Title:

President & CEO

Organization:

Trafficking in America Task Force

Presentation Title:

Trafficked Boys: Invisible Victims of HT

Presentation Description:

Male victims of sex trafficking have historically been an invisible population. Recent developments have begun to raise the curtain on the expansive number of young boys being sexually trafficked in this country. During my presentation, I will present a comprehensive look at the issue of child sex trafficking and the evolution of the male victim. I will also present strategies for the education and prevention of child sex trafficking and discuss alternatives for the after care and recovery of male victims.

Bio:

Jerome Elam is President and CEO of Trafficking in America Task Force. Raised in a broken home by an alcoholic parent, he is a survivor of child abuse/domestic violence, child sex trafficking, and child pornography. Mr. Elam is a fierce Advocate for all children deprived of their voice. He is a public speaker, a staff writer, and known columnist for Communities Digital News. Recently featured as one of New York’s New Abolitionists, he remains dedicated to the protection and empowerment of trafficked people. Staying true to values he learned in the Marine Corps, continues to provide a safe harbor for all, regardless of age, race, gender, sexual identity, or immigration status. Jerome has received the Award for Courage presented by the National Council of Jewish Women for his work in the advocacy arena and been deputized by the Attorney General of Utah.

Title:

Consul of Sweden to Nevada

Organization:

Co-Founder of Awareness Is Prevention

Presentation Title:

The Effectiveness of The Swedish Model

Presentation Description:

Trafficking is a multi-billion dollar business globally.  The solution has to focus on mitigating, or curbing, the business model.  To stop the demand is the most effective way.  The decision to focus on the demand was based on the consensus of gender equality and a human rights perspective.  Sweden’s policy is very clear, that prostitution can never be regarded as a legitimate profession because it is always exploitation.  In this sense the extent of the consent to provide prostitution is deemed secondary to the understanding that the transaction involves exploitation at some level.  Trafficking is therefore an extension of human exploitation at every level.  It is crucial to change the mindset of purchasers & purveyors of commercial sex.

Bio:

Lena Walther opened the Consulate in Nevada 2006.  She began her career with the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1976 and had assignments in Bangkok, Laos and South-Korea.

Upon moving to the US, she worked for International Monetary Fund.  After becoming an American citizen, she continued foreign assignments with the US Embassies in Madrid, Vienna and Paris.  She has lived in 10 countries and speaks seven languages.  She moved to Las Vegas in 1997 and has been an entrepreneur since then.  In 2014, she co-founded a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, Awareness Is Prevention (AIP), which brings awareness of sex trafficking of minors.  AIP conducts targeted training programs for Law Enforcement agencies, the Clark County School District, private schools, NGO’s and other organizations.  A new program “Awareness through the Arts”, offering competitions for vulnerable youth, is being introduced in 2019.

Title:

Director of Accreditation

Organization:

National Children’s Alliance

Presentation Title:

Child Victims: How We Are Serving Our Most Vulnerable Population

Presentation Description:

Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) and the National Children’s Alliance are dedicated to serving child victims of exploitation.  For victims and their families, we know exploitation can be devastating; healing begins with exceptional service from providers. CACs around the country are stepping up and responding in exceptional ways with a focus on reducing trauma and providing a victim friendly response.  From CSEC information to building federal relationships, the National Children’s Alliance is helping those that help our children.

Bio:

Dave has been an employee with the National Children’s Alliance (NCA) for the past three years. He currently is the Director of Accreditation and oversees the accreditation process of over 700 accredited Child Advocacy Centers (CAC) as well as 50 State Chapter CACs. Dave started his career with NCA as the Coordinator for Strategic Partnerships; responsible for building relationships for local CACs with Federal and State partners.  Prior to his employment with NCA he served on the NCA Board of Directors rising to the position of President in 2015.

He is a twenty-five-year veteran of the Harford County, MD Sheriff’s Office and is the former director for the Harford County Child Advocacy Center. Dave also has been involved on the Boards of the Maryland and Iowa Chapters of Child Advocacy Centers as well as the Allen Hospital Child Protection Center in Waterloo, Iowa.

He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Liberty University and a Master’s Degree in Management from Johns Hopkins University. He also holds certifications as a Certified Protection Professional and a Professional Certified Investigator from the American Society for Industrial Security and is a member of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals and Certified Fraud Examiners Association.

Title:

Eleanor M. and Oscar M. Carlson Endowed Chair in Women’s Studies, Professor Gender and Women’s Studies and Criminology and Criminal Justice Programs, University of Rhode Island

Organization:

University of Rhode Island

Presentation Title:

Dignity: A Journal on Sexual Exploitation and Violence; AND PANEL: Bright Light on the Red Light: Exposing the Harms of Legal & Deregulated Prostitution

Presentation Description:

Details Coming

Bio:

Donna M. Hughes is a Professor at the University of Rhode Island (URI) in Gender and Women’s Studies Program and the Criminology and Criminal Justice Program. She holds the Eleanor M. and Oscar M. Carlson Endowed Chair in Women’s Studies.

Dr. Hughes conducts research on human trafficking, particularly the sexual exploitation and trafficking of women and girls. She has published research reports on Russia, Ukraine, and the European Union. She completed the first studies on the use of information technology for the trafficking of women and girls in 2001 and 2002.

Currently, she is working with undergraduate students to analyze prostitution and sex trafficking in Rhode Island. In 2014, three of her research students won the URI Excellence Award for Undergraduate Research in the Social Sciences and Humanities.

In 2017, she was awarded the College of Arts and Sciences Annual Research Award; and she was awarded the Alice Paul Award for Women Who Have Worked to Confront Men’s Violence Against Women by the Committee on Feminist Movement History of the National Organization for Men Against Sexism. In 2010, she was awarded the URI Council on Research Annual Research Award; and she was awarded the Norma Hotaling, Josephine Butler Award for “challenging the status quo and created new abolitionist policy or approach to sex trafficking in the United States.”

In 2016, she founded a peer-reviewed, academic journal Dignity: A Journal on Sexual Exploitation and Violence. She is the Editor-in-Chief.

Title:

Founder and Executive Director

Organization:

Honwungsi Consulting Services

Presentation Title:

Sex Trafficking and Exploitation in Native American Populations

Presentation Description:

The session will discuss the dynamics of sex trafficking and exploitation among Native American people and discuss the intersection of Urban and Rural sex trafficking of Native American people.

Bio:

Valaura Imus-Nahsonhoya (Hopi Tribe) has sixteen (16) years of direct victim services to crime victims in Indian Country, an Executive Director/Founder of Honwungsi Consulting Services and employed with National Criminal Justice Training Center of Fox Valley Technical College by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. She has worked with crime victims who have suffered violent victimization by intimate and non-intimate offenders. She has learned from human trafficking survivors in how to provide victim services sex trafficking victims. She has addressed Native American victims of sex trafficking victims by providing direct services and ensuring their safety needs are met. She has advocated for victims who experienced trauma by being a support, providing referral services for professional services to assist in healing and understanding their victimization. Mrs. Imus-Nahsonhoya earned Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion from Northern Arizona University and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice with an Emphasis in Legal Studies from Grand Canyon University. She has also earned a Legal Advocate Certification through National Tribal Trial College/Wisconsin Law School. Certified as a Domestic Violence Trainer by the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) and Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training (AzPOST). Certified in Peer Support.

Title:

Trainer

Organization:

A Call to Men

Presentation Title:

Promoting Healthy Manhood in Digital Spaces

Presentation Description:

A CALL TO MEN trainer Jay Taylor will engage participants in an interactive workshop about what it means to bring healthy manhood into digital spaces. Social media (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube), dating applications, blogs, video streaming services and pornography sites will be explored to clarify the ways in which traditional masculinity has created a dehumanizing online environment that breeds violence against women and girls.  Jay and the audience will examine strategies for promoting healthy manhood online with the intent to rehumanize digital spaces and promote safer environments for people to connect.  Attendees will develop tools for teaching and educating men how they can represent themselves online to create a digital world where humanity and authentic connection are the norms.

Bio:

Jay Taylor is a social worker dedicated to social justice and equality initiatives.  Jay has worked in anti-human trafficking, community health centers, young men’s restorative programs, psychiatric hospitals, university wellness centers, and currently serves as the clinical director of a Master’s of Social Work program.  His involvement with men’s issues began when he worked with men in anti-human trafficking and domestic violence programs. Jay’s community involvement led to partnerships with domestic violence shelters, women’s groups, and universities to develop strategies for decreasing the prevalence of domestic violence and sexual assault against all persons.  He has also worked with university administration to address cultures of masculinity as an avenue to developing sexual assault prevention programs on campus.  Jay teaches and trains with a focus on intersectional equality – addressing how race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality and class play a role in maintaining or preventing violence against others.

Title:

Partner

Organization:

Laffey, Bucci & Kent

Presentation Title:

Institutional Sexual Abuse and Harassment: Prevention, Response and Survivor’s Rights and Remedies

Presentation Description:

Details Coming

Bio:

Brian Kent is a former sex crimes prosecutor as well as a founding partner and head of the crime victim department in the Philadelphia law firm of Laffey, Bucci & Kent, LLP where he leads a team made up entirely of former prosecutors who devote one hundred percent of their practice to representing victims of crime. Mr. Kent has nearly 16 years of legal experience specializing in representing survivors of abuse, assault and exploitation and has taken on several high profile cases, including representing survivors of Jerry Sandusky, priest abuse as well as Judge William Bradley – a case that resulted in Judge Bradley’s removal from the bench, disbarment and admission to the abuse as part of the settlement. Mr. Kent’s representation of women across the country against massage franchise chain Massage Envy led to a Buzzfeed investigation and article regarding the company’s practices in covering up sexual assaults at its franchise locations which ultimately resulted in the company making changes to its policies and procedures to prevent assaults in the future as well as implementation of a “safety team.” Early on in his career, Brian was one of only 35 attorneys in the state of Pennsylvania to be named a “Lawyer on the Fast Track.” Since then, he has received a Top Lawyer rating from Super Lawyers every year. Brian has a Masters of Law in Trial Advocacy from Temple University’s Beasley School of Law and currently serves as an adjunct professor at Drexel University Kline School of Law teaching advanced trial advocacy. He has served as an expert in sexual abuse and assault cases on several local and national news networks and programs and trains institutions and individuals on sexual abuse and assault prevention and investigations.  Mr. Kent has served as a volunteer attorney for the Montgomery County Child Advocacy Project for the past ten (10) years and founded his own charity “A Week Without Worry” that provides fun and exciting trips to abused children and their families. Mr. Kent is a survivor of clergy sexual abuse himself and uses his experiences to put an end to sexual violence in all forms and help other fellow survivors.

Title:

President

Organization:

District Media Group

Presentation Title:

On-Camera Television Training

Presentation Description:

Bio:

Beverly Hallberg has been on all sides of the camera. Producer, director, and host are just a few of the shoes she’s filled. But she found her passion in helping people be their “best self” once the tape starts rolling. Beverly noticed a common trend: during media interviews, people often present their “worst self.” Knowledgeable and engaging people suddenly freeze-up, losing the clarity and impact of their messages.

This observation inspired Beverly to launch District Media Group in 2008 to focus on media training – preparing people to present themselves and their messages with confidence and precision. She has trained members of Congress, organization leaders, and policy experts, among other professionals for appearances on local as well as national networks.

Beverly comments on communication tactics in popular and political culture and has been published in publications such as Newsweek, The Daily Signal, The Federalist, The Washington Examiner and The Hill. She is also a frequent contributor on Fox News and CNN.

Prior to DMG, Beverly served as Director of LI Studios. She has edited, produced, and directed numerous TV and radio shows and anchored a weekend sports program for Salem Radio Network News. Additionally, Beverly has written and produced videos, PSAs, and live programs for government agencies including the Department of Labor, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, among others.

Beverly has a B.S. in radio and television broadcasting, and is a native of Hollister, CA.

District Media Group

District Media Group

Title:

Director of Foundation and Corporate Relations

Organization:

Leadership Institute

Presentation Title:

You Can’t Save the World If You Can’t Pay the Rent: Real Fundraising for Real Change

Presentation Description:

Bio:

Karla Kraynak Bruno is a former English teacher and librarian, with over 30 years as an educator and researcher to her credit.  She is a published author of historical fiction, a frequent guest columnist for two regional Virginia newspapers, and serves on Virginia’s First Thanksgiving committee as part of the national celebration in 2019 of Virginia’s 400th anniversary of historic contributions to our national heritage.

As Director of Foundation and Corporate Relations at LI, Ms. Bruno increased foundation giving 72% since she arrived in 2011.

Ms. Bruno earned a B.A. and an M.A.Ed from The College of William and Mary, as well as a Master’s in Library Science from The Catholic University of America.

Her latest book is William and Mary and Tyler, Too: a biography of Lyon G. Tyler, due out in 2020.

Title:

Deputy Director of Digital Training

Organization:

Leadership Institute

Presentation Title:

Social Media in Public Policy

Presentation Description:

Bio:

Stephen Rowe is a Deputy Director at Leadership Institute where he trains thousands on digital and political technology across the country every year.

Before joining LI, Stephen was the Editor-in-Chief of Hypeline where he executed its start-up, website re-design and achieved over 12 million page views in one calendar year.

Stephen has been listed on multiple 30 under 30 awards. His work has been featured on Fox News, Fox Business, The Blaze, The Daily Caller, The Washington Times, Townhall, Breitbart, and The Daily Wire.

Stephen grew up in Montana, the “Treasure State”.

Title:

Founder

Organization:

Protect Young Eyes

Presentation Title:

Before They Need It: How To Promote Prevention for Families and Children

Presentation Description:

Details coming

Bio:

President and CEO of Protect Young Eyes and Digital Marketing Manager for Covenant Eyes. Mr. McKenna is an app content and safety expert. He and his team of presenters travel the country teaching parents, children, educators, and child safety advocates about the constantly changing digital culture and how to thrive and be safe online. He has been featured on numerous news segments and in national publications, including Forbes, discussing apps and their content. His popular blog has garnered tens of thousands of followers, prompted the removal of Cosmo’s After Dark segment from Snapchat, and provides parents with detailed descriptions about apps, parental controls, and digital trends.

Title:

Child Victim Program Coordinator

Organization:

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Victim Assistance Division Child Victim Services Unit

Presentation Title:

Presentation Description:

Bio:

Tiffany Short has 20 years of professional experience working violent crimes against children.  Ms. Short currently serves the FBI as a subject matter expert on child and adolescent victimization as a Child Victim Program Coordinator.  Ms. Short is embedded at the FBI’s Violent Crimes against Children Section where leading professionals from a variety of disciplines develop policy and guidance, provide expert consultation, and execute large scale and major operations for child victims of violent crimes.  As an FBI instructor and adjunct faculty member, Ms. Short provides professional presentations on child victimization globally to national and community leaders.  Ms. Short was selected as a key presenter on a multi-disciplinary team used to instruct over 30 law enforcement partners in Canada prior to the first joint international operation to recover minor victims of sex trafficking.  Her work overseas has since extended to Thailand, Ghana, Qatar, Bahrain, Malta, England, Ethiopia, Austria, Croatia, and Ireland.

Prior to serving in a leadership capacity at FBI Headquarters, Ms. Short was an FBI Victim Specialist for 9 years, providing direct services to federal victims of crimes including; Indian Country physical/sexual abuse, domestic violence, homicide, adult and child kidnapping, adult and child sex and labor trafficking, victims of sexual abuse images, and victims/witnesses of mass casualties incidents.  Ms. Short has been recognized for her leadership in the field of victim assistance in human trafficking and her work in Indian Country.

Previous to the FBI Ms. Short was a Medical Social Worker on the Child Abuse Evaluation Team for Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas.  Ms. Short has a Bachelor’s of Art in Social Work from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD and a Masters of Clinical Social Work from Texas State University.  Ms. Short is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of Texas.