Launching in June 2020, our monthly speaker series is an opportunity for our EHN members to hear from powerful and inspiring advocates, mentors, and speakers that strive to empower and educate. Once a quarter, we open our speaker series to the general public to get a birds’ eye view of this fantastic series.
Words can’t describe what impact this has had on all who have attended so far. We are truly grateful for our entire network, which collectively works hard to put on an incredible presentation each month.
Below you’ll find a listing of our previous speakers. Audio for public presentations is available by clicking on the “Listen to Audio” button. All others are closed to the general public. If you’re a member of the EHN network and would like to request access to the closed presentations, please email Samura Yoosuf.
2022 Archives
June 2022
Our speaker on June 21st was Naheemah McMicheaux-McCallop
Many WOC and allies lead their life and organizations in toxic hustle and survival mode, leaving them completely burned out. Naheemah is passionate about changing this narrative by empowering women with the keys of self permission to prioritize their well-being with radical self-care and a Divine Pause to thrive in life, family, and business.
Known as the Divine Pause™ Coach, Naheemah is the creator of the Divine Pause™ Methodology and Retreats, and has helped teams, executives, and entrepreneurs find their freedom in radical self-care, peace in the unknown, and finally overcome the “superwoman syndrome.” As a survivor of burnout herself she helps her clients unlearn busy and lean into self-love and self-compassion as a first response to overwhelm and stress.
As an optimistic joy seeker, travel enthusiast, mental health advocate, and lover of life Naheemah is on a mission to help women rewrite her story and normalize BEing vs. “being on all the time” which is no surprise her motto is “Balance does not exist, but harmony can.” With her experience as a certified leadership and EQ mindset coach, renowned speaker, and Chief Wellbeing Officer of Story Inside You LLC, she holds safe space for women to “BE”, overcome and prevent parental and professional burnout for good.
Through her signature Women’s Leadership Development program, Work-Life Harmony by Design™, she has successfully taught women to say yes to their divine success and no, to anything less. Naheemah also holds a BA in Business and a Master’s degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology with over a decade of experience. As a toxic workplace disruptor and HR advisor, she has consulted several organizations and nonprofits to help teams and executive leaders create people-centric compassionate cultures of trust, belonging, well-being, dignity for all, grounded in restorative justice principles.
2021 Archives
October 2021
Our speaker on October 19th was Katrina Massey
Having been exploited in the commercial sex industry as a teenager in Atlanta and New York City, Katrina impacts the lives of youth and young adults affected by sex trafficking still trapped in “the life” or those who struggle with its after-effects.
Katrina is a New York City Real Estate Agent, ECPAT-USA Board Member, and ECPAT-USA Survivor Council Member. Appearing regularly as a speaker and panelist, Katrina participates in conferences, workshops, training seminars, and other awareness events. Courageously, she has shared her story with the Washington Times, CNN, MTV-U, and ECPAT-USA’s “What Have I Been Through Is Not Who I Am”. More recently, she has appeared in the National MTAS (More Than a Survivor) Campaign which displays the lives of survivor’s leaders across the country.
In her previous roles as a Restaurateur and Executive Director of GEMS (Girls Educational and Mentoring Services), Katrina has used her experience and expertise to create opportunities for survivors, giving them a reflection of the possibilities beyond their trauma.
Katrina believes in life after “the life” and continues to inspire through her own experience and through the lives of young women she’s mentored over the years.
July 2021
Growing up in a small South Georgia town, Dorsey Laquan Jones overcame horrific challenges few people can comprehend. Following her father’s drowning, Dorsey was abandoned by her own mother and cast into poverty and homelessness, all while trying to keep her five younger siblings clothed and fed. a bad situation grew immeasurably worse when neighborhood men began abusing Dorsey, ensnaring her in a cycle of sexual exploitation that inflict too many young girls today but is often ignored. Nevertheless, Dorsey escaped, and after years of perseverance, she’s forged a career as a powerful public speaker, author, and of of Georgia’s most compassionate and impactful juvenile advocates.
After doggedly working to gain acceptance to Atlanta’s Morris Brown College, Dorsey graduated with a bachelors degree in criminal justice, which led to her role as a probation officer with Fulton County Juvenile Court. An even greater opportunity to serve out her passion for rescuing young girls came with youthSparks, a non-profit safe-house for the exploited and vulnerable. In her current role as youthSpark case manager, Dorsey encounters girls who echo the trapped youth she used to be. and they often follow in her footsteps, discovering their true potential.
In her memoir, “The Angels Were Crying: Stretched Beyond Measure”, Dorsey takes readers on the journey of a little girl whose deplorable living conditions caused her to run away from home, hitchhiking across states at age 12, looking for her father’s family. It’s the story of a scared, humble, yet touch girl, who was finally rescued by her “angels” in the face of hunger, homelessness and attempted suicide. Dorsey has recounted her story for hundreds of rapt audiences across the country, in venues ranging from churches to huge conferences and corporate gatherings. In recent years, she’s been featured in a CNN segment on sex trafficking, profiled by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and interviewed on radio and television across Georgia.
Today, Dorsey devotes herself to her husband Carlos, her four children, her beloved Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and exploited runaway children. She’s turned her own tragedy into triumph, and in doing so, she emerged as an Angel to so many lost girls and other youth.
June 2021
Dr. Tonya Cornileus Dr. Tonya Cornileus is the vice president, development, inclusion and wellness at ESPN where she serves as an integral member of the Human Resources senior leadership team and regularly acts as an advisor to senior management at ESPN. Dr. Cornileus is responsible for learning and organization development, talent management, diversity & inclusion, and wellness. She is also a certified professional coach, specializing in leadership, career, and life coaching. A self-described teacher at heart, Dr. Cornileus loves to read and travel. She’s an avid sports fan and a budding minimalist. Her greatest joy is being a mother and grandmother. Visit Tonya’s website, and learn more about her, at Your Aha Life.
May 2021
Cristian Eduardo is an advocate, speaker and educator for anti-trafficking initiatives, immigrant and LGBTQ+ rights. He is a survivor of international and domestic sex and labor trafficking, a Mexican immigrant, HIV+, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and someone who speaks openly about the mental health challenges he has faced that frequently result from trauma.
Although these are parts of him, he is whole, who cannot be defined. Cristian Eduardo is also a student, who is science and engineering oriented.
Cristian Eduardo’s inspiration for his social justice work is to give insight that victims always remain human beings.
Cristian Eduardo is a Lead Human Trafficking Consultant and Survivor with Shobana Powell Consulting, shaping national human trafficking trainings and policies. He also serves as a Survivor Consultant for ECPAT-USA, Center for Court Innovation, and USCRI. He is the Co-Founder of United Immigrants of New York (UIONY), a coalition of immigration advocates providing accessible education and resources to Spanish-speaking immigrants in New York. Cristian Eduardo is on the Steering Committees for New Yorkers for the Equality Model and Louisiana for the Equality Model and has been instrumental in the development of Equality Model training and legislation across the US.
April 2021
A graduate of UCLA with a Masters in Education and a personal survivor of human trafficking, Rachel Thomas has extensive experience teaching, training, curriculum writing, public speaking and mentoring. As Director of Sowers Education Group, she and a brave team work tirelessly to sow seeds of human trafficking awareness and survivor empowerment. Rachel has educated and inspired a wide range of audiences including teens, social service providers, churches, teachers, college students, and law enforcement. Sowers’ intervention curriculum Ending The Game is being used by over 1,000 facilitators in 38 states and 3 countries, helping survivors break the bonds of attachment to traffickers and the lifestyle of commercial sexual exploitation. Sower’s prevention curriculum, The Cool Aunt Series, has been used widely and called powerful, engaging, and life-saving.
Since 2012, Rachel and the Sowers Team have reached over 150,000 live audience members and millions more through numerous media outlets including New Day Morning Show on CNN, Inside with Chris Cuomo: Anyone’s Daughter on HLN, The T.D. Jakes Show, The New York Times Upfront Magazine and ABC’s Newsmakers. Rachel was honored by Congressman Ed Royce of California’s 39th district and Los Angeles Supervisor Don Knabe for her leadership and trafficking prevention efforts. Recently, Rachel was appointed to the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking for a term of 2 years. www.RachelCThomas.com
March 2021
In this fun and informative session, Chief Empowerment Officer Jennifer Keitt, CEO of The Keitt Institute, helps you identify your signature strengths and shares practical ways to use them every day to live strong!
As a 35-year media veteran, Jennifer Keitt has been inspiring and encouraging audiences across the country to live their very best lives. In 2014, she molded that passion into the Keitt Institute, founded with her eldest daughter. Jennifer is passionate about building strong leaders and cultivating the next generation of professionals. Jennifer is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Educational Psychology. She is also a certified Human Behavioral Consultant with a Masters Degree in Practical Theology. Jennifer lives in Atlanta with her husband of 34 years, Tony. She has 4 adult children living across the country.
February 2021
Dr. Brook Parker-Bello is an author, thought leader, justice advocate, actress, techie, ordained minister and survivor champion against human trafficking, and the Founding CEO of More Too Life, Inc, an Open Doors Outreach Network Provider. She is also the Founder of Youthiasm® a faith-based ministry to ignite empathy and honor. She is the author of several successful books and digital and copy educational curriculum platforms aimed at the prevention of sexual exploitation and gender-based violence in the 21st century related to digital integrity as well as the Legacy of Fatherhood.
Dr. Bello has spoken alongside presidents, prime ministers, and fellow change-makers, at universities, large conferences and federal agencies. Aside from holding a Ph.D. in Pastoral Clinical Counseling, she was recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award from President Barack Obama and White House, the Advocate of the Year Award from Florida’s Attorney General Pam Bondi and Governor Rick Scott, named by United Way Worldwide as a Hero for her work and most recently was named by Google as a Google Next-Gen Policy Leader 2017-2020, 2019 Department of Justice ATF Division Victim Advocate of the Year.
She is a an expert consultant for the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Title X Clinics; Population Affairs National Human Trafficking Training with Global Centurion. Was on special advisory Council for NOVO.org. Proud Trivia: Dr. Bello is the great grand niece of Vada Watson Somerville, the relentless civil rights leader, first Black Dental Surgeon in California from USA and only female and Black in the graduating class, co-founder NAACP LA Chapter, and builder/owner of the Famous Dunbar Hotel on Central Ave, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vada_Somerville.
She is the creator of “Coming Home” the first interactive app and adaptable online mentoring management system for anyone who needs mentoring, case management or supportive resources globally, cominghome.app. Recently, Dr. Bello has partnered with Chance Glasgow, co-creator “Call of Duty” Carlos Wallace and Danny Tolbert to launch “VR EVAL” and the world’s first VR/AI Machine Learning Platform for interviewing questioning and providing counseling in a virtual environment that relaxes all the senses and transports the users. The purpose is the human need for anonymity for victims of sexual violence, trafficking or any trauma to feel safe. Also the ability to avoid racial and other biases common in today’s world as interviews are done via avatar.
Dr. Bello is also a graduate of the Masters Series of Distinguished Leaders of Skinner Leadership in Washington, DC. To know more about Dr. Brook Parker-Bello, please visit her websites at moretoolife.org and the legacyoffatherhood.com, cominghome.app and vreval.com.
2020 Archives
October 2020
Audrey Morrissey is the Associate Director of My Life My Choice, a program of Justice Resource Institute. Since 2002, My Life My Choice has offered a unique continuum of survivor-led services aimed at preventing the commercial sexual exploitation of children. As a local and national leader in the field of exploitation, Ms. Morrissey most recently has served as Co-Chair of the Victim Services Committee of the Massachusetts Task Force on Human Trafficking. Ms. Morrissey has also served as a primary consultant to the Massachusetts Administrative Office of the Trial Court’s “Redesigning the Court’s Response to Prostitution” project. Drawing from her personal experience in “the Life”, Ms. Morrissey seeks to help vulnerable girls avoid being recruited into the commercial sex industry and/ or leave exploitation behind them. To this end, Ms. Morrissey facilitates My Life My Choice exploitation prevention groups throughout Greater Boston, as well as trains service providers in Massachusetts and nationally on recognizing the signs of exploitation and helping girls exit. In addition, she works individually mentoring girls who are victims of CSEC or are deemed high risk. Ms. Morrissey is a 2008 recipient of the prestigious Petra Foundation Fellowship and a 2012 recipient of The Philanthropic Initiative’s Boston Neighborhood Fellows Award.
September 2020
Stacy Jewell brings with her over 14 years of community outreach in Anti-Trafficking. Jewell is the creator & host of Jewell Survivor City Radio Podcast, a podcast for survivors by survivors of human trafficking. Stacy is also co-founder of SurvivorUniverse.com a digital membership magazine geared to uplifting survivors worldwide.. Stacy is not only an advocate, she has lived the very atrocity she speaks out against. Raised in the D.C. metropolitan area, at the age of 19, she was abducted and forced into the dark world of sex trafficking. After being held captive for almost two years, she was liberated from the violence and the psychological abuse of the sex industry. She has since dedicated her life to removing the stigma of shame surrounding those who have survived sex trafficking and the commercial sex industry.
Her passion and unique voice resonate across the globe, drawing audiences and unifying the cause. Stacy is the writer and director behind the award-winning play, 7 Layers Captive. This critically acclaimed production premiered at The Kennedy Center to sold out audiences before going international to sold out shows at Amsterdam’s University of the performing arts.
Jewell has help raised millions of dollars for fundraisers and spoken for hundreds of nonprofits and campaigns including the MLB’s Strike Out Slavery campaign, organizations such as The National Center of Missing and Exploited Children, the FBI and state level human trafficking task forces, The Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the State Department, The Department of Justice and countless universities around the world.
August 2020
Bonnie Martin is a technical expert in the development of trauma informed mental health and psychosocial programs. She has worked domestically and internationally for 13 years to reduce the effects of trauma on rule of law, interpersonal relationships, and education in stress-affected societies and marginalized populations. Bonnie specializes in complex trauma and has worked with thousands of victims of violence, exploitation and human trafficking.
In order to break cycles of conflict and instability at individual, community and society levels, Bonnie teaches culturally specific strength-based approaches for motivating behavioral change and building trauma resiliency. She has developed an evidenced based cross-cultural model for the prevention, intervention and treatment of complex traumatic stress that incorporates the most current neuroscientific research on brain development and attachment theory. It is holistic (bio psychosocial-spiritual) model that and includes substance abuse treatment implications.
Bonnie’s work focuses on psychosocial capacity building by providing systemic training for corporations, government agencies, professionals, paraprofessionals and grass roots organizations. She also provides consultation and quality assurance measurements for stakeholders and funders. Her fieldwork includes the countries of Mexico, India, South Africa, Swaziland, Serbia, Russia, Bolivia, Colombia, Thailand, Haiti, Nepal and the United States. Bonnie is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Therapist Supervisor in the state of Virginia. She has a BA degree in English from the University of Maryland, a M.Ed. degree in School Counseling from Wilmington University, and a post-graduate Certificate of Advanced Counseling Studies (CACS) from Regent University.
July 2020
Rebecca Bender is the founder and CEO of the Rebecca Bender Initiative (RBI). She is an award-winning social entrepreneur and nationally recognized expert on human trafficking. After escaping nearly six years of modern-day slavery, she wrote her first book, Roadmap to Redemption, followed by a 16-week curriculum titled Elevate. RBI’s advanced trainings have equipped over 100,000 community professionals including FBI, Homeland Security, local law enforcement, medical professionals and aftercare programs to provide expert testimony during trial and investigation, trainings and consultation. Rebecca serves as an advisor to the United States Dept. of Health and Human Services, the Presidential Candidacy Equality Model Coalition and the Oregon Dept of Justice.
In 2015, Rebecca realized that if she could get a masters online, she could mentor online and created the first online school for trafficking survivors, merging tech and social justice. To date, over 644 survivors in 6 countries have received mentoring and professional development training. She now uses those courses to help teach all women how to use their story for a purpose.
Rebecca and her husband live in the Pacific Northwest with their four daughters. She is a sought-after speaker and has been featured in many news publications. Her memoir, In Pursuit of Love releases Jan 2020.
June 2020
Carissa Phelps is CEO of Runaway Girl, Inc. and a respected advocate in the anti-human trafficking community. She holds both a Juris Doctorate from UCLA School of Law and an MBA from UCLA Anderson. As a survivor who has rewritten her narrative on her terms, Carissa exemplifies the transformative power of education and employment.As a leader in the anti-human trafficking movement for over a decade she has helped to bring global and local attention to the issue of human trafficking, and has been part of significant changes in legislation, policies, and protocols to improve responses to human trafficking. Carissa is the author of Runaway Girl: Escaping Life on the Streets One Helping Hand at a Time (Viking 2012), her award-winning memoir. In 2008, she also co-produced, CARISSA, and award-winning, short documentary film about her life.