Wednesday, January 26, 2011

California Against Slavery: Development / Capital Campaign Manager

From Idealist

California Against Slavery (CAS) has an immediate opening for a Development/Capital Campaign Manager with proven record of successful large scale fundraising. The Manager plays a crucial role in raising $1M by November 2011 to fund the CAS ballot initiative.


ABOUT: California Against Slavery (CAS) is a 501(c)4 non-profit, non-partisan human rights organization. Founded in 2009, our goal is to put an initiative on the 2012 California ballot to strengthen current human trafficking laws and increase victims’ rights. CAS needs $1M by November 2011 to hire professional signature gatherers and management volunteers during our signature campaign in the Fall of 2011. For more information, please visit californiaagainstslavery.org


Working closely with the Executive Director, Volunteer Coordinator, and members of the team, the Campaign Manager will be responsible for all aspect of fundraising including new donor acquisition, major gifts, partnerships with corporations and other non-profits, online fundraising campaigns and special events like walkathons.
The ideal candidate has a strong record of success in large fundraising efforts, works well with volunteers, feels a personal calling to abolish human trafficking, and loves a good challenge. This position is part-time, unbenefited position ending December 2011.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

▪ Working with Leaders and a topnotch fundraising consultant, develop a $1 million campaign strategy

▪ Implement and manage the $1 million campaign strategy

▪ Identify and contact philanthropists in California and the nation who may be interested in funding the initiative

▪ Establish solicitation priorities, manage prospect lists and research, develop and execute targeted cultivation plans and solicitation strategies for a range of prospects

▪ Manage the writing and development of capital campaign print and electronic collateral materials and coordinate their design and production;

▪ Design and develop campaign communications, creating content for the e-newsletter and talking points for the media; integrate campaign milestones into ongoing public relations outreach;
▪ Organize and manage cultivation and recognition events;
▪ Recruit and manage campaign volunteers; schedule and support campaign leadership meetings;
▪ Ensure that data related to prospects and donors is recorded and tracked in electronic and hard copy files; manage campaign record keeping, evaluate progress towards goals, prepare periodic reports on fundraising and present to the Board and senior staff; recommend revisions to the fundraising plan, as needed, to meet goals;
▪ Ensure donor acknowledgement, stewardship and public recognition, as appropriate;
▪ Participate in solicitations;
▪ Other duties, as assigned.


QUALIFICATIONS
▪ 7 10 years of professional experience in fundraising with a track record of success, with specific experience in capital campaigns, individual giving and/or major gifts;
Proven success at securing major gift support;
▪ Knowledge of California and national philanthropic communities that support human rights, children’s and women’s issues, and victims rights;

▪ Experience in scheduling and staffing solicitation calls and conducting follow up and stewardship;

▪ Strong ethics, laser sharp focus, independent, committed;

▪ Demonstrated experience in producing campaign materials;

▪ Excellent interpersonal, analytical and organizational skills, capable of working effectively with board members, staff members, volunteers, and donors/prospects;

▪ Energetic, self-motivated, flexible and adaptable with a sense of humor, able to multi-task and work independently;
▪ Computer fluency in MS Office, Powerpoint, web applications, and knowledgeable about the role of technology and electronic communication in fundraising


TO APPLY: Send resume and list of some of the fundraising campaign you were involved in (include size of the campaign and your role) to jobs@CaliforniaAgainstSlavery.org. Your prompt response is appreciated.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Underage Sex Trade Still Flourishing Online

From CNN.com
By Amber Lyon and Steve Turnham

Her ankles and wrists are shackled. She's wearing used sweats in the bright colors of the jailhouse, orange, blue and yellow. She shuffles to the courtroom to face the judge, her mother, and an uncertain future.

Selena is a 13-year-old who was sold for sex.

She wants to go home to her house in the suburbs and the baby sister she hardly knows. And now, facing a sympathetic judge and a loving mother who wants to make sure she's safe, Selena is being told she can't go home.

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"I want to go home and I want to be with my family, that's all I want," she tells Juvenile Court Judge William Voy, her face bathed in tears. "This isn't making me any better in here."

Selena was arrested by undercover police on the Vegas strip on prostitution charges. But although she exchanged sex for money, in the eyes of the law, she's a victim, by virtue of her age and the circumstances under which she was sold: by a pimp on the website backpage.com, a pimp who used drugs to entice her, and took everything she earned.

"It made me feel so nasty, I always just want a shower and get it off. I was like, oh, it's so disgusting," she said. "And it never made me feel pretty, not one time, not one time."

She told us she was seeing four or five men a day, at the standard rate of $300 for an hour, $150 for a half.

She may be a victim, but she can't go home, because no one trusts that she won't run again, back into the arms of a pimp. . .

Read the full story here.

Monday, January 24, 2011

The Super Bowl and Human Trafficking

The 2011 Super Bowl in Dallas, Texas will bring thousands of people to the city in the hopes of witnessing greatness. Sadly, in the shadows of all the glitz and glamour, as many as a few thousand children will be trafficked as sex slaves, bought and sold countless times throughout the event.

In 2009, the Florida Department of Children and Families assisted 24 minors who were trafficked as sex slaves for the Super Bowl. Texas State Attorney General, Greg Abbott, is taking initiative, and announced plans to send 12 individuals from his human trafficking task force to help Dallas law enforcement fight human trafficking. A number of organizations, such as Traffick 911 and Free the Captives, are mobilizing ground efforts in Dallas to raise awareness and support prevention efforts in the area.

The awareness campaign is assisted by Dallas Cowboy player, Jay Ratliff, who recently filmed a public-service announcement for Traffick 911’s I’m Not Buying It Campaign. Watch the PSA here:

This Super Bowl Sunday there is more at stake than who wins the game on the field. The countless lives destroyed by trafficking reveal the true victory comes when we stop the commercial sexual exploitation of children off the field.

Photo courtesy of the United Methodist Women.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Keep Human Trafficking Victims in the Brothels to SAVE them? Who would have thought?

What is the first step to take in saving a victim of sex trafficking? My initial reaction, and I venture to say that many others share my view, that removing the individual from the brothel would be the most sensible first step. However, my logic went to hell after reading about a group named of Freeset.

Freeset, located in the Kolkata red light district, has a mission identical to hundreds of other anti-trafficking groups around the world. As stated on their website, they “… would like to see the 10,000 sex workers in our neighborhood empowered with the choice of leaving a profession they never chose in the first place.” From 2001, Freeset has helped workers leave the sex trade by offering the alternative livelihood of manufacturing bags for export. Freeset offers girls an alternative lifestyle while still remaining inside the brothels.

Of course when I learned about Freeset’s model, my mind raced with a million questions. Can a girl live in a brothel and not be part of the sex trade? Can they help to effect change from the inside? Is this a model that other groups should emulate?
As we fight to end modern slavery, it is important to learn what all of us are doing to combat the evil. We learn from each other, good or bad. An educated anti trafficking group is by definition a better trafficking group.

Freeset’s model may be unappealing at first blush but it has a proven track record. Its success should teach us to learn so that we avoid the pitfalls of applying our experiences in a foreign land. How many of us have even been to Kolkata? How many of us can even understand how desperate a worker might be. Doesn’t Freeset teach us that even an ex-sex trade worker needs a livelihood? Isn’t that obvious?


For myself, I admit the Freeset model wouldn’t have been my first suggestion, and perhaps not even in my top 100. That failure of imagination reflects poorly on me. Now that I know of Freeset, I want to learn more, do more, and I never want to forget that real people need real help starting with food, shelter, and dignity. I will accomplish success before I ever give in, no matter the price or the time.


To learn more about Freeset and the work they do, please
click here.



Thursday, January 20, 2011

Country Club Slavery

South Florida Country Clubs Contracting in Slave Labor: Feds
A husband and wife are accused of forcing 39 Philippine immigrants into slavery

By WILLARD SHEPARD and TODD WRIGHT

Updated 2:43 PM EST, Tue, Jan 11, 2011


Country clubs are often reserved for the rich and well off and have the best amenities money can buy.


But membership in several exclusive South Florida clubs came with a sinister perk that has the feds working overtime - slavery.


Federal agents claim Alfonso Baldonado Jr. and his wife, Sophia Manuel, are behind an elaborate scheme that forced 39 Filipino workers into slave labor at local country clubs.
The couple allegedly ran a company called Quality Staffing Services based in Boca Raton and sent the workers to posh clubs to work incredibly long hours with little pay.

"What people need to realize that it is happening here in Miami and at an alarming rate," Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent Carmen Pino said. "It's a big problem here and there is human trafficking. This is slave labor and even sex trafficking."


The feds singled out the pricey Indian Creek Country Club on Miami Beachand Miami Shores Country Club as frequent clients of the slave labor company.

Nine other golf courses in Broward and Palm Beach counties also contracted with Baldonado, but investigators have not said whether any of the clients knew of the illegal activity.


Read the full article here.
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A couple in south Florida is accused of forcing nearly 40 Filipino workers to work in country clubs. The workers were forced to work in luxury country clubs for up to 16 hours with little pay. While some of the clubs might not have known that the workers were enslaved, one of the clubs appears to be a repeat offender.


While it seems recently that Florida has been in the news a lot with cases of forced labor and human trafficking, this does not necessarily mean that it is more rampant in the state. Florida has become more proactive in the fight against modern slavery and while its sad to see cases such as this come to light, learning about the trends and types of places where people are enslaved, is crucial. This case is further proof that slavery does not always happen in isolated, far away places, it can happen right in front of our eyes.


If you would like to report a case of potential slave labor/human trafficking please call either the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-3737-888 or ICE's hotline at 1-866-dhs-2ice.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Fair Trade Universities

Friday, January 14, 2011

Upcoming OVC Web Forum: Serving Child Victims of Sex Trafficking


Serving Child Victims of Sex Trafficking

January 19, 2011—Join an Online Discussion

On January 19, 2011, at 2 p.m. (eastern time), the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) will present a Web Forum discussion with Mollie Ring on best practices for serving child victims of sex trafficking. Ms. Ring is the Director of Anti-Trafficking Programs at the Standing Against Global Exploitation (SAGE) Project, a nonprofit organization working to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adults. She coordinates direct services for domestic minor and international victims of human trafficking and leads outreach, training, and public education efforts. She also oversees technical assistance initiatives for local, regional, and national partners. Prior to joining SAGE in 2008, Ms. Ring served as a consultant to the United Nations Children’s Fund’s Evaluation Office and the United Nations Development Programme.

Visit the OVC Web Forum now to submit questions for Ms. Ring and return on January 19 at 2 p.m. (eastern time) for the live discussion. Learn how to participate beforehand so you are ready for the discussion.