Ms. Alana Wheeler is an experienced, results-oriented, purpose-driven leader with a proven ability to optimize any organization. She is passionate about fighting against the exploitation and abuse of migrants, women, children, and vulnerable persons in our society. She graduated from the University of the West Indies Management Studies Programme and Institute of International Relations, St Augustine. Ms. Wheeler is also a Foreign Fulbright Scholar and an alumnus of the Georgetown University Security Studies Program, the International Visitors Leadership Program, the International Law Enforcement Academy, and the National Defense University.

Ms. Wheeler has worked in the field of National Security for twenty-five years. This includes work with the United Nations Development Programme, Transparency International, the Organisation of American States, CARICOM IMPACS, and the Pan American Development Foundation. Her most recent work was as the Director and Deputy Director of the Counter-Trafficking Unit of Trinidad and Tobago, where she operationalized, developed, and promoted the work of the CTU and the government’s anti-trafficking efforts.

Andreina Briceño Ventura-Brown is Venezuelan, originally from Maracaibo, Zulia State. Proud firstborn of Dr. Felipe Briceño and Edelmira Ventura, shared childhood with two brothers and four sisters, is the mother of 3 teenagers, and wife of a persistent local businessman. She volunteered from the age of 12 in a non-profit organization that cared for at-risk or street children. There she strengthened her passion for helping others by empowering them and making them feel useful and loved in society. She grew up within the institution until, professionally, she became the Public Relations Officer and Events Managements of Villa Feliz.

She has a degree in Social Communication mentioned Community Development from the Catholic University Cecilio Acosta of Maracaibo. During her career, she formed her character and knowledge of the arts, culture, integration, and the common good for the development of communities.

An effective communicator at all levels with excellent problem-solving and analytical abilities. Announcer, Creative, poet, composer, writer… She worked as a journalist in the Regional Broadcasting Corporation; La Columna, and El Tiempo newspapers; the television station Televiza del Zulia; and a producer of the radio program A Primera Hora and the Cultural Agenda of Circuito CRB. Also, Freelance interpreter with BBC London.

La Casita is a center willing to assist new needs to help with the influx of Venezuelans in Trinidad and Tobago. In its creation, the strongest Andreina in community activism in defense of the rights of her compatriots was born. Trained at the Department of International Refugee Law and Migration Law of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in Palerm, she reinforces even more her Advocacy for the Protection of the asylum seeker, refugee, and migrant community before international and governmental institutions.

Currently, with her RESET project, she has a holistic working team that supports women victims of gender-based violence by transforming them using their resilience to the training of empowered survivors willing to improve their quality of life and those of their families. Offering opportunities for development in livelihoods, spirituality, and professional training.

La Casita is part of the Task Force for change on Human Trafficking Legislation on The Ministry of National Security, is a partner with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, Drama Making a Different Company, Living Waters Community, Archdiocese Ministry for Migrants and Refugees, UNICEF, Red Cross, WINARD and other International and local organization to help and support the protection and integration of the Hispanic community in Trinidad and Tobago.

Me. Andrews Kananga is currently the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Forum – Rwanda, a position he has held since 2008. From 2004 – 2008, he was a Senior Legal adviser to National Semi-traditional Courts (Gacaca) that were charged with trials of people suspected of having committed Genocide in Rwanda. In 2012, Andrews was among the three Legal experts nominated by the Ministry of Justice in Rwanda to oversee the development of a legal aid policy in Rwanda. He has contributed enormously to legal reforms in Rwanda, which ushered in the legal aid policy, legal aid bill, reform of the penal code and criminal procedure code, and many more pieces of legislation that favor access to justice for the poor and vulnerable in Rwanda. Andrews is a founding member of the African Centre of Excellence for Access to Justice (ACE-AJ) and head of research in the same center.

Bukeni Waruzi is the Executive Director of Free the Slaves. He works closely with the board, the global team, and headquarters to provide strategic leadership and set a vision for one of the world’s most widely-known and respected anti-modern slavery organizations.

Waruzi has documented human rights abuses, designed and implemented advocacy campaigns, made public presentations around the world, and trained hundreds of human rights advocates and activists in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas.

Waruzi has spoken to high-level audiences, including the United Nations Security Council, the International Criminal Court, and the Children’s Caucus of the U.S. Congress. He currently represents anti-slavery groups as a civil society member of the Global Coordinating Group of Alliance 8.7, the global initiative to attain Sustainable Development target 8.7, the end of child and forced labor worldwide.

Cavelle Mills-Walters is a Woman Police Sergeant attached to the Counter Trafficking Unit who has been employed with the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service for the past 25 years. She is a mother of two adult girls and is divorced.

Cavelle holds a diploma in Criminology from the University of the West Indies. She has received several pieces of training connected to human trafficking, including from the Caribbean Regional Drug Law Enforcement Training Centre, the UNODC on detecting, investigating, and prosecuting Trafficking in Persons following a victim-centered approach, and several training courses by the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, the US FBI. Furthermore, as trained by the National Security Training Academy, she has been trained to understand trauma in children and adolescents and courtroom procedures and practices.

Moreover, she is the founder and President of the Choice Foundation. The NGO was founded in 2016 to provide a safe haven for victims of sexual exploitation and abuse and children affected by societal ills. They also offer support and guidance to their families.

Charmaine Gandhi-Andrews served in Trinidad and Tobago Public Service for thirty-eight years, thirty-two of which was spent as an Immigration Officer in the Ministry of National Security. She became the first female Chief Immigration Officer in Trinidad and Tobago in 2015, a position she held until her early retirement from Public Service in January of this year.

Passionate about issues relating to trafficking in persons, Charmaine has been involved in anti-human trafficking activities since 2009. She advocated for and was actively involved in developing and implementing policies and legislation on trafficking in persons in Trinidad and Tobago. In 2012 she was appointed as the first Director to lead the establishment of Trinidad and Tobago’s Counter Trafficking Unit and develop and implement the country’s anti-trafficking efforts. She led the investigation, identification, rescue, rehabilitation, and reunification of victims of human trafficking with their families.

The US State Department recognized Charmaine as a hero acting to end modern-day slavery in its 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report. In December 2022, she was honored with the Migrant Hero Award from the International Organization for Migration, Port of Spain office for her years of dedication and service in the field of migration.

Ms. Coleen Morris is the Anti-Human Trafficking Officer for the Office of the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons (ONRTIP). She supports the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons and the Senior Anti-Human Trafficking Officer in research, policymaking, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting of strategies geared towards enabling the mitigation and reduction of Human Trafficking in Jamaica.

Ms. Morris plays a key role in the development of initiatives geared towards enabling survivors and vulnerable groups to understand the normative and regulatory framework surrounding the issue of human trafficking and monitors and reports on the nature and scope of human trafficking in Jamaica, including for the U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report.

She holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc.) in Psychology and a Master of Science (MSc.) in Applied Psychology. She has years of experience playing various roles in the design, implementation, analysis, and reporting of data for various stakeholders.

Dawn Hector has twenty-one (21) years of law enforcement experience in the Trinidad & Tobago Police Service. She is an experienced investigator and trainer in Trafficking in Persons both regionally and nationally for over nine (9) years. She was instrumental in the operational development of the Counter-Trafficking Unit of Trinidad & Tobago. Dawn has also assisted with developing several training materials for Human Trafficking investigators, including a handbook for Investigators in the Caribbean coordinated by IOM. She has extensive international and local experience in Trafficking in Persons as a trainer and researcher. She has been IVLP Trained by the US State Department, United States of America, and also the Caribbean Regional Drug Law Enforcement Training Center, Jamaica, as an Investigator.

Mrs. Diahann Gordon Harrison has been the Children’s Advocate of Jamaica since January 2012 and has been Jamaica’s National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons since March 2015, making her the first to hold such a post in the Latin American & Caribbean Region. She is an Attorney-at-Law by profession, with over 20 years of experience, and has practiced at the Public Bar since her graduation from The Norman Manley Law School. Prior to her appointment as Children’s Advocate, Mrs. Gordon Harrison served as a Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Known for her advocacy skills, she states that her current roles provide a national and regional platform from which to promote the rights of children and other people in vulnerable circumstances from a victim-centered and rights-based orientation. She is also passionate about accountability frameworks through which persons who violate the rights of children and vulnerable persons can be held responsible for their actions.

Mrs. Gordon Harrison is an Associate Tutor at the Norman Manley Law School, has also been an external reviewer for the British Council in Jamaica, and has been designated champion for CARICOM’s Regional Sex Guidelines for Courts. In November 2019, she was certified as a global expert by the Geneva-based Justice Rapid Response Roster of global experts in International Criminal Law for potential deployment worldwide with a focus on Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, and International Human Rights Law. Since 2020 she has been a serving member of the Board of Directors for the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, a United States-based non-profit organization that works in over 200 countries worldwide.

Elswith Chevez is the Victim Assistance Coordinator for the Human Trafficking Institute – Belize. Elswith holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Belize. The VAC’s primary roles and responsibilities are to collaborate and coordinate between the ATIPS Police Unit and the assigned Social Work Practitioners – Department of Human Services. Elswith assists in facilitating support and services for victims from when they are identified to the conclusion of the criminal case against the trafficker.

Prior to Elswith’s employment with HTI, she was employed by the Government of Belize within the Department of Human Services as the Human Development Coordinator; this is how she first came in contact with victims of human trafficking.

The Honourable Fitzgerald Ethelbert Hinds M.P. was appointed Minister of National Security on April 19, 2021.

Minister Hinds has previous experience in the national security landscape, having served as Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security from June 2004 to November 2007. He made significant contributions to the enactment of legislation relating to the administration of justice in Trinidad and Tobago including the Kidnapping Bill, the Firearms Bill, the Police Service Bill, the Police Complaints Authority Bill and the Evidence Amendment Bill.

Minister Hinds is a former member of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, having enlisted in 1976. In 1979, he was appointed a Training Instructor, educating recruits in drill; the art of weapons; and martial arts.

Prior to his appointment to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, he served as a practicing Attorney at Law for more than twenty (20) years. He is a graduate of the Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London where he earned a Bachelor of Laws Degree in 1988. In 1992, he obtained a Master of Laws Degree, specialising in Government and Constitutional Law, and received his Legal Education Certificate (LEC) from the Hugh Wooding Law School in 1995.

It is said that ”Perfection is an unattainable goal, but it is in striving for it which makes us achieve greater levels of excellence.” This statement is true and reflective of the life of Floyd Morris.

Floyd Morris was born in Bailey’s Vale, St. Mary. He was born to Jemita Pryce, and his father is Lloyd Morris.

Floyd Morris attended the Port Maria Primary and after passing the Common Entrance Examination in 1981, he went to St. Mary High. Whilst at St. Mary High, he developed glaucoma in 1983, and this unfortunate illness was to lead to his blindness in 1989. The illness contributed to his graduating from St. Mary High in 1986 without a single academic subject.

But like a true soldier in the army of God, Floyd Morris decided that he had to soldier on. In 1991, after two years of trauma and stress, he decided that he was going to reclaim his life. This he did by seeking assistance from the Jamaica Society for the Blind, where he went and received rehabilitation. He learned to read and write Braille, which equipped him with the tools to restart his education. He attended Mico Evening College, where he did his O and A Level exams. Having completed seven subjects within two years, Floyd Morris moved on to the University of the West Indies (UWI) to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication. Morris completed this course of study in 1996.
Upon completing the degree in Mass Communication, Morris pursued a Master of Philosophy in Government at the same institution. This he completed in 2001.

Whilst studying at UWI, Morris received several scholarships and awards. These included:
*Workers Bank Scholarship for a Student with Disability;
*Circle K International Scholarship;
*UWI Post-Graduate Scholarship and
*Sir Frank Worrall Scholarship.

Floyd Morris was called to national duties in 1998 when he became the first blind person to be appointed to the Senate. He distinguished himself and was promoted to Minister of State in 2001. He was assigned to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, where he had special responsibilities for:
**The Program of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH);
**The National Insurance Scheme (NIS);
** Persons with disabilities and
**Senior Citizens.

Floyd Morris was re-appointed to the Parliament of Jamaica in 2012, where he served as a government Senator for four years. He was promoted to the President of the Jamaican Senate in 2013.

Floyd Morris completed his Ph.D. at the UWI in 2017 and is the Director of the Centre for Disability Studies at UWI. He was also the host of a radio show, Seeing From A Different Perspective, which aired on News Talk 93 FM Mondays from 12:00-2:30 pm. He is the 2012 recipient of the Prime Minister’s Life-Time Award for Excellence in Disability Reform. In 2017, he was the RJR-Gleaner Communications Group Education Personality of the Year Awardee. In 2018 he was appointed as CARICOM’s Special Rapporteur on Disability. In 2020 he was selected as the UWI Vice Chancellor Awardee for Excellence in Public Service. And on November 30, 2020, he was elected to serve a four-year term on the United Nations Committee on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In February 2021, he was selected as the Ansa Caribbean 2020 Laureate for Excellence in Civic and Public Service.

Floyd Morris is a devout Christian and a member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. He is married to the vivacious Shelley-Ann. He is the 2011 domino champion for his home church, the Andrews Memorial Seventh Day Adventist. His motto is: “it is nice to be nice.”

Gilberto Zuleta is a lawyer with a master’s degree in human rights and studies in international relations, public policy, gender, and an international accreditation in criminal profiling for sexual crimes.

For the last nine years, he has worked with UNODC in the area of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants providing technical assistance to authorities in the development of studies, design of tools for the identification and referral of cases, and the investigation and prosecution, implementing training to criminal law practitioners, among others, in countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, Brazil, and Jordan.

He currently serves as Regional Officer of the UNODC Global Programme against Trafficking in Persons for the coordination of the TRACKforTIP Initiative covering eight countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Trinidad & Tobago.

Giselle Balfour, Ph.D. is a native of Trinidad and Tobago. She has garnered over ten years of experience working with children and families impacted by various forms of child maltreatment, specifically child sexual exploitation. Prior to coming on board at Free the Slaves, Giselle served as the Project Director of the Envision Project at the Georgia Center for Child Advocacy, providing specialized reintegrative services to survivors of child sex trafficking survivors in Georgia, USA. Giselle recognizes that Modern slavery is an egregious abuse of one of life’s most basic human rights and believes it is our obligation to continue this work until everyone is free.

Dr. Jason Haynes is a Barrister-at-Law, Solicitor, and Associate Professor of Law and Deputy Head of Research at the University of Birmingham. Prior to taking up this role, he was a Senior Lecturer in Law and Deputy Dean for Graduate Studies and Research at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, and a Senior Legal Officer at the British High Commission. He was an O’Brien Fellow in Residence at McGill University and is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. He is a National Scholar from St Vincent and the Grenadines, a British Chevening Scholar, and a Commonwealth Scholar. His book, Caribbean Anti-Trafficking Law and Practice (Hart 2019), is the leading monograph on human trafficking in the region.

Ambassador John Richmond is a Dentons’ Federal Regulatory and Compliance practice counsel. Previously, he served as the US Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons for the US Department of State. Ambassador Richmond’s career has been spent at the intersection of law, policy, and human rights — as a federal prosecutor, founding director of the Human Trafficking Institute, director of the International Justice Mission in Chennai, India, and as a US Ambassador. This includes strategy, compliance, internal investigations, and litigation in the area of ESG and supply chains, specifically international and domestic human trafficking.

Ambassador Richmond coordinated the US Government’s efforts to combat trafficking on a global scale, working with multilateral institutions, law enforcement, and leading Fortune 100 executives to develop effective strategies to address supply chain integrity, trafficking in persons, and criminal prosecutions and investigations. At Dentons, Ambassador Richmond leverages his decades of relationships and expertise to support the Firm’s US and global clients in their efforts to develop and implement effective compliance programs, respond to investigative demands in the US and abroad, and engage in legislative efforts on these topics. His experience as a prosecutor and close relationships with oversight committees on Capitol Hill also brings additional strength and depth to Dentons’ White Collar and Public Policy practice groups.

Jose Alfaro is a consultant and Lived Experience Expert on Domestic Child Sex Trafficking, Public Speaker, Author, Advocate, and Activist. He has worked with several anti-human trafficking organizations around the globe to spread awareness of trafficking, specifically within the LGBTQ+ Community and among males. He has been featured in several publications, including Rolling Stone, and has worked with law enforcement, DHS, and the DOJ, to name a few.

Mr. Kwasi Cudjoe is a Social Project Consultant with professional experience in grant acquisition and social project implementation. He has worked with civil society and government ministries in engaging at-risk groups and vulnerable populations through various programs and initiatives. Mr. Cudjoe is a Director at Pison Solutions, a non-governmental organization that promotes social change and development by connecting people, ideas, and resources. As a Programme Coordinator within the Office of the Prime Minister Gender Affairs Division, he has developed and coordinated programs to counteract negative gender stereotypes and norms. He is a trained facilitator and has extensive experience delivering several programs.

Through the Men Can men’s group which he founded, Mr. Cudjoe honors his passion and commitment to male personal development by working with a team to create safe spaces for men to address various issues. Some of his work in engaging men and boys includes the Inside Out Dad program for incarcerated fathers, the OPM’s Barbershop Initiative, and the collaborative Project SARAH with the Counter-Trafficking Unit. Mr. Cudjoe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Behavioural Science from Andrews University and a Master of Education degree from the University of the West Indies. Mr. Cudjoe firmly believes in investing in people and building social capital, as reflected in his personal motto: “If I can empower people, then I can improve lives.”

Lisa Ifill has been a career Public Servant for over 36 years, having entered as a Temporary Clerk at the Ministry of Finance in 1986. She has also worked at the Industrial Court as an Acting Research Officer I and at the Judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago for 15 years as Planning Officer II. She now holds the substantive position of Senior Planning Officer at the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services (MSDFS) in the Policy and Programme Planning Development Division (PPPDD). She has been the acting Director of Social Planning and Research since 2020.

She has served on several Committees, such as the CARISECURE Task Force instituted by the Ministry of National Security; the Inter-Ministerial Working Committee for the Delivery of Care to Victims of Trafficking chaired by the MSDFS, and is currently serving as a Counterpart Team member on the Committee to address Violence in Trinidad and Tobago using the Public Health Approach, which the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago commissioned.

Justice Lisa Palmer Hamilton is a graduate of the University of the West Indies, Mona, where she completed, with honors, her degree in Law (1993). In 1995 Justice Palmer Hamilton completed her Certificate of Legal Education at the Norman Manley Law School and was subsequently called to the Bar in Jamaica.

Justice Palmer Hamilton worked as Clerk of Court in the Clarendon Resident Magistrate’s Court (now Parish Courts) before being invited to join the prosecutorial arm of the State, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), in 1996 as Assistant Crown Counsel.

While at the ODPP, Justice Palmer Hamilton prosecuted matters in the Circuit Courts, Full Court, and the Supreme Court and prepared and presented cases in the Court of Appeal.

Justice Palmer Hamilton served in the DPP’s Mutual Legal Assistance, Money Laundering, and Forfeiture of Proceeds Unit in 1997 and eventually acted as head of the Unit.

Magarette Georges is one of the women models in the Judiciary system in Haiti. After her Primary and Secondary school, she studied Law at the State University of Haiti – Faculty of Law of Cap-Haitian. She was an activist lawyer at the Bar of Cap-Haitian. Founder of the Health Law Unit for the defense of Human Rights, dealing particularly with the defense of the rights of women and girls who are victims of organized violence.
She also studied Accounting at the Polyvalent University of Haiti. She specialized in Financial Control at the National School of Financial Administration and worked in this capacity at the mayor’s offices in the municipalities of Cap-Haitian, Quartier Morin, and Limonade from 2006 to 2009.

Coming from the fourth Promotion of the School of Magistrate of Haiti EMA (2010-2012), whose initial training took place at the School of Magistracy of Bordeaux – France, she joined the Haitian judiciary as a Judge and then Investigating Judge, a position she currently holds at the Court of First Instance of Fort-Liberty.

Trainer in HUMAN TRAFFICKING for the School of Magistrate of Haiti (EMA) and the BEST Project (Building a strong environment to eradicate Human Trafficking) of the IAWJ, she trained more than a thousand justice actors (magistrates, police officers, members of civil society)

Past-President and currently Secretary General of the Haitian Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges (CHAIFEJ), a member organization of the IAWJ International Association of Women Judges, She has participated as a trainer since 2013 in projects funded by the Department of State of the United States of America through the IAWJ.

Merphilus James is an avid disability rights advocate from the island of Saint Lucia. He has served as President of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) in Saint Lucia since January 2015. In 2019 he was elected President of Disabled People’s International North America and The Caribbean Inc. (DPI NAC) at the Tenth Regional Assembly, which was held in Saint Kitts.

Due to an extremely rare condition called Amniotic Band Syndrome, Merphilus was born on February 09, 1984, with differences in his right hand and left leg. He has used a left prosthetic leg from the age of four. James is passionate about advancing persons with disabilities through education, social justice, and empowerment, harnessing the innate talents of PWDs in advocacy and public awareness.

Merphilus James has held positions in public service as a Programme Officer and National Volunteer Coordinator in the Office of the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia. He is currently a Training Officer with the National Skills Development Center, where he cherishes his involvement in the education of youth in invaluable, marketable technical vocational skills.

Neil Bacchus is the Chief Executive Officer of the Indigenous Peoples’ Commission which promotes and protects the rights of Indigenous Peoples in Guyana. He has double master’s qualifications, professional qualifications in project management, and a degree and diploma in Public Management. Neil serves on several NGOs, including the National Task Force on Trafficking in Person and the Inter-religious Organisation in Guyana. He is a community, religious, and youth advocate. He has over twenty-eight years of working experience and possesses excellent logistical, training, and operational skills. Neil has recently completed a Fellowship Program in Religious Dialogue and culture and is committed to moving Guyana and the Caribbean forward.

Pamela Vargas Gorena works as part of the Rights Lab’s Law and Policy Programme, conducting contextual research and engagement focused on antislavery law and policy frameworks to deliver bespoke legislative toolkits. She contributes to expanding a database of domestic legislation, and international obligations of all UN Member States maps global legislation to understand trends, successes, and failures, and identifies factors contributing to positive legislative change. Her research background includes comparative law and jurisprudence and the assessment of government law, policies, and capacities. As a qualified Bolivian lawyer, she previously held management positions in government, contributing to the development of law and public policy at central and local levels. She also has been part of UN-Habitat, working on the Urban National Policy, and has frontline experience working with vulnerable youth in the non-profit sector.

Smith Maximé is currently serving as the Caribbean Regional Director since 2021, after spending ten years as Haiti country Director for Free the Slaves. He is playing a key role in the implementation of the Free The Slaves’ 2021-2031 strategic plan in the region which aims at ending the conditions that allow modern slavery to persist in local communities. A Haitian national, Smith completed his primary, secondary, and university studies in Haiti. Early in his career, he worked in journalism and communication. He later devoted his time to organizational capacity building, promotion of the rights of vulnerable groups, gender equality, and project management.

During the past decade, Smith has worked alongside Haitian non-governmental and community-based organizations to strengthen organizational and institutional systems, conducting organizational assessments, and developing and implementing programs to strengthen institutional capacity. In his work against discrimination, he has worked with organizations of people living with HIV/AIDS, disabled people, and individuals involved in the sex industry. A strong focus of this work has been on assisting these groups in building networks to promote their rights. In 2006, Smith joined the office of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Haiti, where he spent five years as the Gender and Rights Program Manager. In this role, the promotion of women’s rights, especially the prevention of gender-based violence, was an important part of his work. Smith completed his university studies in law and earned a master’s degree in project development at Quisqueya University.

Dr. Stephany Powell retired from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) as a Sergeant in charge of a Vice unit. Dr. Stephany Powell’s unique insight into the world of child abuse, sexual exploitation, and trafficking gained through her thirty years with LAPD made Dr. Powell an unparalleled choice to lead Journey Out in 2013 (formerly known as the Mary Magdalene Project). Journey Out assist victims of human trafficking in finding their way out of violence and abuse, and trauma due to sexual exploitation or forced prostitution. In 2020, she joined the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) as the Vice President and Director of Law Enforcement Training and Survivor Services.

Dr. Powell’s passion and expertise in this field have translated within the last four years into new policies for the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) and the national massage school industry. She has led education and awareness workshops for various audiences of law enforcement, prosecutors, and communities throughout the country and internationally. In 2019 she had the distinct privilege of training the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service on human trafficking awareness, prevention, and prosecution. These classes were intentionally designed to address specific problems within the region. Dr. Powell has spoken before the California Congressional Legislative committee in the State Capitol and addressed the Texas Legislative Black Caucus in Austin, Texas. Since 2013 she has educated over 11 thousand people. Dr. Powell is clearly a recognized expert on the subject of human trafficking.

Ms. Sylvie Bertrand (Canada, Bolivia) joined the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for Central America and the Caribbean (UNODC ROPAN) as its new Regional Representative in July 2022.

Bringing extensive experience to the region, Sylvie joined UNODC in 2004. She has served both in the UNODC’s field network in Kenya and South Africa and at its Headquarters in Vienna. More recently, she served as Deputy Regional Representative at the Regional Office for Eastern Africa, and prior to joining UNODC’s management team, she worked at UNODC in various capacities, including as Advisor, Expert, Programme Coordinator, and Head of Pillar, implementing UNODC’s health and social development mandate, including HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support of people who use drugs and people living and working in prison settings, as well as UNODC’s response on drug use prevention, treatment, and care.

Before joining UNODC, Sylvie served at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a coordination officer in the Resident Coordinator’s Office in South Africa, and prior to joining the UN family, she had the opportunity to manage development projects in civil society organizations in Bolivia and Bulgaria. She worked in the municipal public sector, addressing management practices, including results-based management and service delivery.

Sylvie holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, advanced degrees in Municipal Management and Law, and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from L’Ecole Administration Publique du Quebec, Canada. She is fluent in English, French, and Spanish.

Tim Howe currently works as Senior Regional Migrant Protection Specialist with IOM´s Regional Office for Central America, North America, and the Caribbean, based in Costa Rica. Tim has been working with IOM and other UN agencies for more than 15 years, primarily in areas related to migrant protection, mixed migration, and counter-trafficking, including in emergency contexts. Previous postings have included positions in Kenya, Tanzania, Thailand, and Costa Rica, as well as in Geneva, Switzerland. Before his current position, Tim was the Regional Coordinator for the Interagency Response for refugees and migrants from Venezuela (R4V), based in Panama.

Tim is a German national and holds an LLM in International Law/ Human Rights Law from the London School of Economics. He is a certified mediator and has published different academic articles, including also on the principle of non-refoulment and on the work of international criminal tribunals on gender-based violence.

Tinestia Haynes has a master’s degree in Counselling Psychology and is a counseling psychologist by profession. She has been working in the field of helping professionals and social services for the past 16 years and has also worked in the areas of child protection, counseling, mediation, and social support. She has gained vast experience at several organizations, including the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services, the Ministry of Community Development, the Judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago, the Children’s Authority of Trinidad and Tobago, and the North West Regional Health Authority. She is currently the Case Coordinator at the International Organization for Migration Port of Spain.

Zeke Beharry currently serves in the capacity of Project Officer, where he assists with identifying the strategic entry points for collaboration with the key stakeholders as well as manages a two (2) year (2022 – 2024) Trafficking in Persons (TIP) project aimed at strengthening the victim support environment in Trinidad and Tobago. Prior to his appointment as Project Officer at the IOM, Zeke Beharry served in various sections within the National Security domain for over twelve (12) years, in areas of policy, strategy, and analysis, where he was charged with carrying forward the research on selected issues and providing objective, credible policy guidance on national and international security related matters to the Chair of the National Security Council – the Prime Minister. He also served in positions where he was responsible for the negotiations, development, coordination, and advancement of national migration, border, and regional security projects. Zeke possesses an MSc. Security, Conflict, and International Development as well as obtained a BSc. International Relations.