Free the Captives: Houston Human Trafficking Conference

Speakers with a Domestic Focus

Free the Captives

Presentations:

·       “Identifying American Teenaged Victims of Sex Trafficking in our Communities”

·       “Reducing the Demand for Sex Trafficking by Arresting the Buyers”

·       “Preventing Burnout: Caring for Your Soul so that You can Care for Others”

Kellie R. Armstrong, Freedom Place

Presentation: “Safe Homes for Trafficked Teens”

Kellie R. Armstrong is the Executive Director of Freedom Place, a ministry of Arrow Child & Family Ministries.  Kellie also serves as Chief Advancement and Evaluation Officer for Arrow Child & Family Ministries. Freedom Place is a comprehensive Christ-centered care and recovery center for underage female victims of child sex trafficking. Over the past 22 years, she has worked in the child welfare public and private arena as a social worker, trainer, analyst, consultant, clinician and administrator.

Ms. Armstrong serves as a Board member for the National Foster Family Treatment Association.  She also serves on the national research, public policy and editorial committees.  She has been a guest lecturer/speaker at the following universities:  Stetson University, Bethune Cookman University, Daytona State University, and University of Houston. She has traveled the country learning about the devastating issue of human trafficking and has conducted extensive research into the treatment programs available. Kellie received her Bachelor's Degree from Boston College and her Master's in Social Work from the University of Central Florida.

Mary de Chesnay, Kennesaw State University

Presentation: "Sex Trafficking and Medical Professionals"

Mary de Chesnay is a nurse-anthropologist and psychotherapist who has treated survivors of child sexual abuse and trafficking since 1973. She has been an educator for 38 years and served as a Dean of Nursing. While holding the Jean Bushman Endowed Chair for Vulnerable Populations at Seattle University, she authored Caring for the Vulnerable, which is in its third edition with Barbara Anderson as co-editor. At present she is writing a book, Sex Trafficking: A Clinical Guide for Nurses, by Springer Publishing Company that will be available next fall. She is beginning a research project on sex trafficking that will serve as a basis for developing evidence-based practice protocols to identify “best practices” for medical and psychiatric intervention. She teaches an honors course in human trafficking at Kennesaw State University.

Edward F. Gallagher III, J.D., Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance, US Attorney’s Office

Presentation: “The Work of the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance in Houston”

Edward Gallagher is currently a Deputy Criminal Chief in the Criminal Division for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.  Gallagher oversees the Major Offender’s Section, which includes prosecutors assigned to the Immigration Crimes unit, the organized crime strike force and gang unit, and the civil rights/human trafficking unit. Gallagher is also the district’s coordinator for immigration and human trafficking, international affairs, and crisis management.

Gallagher received the Director’s Award from Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2002 for his successful prosecutions of three international human smuggling groups. In August 2004, Gallagher was named coordinator for the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance, a task force of federal and local law enforcement agencies working with non-governmental organizations to combat human trafficking. In December 2009, Gallagher received the Director’s Award from Attorney General Eric Holder for coordinating the HTRA in its training and prosecution efforts.   

Gallagher graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1982 and earned his law degree from Villanova University in 1985.  He began his career as a federal prosecutor in January 1990 following a five-year career as a special agent and legal advisor with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Houston. He is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center where he teaches national security law and human trafficking.

Dr. Tomi Lee Grover, TraffickStop

Presentation: “Sexual Abuse Prevention: a Key to Reducing Exploitation and Trafficking”

Tomi Lee “T.L.” Grover serves as an educator and abolitionist with TraffickStop, an anti-trafficking initiative to educate, advocate and engage people on the issues of human trafficking. She actively pursues educating others about the atrocities of exploitation and engages their response in a variety of avenues. T.L. holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work and Ministry-Based Evangelism, and a Master of Arts in Christian Education, from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  She serves as an adjunct professor for Dallas Baptist University and has as well for Howard Payne University.  Additionally, she serves a teaching fellow for the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute. Historically, T.L. had a twelve year career as a certified tele-communications operator, and was certified as a law enforcement officer, as well as a law enforcement instructor and holds a Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Science in Criminal Justice from the University of Florida.  women.

Nicole Marett, Radiant Cosmetics 

Presentation: “Fighting Human Trafficking One Lipstick at a Time”

Nicole Marett spent most of her life dreaming of becoming a beauty editor at a high-end fashion magazine. But after moving to New York to pursue her dream, she found herself unfulfilled and returned home to Texas to discover what else was on her heart. Soon after graduating from Baylor University, Nicole felt a call to service and left for an 11-month long adventure overseas on Adventure in Missions’ The World Race. In Thailand in the midst of the red-light district, Nicole discovered the story God had for her. There she befriended a prostitute and Nicole’s heart broke for those held captive in the sex slave trade. And it was there that God gave her a vision. She could combine her passion for service and her passion for the beauty industry to help end human trafficking.

And so Radiant Cosmetics was born. A social business based out of Austin, Texas, Radiant Cosmetics gives 20% of its profit to human trafficking organizations and is building partnerships with various nonprofits to find other creative ways to bring an end to the slave trade. Nicole envisions creating makeup lines based on the country those products serve, and hopes to one day visit and employ rescued women.

Judge Michael "Mike" Schneider, Juvenile District Court

Presentation: “GIRLS Court and Sex Trafficking”

Judge Michael Schneider was appointed to the 315th District Court in 2006 by Governor Rick Perry and was elected to his first full term that same year.  Prior to being appointed to the bench, he was Deputy Division Chief at the Harris County Attorney's Office, representing DFPS in CPS cases and serving as General Counsel to Houston's Children's Assessment Center.

Judge Schneider created the first Juvenile Drug Court in Harris County in 2010.  He is a graduate of Texas A&M University and received his J.D. from South Texas College of Law.  He also serves as a volunteer instructor for Child Advocates, Inc. and, when an attorney, was a member of the Interdisciplinary Child Abuse Task Force at Memorial Hermann Hospital.  In addition, he is a featured speaker at national conferences on child abuse and juvenile justice issues.  He recently hosted the first local program to educate the legal community on the correlation between animal abuse and child abuse and established the first Animal Law Scholarship at South Texas College of Law.  He also has been instrumental in conjunction with the Houston Bar Association-Juvenile Law Section in the development of specialized seminars for the training of attorneys in CPS and Juvenile Law cases.

Dr. Diana Quintana, Harris County Juvenile Probation Department – Residential and Behavioral Services Division

Presentation: “The Challenges of Providing Treatment to Domestic Minor Victims”

Speakers with an International Focus

Wafa Abdin, J.D., Catholic Charities Cabrini Center for Immigrant Legal Assistance

Presentation: “Legal Remedies for Victims of Human Trafficking”

Wafa Abdin is the Legal Director at Catholic Charities Cabrini Center for Immigrant Legal Assistance, which is the largest non-profit provider of immigration legal services for low-income and indigent non-citizens in Houston.  She represents detained adults and juveniles, asylum seekers and victims of human trafficking and other serious crimes before the Department of Homeland Security, the Immigration Court, and the Board of Immigration appeals.  Ms. Abdin is a frequent lecturer at Immigration conferences and gives “Know Your Rights” presentations to the public and has written several articles and papers on Immigration law topics, including: Asylum, Special Registration, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and “U” Visas.

In recognition of her outstanding work and dedication, Ms. Abdin was awarded the Chrys Dougherty Legal Services Award in 2010 by the Texas State Bar.  She also received the University of Houston Law Center Public Interest Fellowship.  She is currently the President of the Arab American Cultural Center and is also the local AILA asylum Liaison and a member of the national asylum committee, the State Bar Officers of the Immigration Section and the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance (HTRA).

Nell Green, Internationals Cluster of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

Presentation: “Trafficking in the 10/40 Window”

Nell Green has served as a career missionary for over 25 years. With experience on three continents and numerous countries, Nell now works in the Houston area, seeking the mobilization of Christians and churches in developing and enhancing internationals ministry particularly among Muslim peoples by providing resources, training opportunities, mentoring and practical experience with Internationals Cluster team members.  She also coordinates an internationals ministry network with an emphasis on prayer and resourcing churches.

Dr. Celestin Musekura, African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries

Presentation: “The Role of Forgiveness in Healing for Victims”

Dr. Celestin Musekura, is a native of Rwanda. He is the Founder and President of African Leadership And Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM Inc.), a Christian organization with 50 full-time staff in Africa and 5 full-time and one part-time staff in the US Dallas office. The mission of ALARM is to empower the African church to impact the African continent by developing and equipping leaders with skills and tools to nurture and deepen the Christian faith for the transformation and reconciliation of the African communities. ALARM has offices and operations in eight countries of East and Central Africa: Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. ALARM focuses on servant leadership, conflict resolution, biblical forgiveness, and tribal reconciliation. Celestin is an ordained Baptist minister who was born and raised in Rwanda.

Celestin received a Bachelor of Theology at Kenya Highlands Bible College, a Master of Divinity at Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology (NEGST) in KENYA, a Master of Sacred Theology, and a Ph.D. in Theological Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas.  His doctoral research was on Contemporary Models of Forgiveness, and he specializes in Communal Forgiveness.

Jeffrey R. Pankratz, J.D., Justice Ventures International

Presentation: "Strategies for Fighting Human Trafficking in China and India"

Jeffrey R. Pankratz is the President of Justice Ventures International (JVI), an organization dedicated to bringing greater freedom, justice and restoration to the poor and oppressed in India and China by strengthening ventures that promote justice.  Mr. Pankratz also serves as Managing Director of Development Sourcing Advisors LLC, a consulting firm advising U.S. and Indian businesses. His has lived and worked on and off in India since 2003. Prior to joining JVI, Mr. Pankratz was Of Counsel at the law firm of Venable LLP in Washington, DC.   Throughout his career, he has been active in pro bono matters in the areas of human rights and development. Mr. Pankratz’s initial exposure to India was in 2003 when he lived and work in southern India for the International Justice Mission, supporting its efforts to eradicate bonded slavery in that region. Mr. Pankratz received his J.D. from Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington and a B.S. in business administration from California Polytechnic State University.  He currently lives in the Washington, DC area with his wife and three daughters.

Eliza Rumthao, Justice Ventures International

Presentation: "Strategies for Fighting Human Trafficking in China and India"

Eliza Rumthao is the Director of the Delhi Justice Resource Center and Special Counsel for Anti-Trafficking with Justice Ventures International (JVI) in New Delhi, India. In this role, Ms. Rumthao provides legal counsel and other support to JVI’s justice venture partners fighting human trafficking in New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Prior to joining JVI, Ms. Rumthao served as Legal Head of the Kolkata Office of International Justice Mission where she participated in the raid and rescue of minor girl victims of sex trafficking and the prosecution of perpetrators. Ms. Rumthao received her law degree from the Faculty of Law, Delhi University and is a member of the Bar Council of India.

Anita Sheth, Fairtrade International

Presentation: “Fairtrade’s Approach to Addressing Child Labour, Including Trafficked Labour”

Anita joined Fairtrade International (FLO) in February 2009 as its Textiles Policy Manager to develop a Fairtrade strategy to address social compliance issues in the textiles supply chain.  In June 2010, she became FLO’s global Senior Advisor, Social Compliance and Development (Informal sectors).  Prior to joining FLO, Anita worked at the International Save the Children organization in Canada for eight years as its Senior Policy, Research and Advocacy Analyst.  She has worked on labour and human security issues within the context of human rights in the agricultural and extractive industry sectors, involving countries in West and East Africa and South and Central America. She has been an expert consultant to the U.S. based Cocoa and Child Labour Oversight Body, Tulane University and has been an invited trainer to several U.S. Custom, Immigration and Law Enforcement workshops and the Toronto Police on human trafficking for forced labor purposes.

Anita has also worked in the private sector on policy issues, including mainstreaming diversity and human rights in the workplace.  She has published in academic journals, been a board member of two feminist refereed journals and a board of directors of Partnership Africa Canada, which is part of the Diamond Development Initiative.  She is an Indian born, Canadian citizen, who has lived in Malta and currently works in Bonn, Germany.