.

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2015Walaa KananKenny Summer
Kirsten Stopher

Kirsten Stopher, LSW is the Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking Victim Advocate with Crime Victim Services of Allen and Putnam Counties. She provides advocacy and case management in partnership with the Northwest Ohio Rescue and Restore Coalition and the Northern Tier Anti-Trafficking Consortium. Kirsten has her BA in social work from Bluffton University.

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2015Walaa KananKirsten Stopher
Jacob Spellis

This may Spellis will be graduating with a bachelor in Social Work. He will also be attending graduate school for a MSW. Spellis has been working in the field of chemical dependency and criminal justice for over a year and a half. He is in long time recovery and an ex-offender.

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2015Walaa KananJacob Spellis
Anna Smith

Anna is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Restore One. She is a Greenville, North Carolina native, graduated from East Carolina University School of Social Work and Religious Studies and is a 200 hour yoga teacher. Since founding Restore One, Anna works diligently on their chief project, The Anchor House. Working through her own story of trauma and sexual trafficking, she understands that recovery is a painful yet beautiful journey.

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2015Walaa KananAnna Smith
Heather M. Sloane

Heather M. Sloane, PhD, MSW, LISW is a Lecturer in the social work program at the University of Toledo. Heather has worked as a social worker in various healthcare settings, most recently as a perinatal social worker working with women diagnosed with a high-risk pregnancy and with families with a child in the NICU. She has written and given talks on issues relating to ethics and healthcare and medical education and understandings of poverty.

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Priscila Siqueira

Siqueira is a journalist and for a long time she was responsible for the articulation of the NGO Service for the Marginalized Woman, now called- Service agaisnt Traffcking of Women and Teens, founded in 1993.
This NGO was pioneer reagardind the struggle against HT in Brazil. Priscila took part of sevral meetings about this issue around the world.

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Dr. Mark Sherry

Mark Sherry began writing and advocating about disability in the late 1990s. He has always had an interest in various forms of abuse, including sexual abuse, as well as many other types of criminal victimization. His last book was "Disability Hate Crimes: Does Anyone Really Hate Disabled People?" (Ashgate, 2010).

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2015Walaa KananDr. Mark Sherry
Dr. Halleh Seddighzadeh

Dr. Halleh Seddighzadeh is a Forensic Traumatologist specializing in the psychological treatment of torture, specifically in survivors of human trafficking, terrorism, radicalized youth, war refugees, genocide, gender based violence and most recently survivors of cults and ecclesiastic abuse.

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Saeed Mohamed

Saeed is a Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Consultant and former TIP Project Manager at UNODC. Saeed work on TIP includes managing and developing different projects, establishing a Data Collection and Analysis Unit, drafting the TIP component of “UNODC Regional Program on Drug Control, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Reform in the Arab States 2011-2015”, and providing training for criminal justice practitioners and NGOs.

He holds a BA in Political Science, LLB and LLM in international law.

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2015Walaa KananSaeed Mohamed
Dr. Donna Sabella

Dr. Donna Sabella is a psychiatric nurse practitioner who is considered a pioneer in the nursing field for her work in human trafficking. A founding member and the first program director of Dawn’s Place, a residential treatment program for HT victims in Philadelphia, PA, she has numerous publications related to working with victims, is the contributing editor to the American Journal of Nursing’s Mental Health Matters column, and is an associate editor for the Journal of Human Trafficking.

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Julie Rud - Lauren Martin- PJ Bensen - Jose Palma

The presentation team includes probation officers who are now in senior leadership in Hennepin County Probation, a nationally recognized researcher in the area of sex trading and trafficking, and a quantitative methods graduate student. Between them the probation officers have decades of experience in gender specific corrections. The lead researcher has over a decade of experience in community-based action research on this topic, prevention/intervention, and publications.

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Mr. Anders Røyneberg

Røyneberg is practicing psychiatric nurse with a bachelor’s degree in social science and work with sexual and reproductive health in Norway. Currently he is working as a project manager for a public health service that provides sex-buyers with STI testing and treatment, and counselling for those who want to quit or reduce buying sex.

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