NCCHR CEO, JILL SAVITT, ON THE CONCLUSION OF THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING INSTITUTE

Jill Savitt AJC Hyosub Shin hi res photo scaled

Dear Friends,

Greetings from the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, where we have hosted the International Human Trafficking Institute (IHTI) since 2018.

I write to share the news that the Center’s board of directors has made the decision to sunset the work of IHTI.

Last year, the successful completion of IHTI’s three-year strategic plan coincided with the departure of the Institute’s irreplaceable founder, Deborah Richardson.  (Atlanta’s loss was a gain for the ACLU of Colorado – and for advocacy of civil and human rights more broadly in our country.)

We are enormously proud of the work Deborah launched and IHTI accomplished – especially the tremendous achievement of training of more than 50,000 people in our community to understand the warning signs of trafficking and how to respond. IHTI also galvanized a committed coalition of individuals and organizations who are active in the anti-trafficking field and provided invaluable public education to our wider community.

A landscape analysis we conducted as part of our decision-making to close IHTI confirmed that a range of organizations are covering critical areas in the fight against trafficking – from direct service for survivors to advocacy and coalition building to public education.

We are committed to furthering this work – and to maintaining the resources IHTI created over the past several years.

To that end, we will continue to host information about human trafficking on the Center’s website – letting our community know where to find active organizations and resources. The webpage, available HERE will also acknowledges the generosity of IHTI’s donors and pay tribute to Deborah’s leadership.

We are also pleased to share that a critical contribution of IHTI’s work – training — will continue. As IHTI closes its doors, our Director of Training, DeAndre’ Marshall will keep the work alive.  DeAndre’ has launched a consultancy on human trafficking that will host the following conversations and trainings:

  • Human Trafficking: Learn, See, Do Something
  • Parents and Caregivers: What You Need to Know to Keep Youth Safe Online
  • Critical Conversation about Safety for Children
  • Critical Conversation for Young People

DeAndre’ is offering these trainings to the general public, with a special focus on educating children, youth and young adults throughout Georgia about human trafficking and exploitation.  For more information, you can reach out to DeAndre’ at 404-849-5735 or email her at:  [email protected]. We will also feature DeAndre’s consultancy on our site as an ongoing resource.

Thank you for your partnership and support of IHTI over the strategic period of its work.  We were able to make enormous progress as a community. Even as there is much work still to be done, we are proud of IHTI’s contribution to the fight against human trafficking.

With thanks and best wishes,

jillsavitt signature 01

Jill Savitt

CEO and President, National Center for Civil and Human Rights