Team

Dr. Okech is Professor at the University of Georgia School of Social Work and founder of the Center on Human Trafficking Research & Outreach (CenHTRO) and the African Programming and Research Initiative to End Slavery (APRIES). Dr. Okech's research interests are around the use of evidence to inform policies and programs that effectively enhance the overall well-being of human trafficking survivors and reduce trafficking. Dr. Okech Director of the MSW Program between 2013-19 and Director of Global Engagement at the at the UGA School of Social work between 2014-2017. His works have been published in Behavioral Medicine, Social Science and Medicine, International Social Work, and Child and Youth Services among other journals. Prior to become a professor, he worked with vulnerable children and youth in Kenya for more than 7 years. Dr. Okech serves in the research boards of various human trafficking organizations across the globe.

Dr. Ager, associate professor in the UGA School of Social Work, is a poverty researcher who specializes in financial capability. Formerly a community social work practitioner, her role will be to ensure that our SADC research and interventions ensure diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility so that all voices and experiences are represented at all phases of the project. Drawing on her qualitative research skills, Dr. Ager will also assist Dr. Anna Cody with qualitative research planning, design, analysis and dissemination.

In addition to her work with CenHTRO and PRIF, Dr. Aletraris Lydia has extensive experience conducting and managing projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She served as Assistant Director of the Center for Research on Behavioral Health and Human Services Delivery at the University of Georgia. Her research has focused on the adoption and diffusion of evidence-based practices and HIV treatment services in substance abuse treatment programs, the implications of health policy on treatment, and on a federally-funded program to plan and implement collaboration among the criminal justice and behavioral health treatment systems. Additionally, she has examined individual and organizational-level outcomes related to the use of nonstandard and precarious work arrangements. Currently, she is the Principal Investigator on an NIH-funded R01 project that examines the effects of cannabis legalization on the substance use disorder treatment industry. Her work has been cited in written testimony and statements made by the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the Executive Office of the President to the following audiences: the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Justice. She also serves on the Regional Advisory Council of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.

Dr. Balch is Professor of Politics at the University of Liverpool. He is a specialist on the politics and policy of modern slavery and immigration. He has written extensively on state and non-state responses to international mobility and exploitation and his work has influenced government, business and NGO policy through high quality impactful research, evaluation and recommendations. He is currently leading an international network (with the Universities of Ghana, Nottingham and Hull) exploring the value of innovative and arts-based approaches to address contemporary slavery in Africa, funded through the Global Challenges Research Fund. Dr. Balch has conducted a number of research projects in collaboration with regulators, the NGO sector and businesses to improve outcomes for vulnerable and marginalized groups. His work is currently funded by the British Academy and UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Dr. Callands is a trained clinical-community psychologist and Assistant Professor of Health Promotion and Behavior of the College of Public Health at the University of Georgia. She earned her degree and received her training from the Psychological Science Department at Purdue University and through a T32 postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Prevention and Community Research within the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine. She brings a wealth of on the ground experience in Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Liberia through research and intervention implementation strategies, research and clinical training techniques, and evaluation methods. Over the past eight years, Dr. Callands has focused her attention on understanding facilitators and barriers to ameliorating mental and sexual health disparities among youth and emerging adults exposed to poverty and violence in low-resource settings both domestically and internationally. She has managed, trained, and supervised local research teams and mental health clinicians in Sierra Leone and Liberia on mental health and sexual risk behavior among war-exposed and at-risk youth. Currently, she is the capacity building co-lead for an NIMH U19 award for research partnership for scaling up mental health interventions in low- and middle-income countries.

Dr. Clay-Warner, Meigs Professor of Sociology, has been at the University of Georgia since 1998. She received a Ph.D. in Sociology from Emory University, and her specialty areas include social psychology, criminology, and gender. The overarching goal of her research is to understand responses to injustice. She considers this issue from both a basic and applied perspective. Specifically, she examines the underlying processes that guide responses to injustice, as well as the implications of these processes for reactions to concrete forms of injustice, such as criminal victimization. She employs experimental and survey methods to investigate these issues, and her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation. Her current projects focus on sexual revictimization, campus sexual assault policies, and responses to advantageous injustice (getting more than you deserve). Dr. Clay-Warner is the Co-Director of the Laboratory for the Study of Social Interaction (LASSI) and the co-Director of the Violence Work Group in the Owens Institute for Behavioral Research.

Dr. Anna Cody is a social work researcher who specializes in qualitative, community-engaged research. Dr. Cody’s primary research interests are in children’s rights and well-being. She brings a background in education and applied social research. Her previous work as an educator, primarily in special education and museum settings, shapes her pragmatic and community centered research approach. She has conducted research on children’s experiences of intimate partner violence, child maltreatment, survivors’ experiences of human trafficking for sex and labor exploitation and youth engagement in child-serving systems. She has expertise in a variety of qualitative methodologies including: team-based template analysis, thematic analysis, constructivist grounded theory, ethnographic methods, qualitative comparative analysis, content analysis, and policy analysis. Dr. Cody has a particular interest in strengthening team-based qualitative methodologies used for research involving large-scale qualitative data and for enhancing impacts on policy and practice through actionable translation of qualitative research findings.

Andrea L. Dennis serves as APRIES Legal and Prosecution Coordinator and is a member of CenHTRO faculty. She joined the University of Georgia School of Law faculty in 2010 and was appointed to the John Byrd Martin Chair of Law in 2019. She currently serves as the school’s associate dean for faculty development. In this capacity, she works closely with the school’s professors to promote world-class scholarship, support the pursuit of extramural funding, oversee promotion and tenure matters, and work with the other associate and assistant deans on strategic initiatives. She came to UGA from the University of Kentucky College of Law, where she taught courses in criminal law and procedure, children and the law, and family law. Dennis received the University of Kentucky Alumni Association Great Teacher Award in 2010. Dennis has also taught legal analysis and writing and research at the University of Maryland School of Law. Previously, Dennis served as an assistant federal public defender in the District of Maryland. She also worked for the Office of the Corporation Counsel prosecuting child abuse and neglect cases on behalf of the District of Columbia. At Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., Dennis practiced corporate and patent litigation and antitrust law as an associate. She has also served as a judicial clerk for Judge Raymond A. Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. In addition to her legal experience, Dennis was a senior associate in the National Office of Job Corps for the U.S. Department of Labor, where she engaged in strategic analysis and planning for national vocational training programs for at-risk youth. Her scholarship explores criminal defense lawyering, race and criminal justice, criminal informants and cooperators, youth advocacy, legal socialization of youth and the cradle-to-prison pipeline. Dennis’ book “Rap on Trial: Race, Lyrics and Guilt in America” has received national attention, and courts nationwide have cited her research on rap lyrics as criminal evidence. She has also published works in the American Criminal Law Review, the Catholic University Law Review, the Columbia Journal of Law and the Arts, the Howard Law Journal, the Marquette Law Review, the Nebraska Law Review, the Nevada Law Journal and the Journal of Legal Education. Additionally, she has been quoted in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and other media outlets about rap lyrics being used as criminal evidence in trials across the country.

Dr. Hansen is currently a Professor and Department Head within the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior of the College of Public Health at the University of Georgia. For over 15 years, his research has focused specifically on the development and evaluation of mental health interventions for people living with or at risk for HIV infection. Dr. Hansen’s work includes a large international portfolio, including research projects in India, Russia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Ecuador, and Peru. His research has a global and social ecological focus that locates individuals within broader family, community and cultural contexts. Prior to coming to the University of Georgia in 2013, Dr. Hansen was an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine. From 2007 to 2013, he was the Director of Global Mental Health and HIV Prevention Research in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University and, from 2009 to 2013, he was a member of the leadership committee for the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS at Yale University. Currently, Dr. Hansen is co-leading a large, NIH-funded scale up of study examining the integration of a mental health intervention into vocational training for youth in Sierra Leone and Liberia, and co-leading the Capacity-Building Workgroup for the NIH Global Mental Health Research Hubs network.

Hui Yi conducts research on statistical analysis for complex, high volume and high-dimensional data. The statistical methods she closely works with include regression, multivariate methods, Bayesian models, data mining, machine learning, amongst others. She has focused on applying frequentist and Bayesian variable selection methods for high-dimensional GWAS data. She also investigated Bayesian shrinkage methods and Bayesian mixed prior models with false discovery rate control criterion for Health ABC data. She was Principal Investigator of several projects on statistical modeling and data mining for highway maintenance and rehabilitation decision-making. Hui Yi’s research interest lies in developing statistical model/data mining/machine learning approaches to understanding big data. Current research topics include generalized variational neural inference of causal effects, spatial-temporal optimization models, hidden Markov model for travel time reliability analysis and multiple hypothesis tests for semi-parametric models.

Dr. Zimmermann is an associate professor with a joint appointment in Economics and International Affairs. Her expertise lies in quantitative research on economic empowerment strategies at the intersection of multiple disciplines, with a specific focus on holistically understanding economic vulnerability and the effectiveness of anti-poverty policies.

In her role as an assistant research scientist, Dr. Liu is actively involved with CenHTRO’s research projects using both quantitative and mixed-methods approaches. Her research focuses on the appropriate use of quantitative methods in social, behavioral, and educational research. Her primary interests include multilevel modeling (MLM), structural equation modeling (SEM), Bayesian statistics, item response theory (IRT), and longitudinal methods. Her dissertation focuses on the choices of variance component priors in Bayesian multilevel models and their role in improving parameter estimate precision, with the aim of helping researchers move beyond default priors that are often software specific. In addition to her methodological research, she collaborates with colleagues on projects that promote equitable resource access for at-risk and historically underserved populations, particular in the areas of education, behavioral health, and social justice. She is passionate about using research as a tool to drive positive change, and believes that rigorous inquiry can contribute to a more equitable and just society. She is also skilled in integrating mixed methods to enrich research findings and provide comprehensive insights.

In her role as Associate Director of Programs, Dr. Bolton coordinates CenHTRO programs in Senegal, Sierra Leone, Zambia, and Malawi. She is responsible for facilitating data collection activities, including CenHTRO child trafficking household survey, which was the largest household survey to be conducted in Sierra Leone. She also manages capacity-building of anti-trafficking programming partners. With country teams, she also spearheads the cultivation of strong strategic relationships with stakeholders, from community-based organizations to national governments. She brings eight years’ experience in program and grants management and research to the role, having previously served as the Program Manager for Sierra Leone. Her doctorate is in geography.

Hope Dockweiler is a CenHTRO Policy Officer based at the University of Georgia. In this role, she works to facilitate connections between CenHTRO’s research and programming to effective policy measures on local, national, and regional levels within the context of CenHTRO’s projects. This involves identifying critical gaps in existing policy, building strategic relationships with relevant actors, and providing constructive technical assistance to contribute to CenHTRO’s mission of drastically and measurably reducing human trafficking. Dockweiler holds a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree and a Bachelor of Arts in journalism degree, both from the University of Georgia.

Cassandra Eng (she/her) is an applied anthropologist who specializes in qualitative, collaborative, and equitable community-engaged research. Cassandra's research interests include survivor inclusion in the human trafficking movement, the child welfare system, and bridging the gap between service providers and survivors of trafficking. She centers meaningful engagement, sustainability, and harm reduction and trauma-informed care in her work. Cassandra also seeks to reframe how survivorship is viewed and advocates for a space for grace to encourage empathy and healing. Cassandra holds a Master of Arts degree in Anthropology and a certificate in Ethnography.

André Gallant is the Director of Communications for the Center for Human Trafficking Research and Outreach. He earned a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Narrative Media Writing from the University of Georgia in 2017. He also earned an undergraduate degree in journalism from UGA in 2010. A veteran newspaper reporter, multimedia producer, publisher, editor and author, André specializes in journalism about migration, refugee resettlement, the environment and agriculture. His work often highlights how national and global forces impact small communities. He is the author of "A High Low Tide: The Revival of a Southern Oyster," a work of narrative nonfiction, published by the University of Georgia Press in 2018, detailing efforts to rekindle Georgia's dormant oyster industry.

In his role as Data Analyst, Dr. Goulart is involved with CenHTRO’s research projects using quantitative methods, including survey design, programming and testing, data processing and analysis, and regression analysis. He is a quantitative social scientist who earned his Ph.D. in political science and international affairs at the University of Georgia, specializing in conflict studies and foreign policy behavior. During his graduate studies, he was an Oskar Morgenstern Fellow with the Mercatus Center, and earned the Christopher S. Allen Award for Teaching Excellence from UGA’s Department of International Affairs. In his dissertation, he conducted statistical studies of how international external shocks affect the behavior of states toward nuclear weapons. His main research interests are in conflict studies, human security, and the use of quantitative and computational methods in the social sciences. He's originally from Brazil, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees.

Ms. Henderson serves as the Business Manager for the Center on Human Trafficking Research & Outreach (CenHTRO) at Sanford Hall. She works under the leadership of Elke Yath. Glenda is responsible for managing the business, financials, and office day to day activities as well as assisting with processing administrative aspects of the program. She is responsible for reconciling accounts monthly to ensure proper coding of revenue and that expenditures are within the grant guidelines. In conjunction to all of her other duties she serves as the point of contact with CenHTRO Sponsored Projects, Contracts and Grants, and sub-awardees. Prior to joining the CenHTRO team, Glenda has enjoyed a long history of working in the financial and accounting field with the University of Georgia. She has worked with the College of Education where she performed state and grant accounting for the Educational Psychology Department. She assisted students with tuition waivers, adjusted faculty percentage effort, processed all departmental payables, processed payroll, attended meetings to relay important information and changes to the department, maintained the petty cash log, aided faculty and staff with travel expense report entry, and submitted a financial report to the Dean of Finance monthly. Glenda also created a set of step-by-step instructions to enter travel and other expense related entries into the OneUSG connect system to assist those in her department or those outside of her department that she thought would benefit from the instructions. She worked alongside her colleagues at Carl Vinson Institute of Government with UGA for over 17 years. While at Carl Vinson Institute, she assisted in a rubric creation to standardize wording for expense entries to be utilized by the department to create consistency and to demystify some aspects to a “then very new” financial system. She was selected to serve on a Think Tank Committee led by the Vice President of Public Service and Outreach to map the history, discuss, and explore possible changes in governmental training strategies and encourage growth in the number of state registrants annually by setting goals and new course creation. Her daily duties consisted of processing all payables for the Governmental Training Department, reviewing and approving travel forms from faculty and staff, creating deposits for onsite registration funds, and keying batches of registrations for Governmental training courses among a large array of other duties.

Joseph Joskyn Kamah-Kanu, MSW, LMSW serves as the program manager for Sierra Leone, coordinating all operational aspects of CenHTRO’s project in the country. Joseph brings several years of social work practice experience as Child Protective Services (CPS) Investigator for Georgia’s Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS); Children’s Services at Wokingham Borough Council, Berkshire, United Kingdom; and Discharge Planner, Complex Case Manager and Team Lead at Piedmont Healthcare (Georgia), Duke University Hospital (North Carolina), Winchester Medical Center (Virginia) and Duke Regional Hospital (North Carolina). Joseph also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Modern Languages (French, and English) and International Relations, and has worked in various roles as staff correspondent, stringer, and editor for various media organizations in West Africa including, the Observer Newspaper (Gambia, West Africa), the Point Newspaper (Gambia, West Africa), the Panafrican News Agency (PANA, Senegal, West Africa) and the Union for African Population Studies (UAPS, Senegal, West Africa). He is fluent in English and French, and speaks several West African dialects including Loko and Mende (Sierra Leone), and basic Wolof (Senegal/Gambia). As a professional, Joseph has an unwavering energy to serve the world’s most vulnerable populations including women and children.

Elyssa Schroeder serves as the Director of Survivor Engagement at CenHTRO where she oversees all implementation projects related to the care, research, and support of victims and survivors. She is also a PhD Candidate at the University researching human trafficking, complex trauma, and survivor-driven interventions. She has worked in the anti-gender-based violence movement for 15 years in direct services, policy, and research. Her current work is focused on community-based child labor trafficking survivor services in West Africa. She has been awarded funding for this work from the International Labour Organization and a Fulbright Scholar research grant. Other ways that Elyssa has shown her commitment to gender-based violence survivors include co-developing a health & wellness program with women living in India, increasing capacity in global human trafficking service programs, working as a trauma therapist, creating a Victim Services Department in rural Texas, and serving on the Board of a local anti-trafficking nonprofit in Athens, GA.

Onyioha-Clayton has served as CenHTRO Program Manager for Senegal since 2020. She coordinated a research partnership that led to the first systematic research on sex trafficking among women and girls aged 15-30 in the Kédougou gold mining region of Senegal. She works closely with the Senegal team to foster fruitful relationships with national and local stakeholders. With the Senegal team, her work also involves building the capacity of programming partners. Ms. Onyioha-Clayton brings extensive experience as a community advocate to her role, particularly to realize the equitable distribution of burdens and benefits of the clean energy economy. Ms. Onyioha-Clayton is also a part-time graduate student in the School for Political and International Affairs (SPIA) at the University of Georgia.

Anne earned her doctorate in mathematics education at the University of Georgia (UGA) in 2023. Her research interests revolve around supporting creativity in education and utilizing statistical analyses to derive insights from data and inform decision making. She has served as a research assistant in two research projects funded by the National Science Foundation at UGA. Moreover, Anne played a lead role in conducting COVID-19 related research in Kenya, collaborating with researchers from the United States and South Korea. In this COVID-19 related research, her research team developed quantitative data representations that aid citizens in comprehending and assessing pandemic information and risks. They developed a tool that was featured in New York Times and other news channels. Additionally, Anne has facilitated professional development sessions and taken on teaching and supervisory roles in their department at UGA. She is a founding member of the vibrant African Graduate Students Forum at UGA and served as a treasurer for her student organization. During her time at UGA, she also worked as an editor for a student-run journal.

As a full-time staff member, Elke is responsible for managing daily financial activities for CenHTRO including budget preparation and control, account reconciliation, purchasing, and fiscal planning. Elke comes to CenHTRO from the University of Georgia Human Resources and Payroll office. She has twelve years of experience working in the Human Resources field and holds HR professional designations of SHRM-SCP and PHR. She has participated in the development and implementation of various projects and initiatives in areas such as strategic planning, performance management, and standard operating procedures.

Ansoumane Bangoura comes to CenHTRO from a large corporation where he served as assistant accountant in charge of daily accounting data analysis and entries, accounts reconciliation, payroll and tax payment follow-up. He has worked as Assistant In-Country Manager on projects run by Guinea Government and CQCC (Chongqing Communications Construction group Overseas Co. Ltd.), including water supply, rice plantation, water dam and two airport rehabilitation projects. For the past two years, Ansoumane has been working on the evaluation of criminal justice training programs on human trafficking supported by the U.S. Department of State and implemented by UNODC in Guinea. The evaluation program was conducted by Washington D.C.-based DevTech Systems, Inc., for whom he was contracted as independent consultant.

With a professional background in communications and project management for development, Aminata has worked in the humanitarian sector as a communications and outreach specialist at organizations such as CICODEV Africa, which promotes equal access to social services for the most vulnerable populations. In addition, she has performed advisory services and administrative management activities within companies such as Alliance Consulting, Montpellier Business-School and Conectika Senegal. Aminata has also been involved in training activities at the United Nations Institute for Economic Development and Planning (UNIDEP) and at the A.A.N.S / ASECNA (airport management), where she carried-out surveys to measure users’ satisfaction. Other roles have included supporting humanitarian responses to nutritional, health and refugee crises, provided by the EU Commission and its partners in several African countries; and working to promote volunteerism as a lever for local development in a project supported by UNDP, the Government of Senegal and several partners. Aminata is committed to child protection and is very active in working for women’s empowerment in Senegal.

Umaru Fofanah serves as the Sierra Leone Country Coordinator for CenHTRO. He comes to CenHTRO from the Parliament of Sierra Leone as Program Officer (2019-2020). Umaru has served on the board of two parliamentary projects in an officer capacity and has facilitated the review of the parliamentary Standing Orders in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) – DISP project. He has participated in the development and implementation of various projects and initiatives such as the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) UK and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy respectively. Umaru has also served as Project Delivery Coordinator at the British Council (2014-2019). While working at the British Council, he coordinated the implementation of the Modern Slavery – Open Your Eyes project in Sierra Leone ─ funded by the Antislavery Knowledge Network and the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom ─ of which 1,200 pupils their parents and teachers were the direct beneficiaries. He has managed and administered series of Professional Development training programs to teachers, educators and lecturers at universities and teacher training colleges in Sierra Leone, including programs on 21st century soft skills and child protection issues. He also led the British Council’s Skills Development and Entrepreneurship program, the Diversity Assessment Framework, and the Equality Diversity and Inclusion programs. Umaru also coordinated the Commonwealth Scholarship Program through Scholar and Alumni engagement programs on behalf of the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the United Kingdom. He has successfully implemented a Governance and Security grant awarded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), where one thousand Police Officers in Sierra Leone were trained in the use of English for Effective Policing (EEP). Umaru has also coordinated a Higher Education grant awarded by the Department for International Development (DFID); he worked closely with the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education and Universities to implement the program. He also served as Project Officer at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (2013-2014). Umaru was JICA’s focal person at the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Food Security for the Sustainable Development Rice Program. Additionally, he served as the Personal Financial Consultant at Standard Chartered Bank (2012-2013). From 2010 to 2012, he was the SME Credit Officer at Ecobank Sierra Leone. Umaru brings wealth of experience in program management with a focus on project planning, implementation and delivery, monitoring and evaluation, child protection, operational management, team leadership, finance, administration and process improvement.

Gabriel Varig Manga joined CenHTRO as a Project Officer in Senegal. He serves as an additional in-country liaison for a project on human trafficking in Kédougou, Senegal. As a NGO worker, Gabriel is a social development specialist and a manager with excellent administrative, legal and organizational skills. For more than 5 years at Better World, a Korean International Development NGO with a branch in Senegal, Gabriel helped to supervise and guide the various activities of the organization, he assisted in project execution. With proof of leadership, multitasking aptitude and convenience approach, he supervised the day-to-day activities of the office, ensuring proper coordination of the work in Senegal as an Administrative Manager. Gabriel is a chevening alumnus and has graduated from the University of Sussex, he earned as well a Master of Science in Management : option Business Law and Taxation in Senegal. Gabriel received certificates from training on ‘’Global Saemaul Undong’’, a community-driven development program (new village movement) at the Institute for International Development Cooperation, Yeungnam University in South Korea, and on ‘’Building a Better Response’’ with The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative on e-learning.

Annette Mkandawire Makonyola is a Socio-Economic Development Expert with eleven years of experience working in development and humanitarian sector by using innovative methods to address poverty and any form of human suffering. Annette has spent most of her career working with international NGOs. In the recent years, she was key at implementing a living wage programme within the tea sector in Malawi. In this programme she supported convening relevant government ministries, the private sector, NGOs and the civil society to achieve a living wage impacting over 50 000 tea workers. She has also worked in programmes to do with climate change and sustainable energy; gender and development; and child rights advocacy. Annette holds an MSc in International Development from University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom under the prestigious Chevening scholarship.

Chishimba has a background in health research where she has been working to influence global health policy. She has led health policy promotion in Zambia developed from grassroots social work by way of providing leadership, management and implementation of health programmes. Her interests include African government’s decisions in translating evidence and wielding political resolve into improved health interventions. As an alma mater of the University of Sheffield – Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Leeds –School of Politics and International Studies under the Commonwealth and Beit-Chevening Scholarships Schemes, and the University of Zambia – Social Work Department, she aims to promote local community voices in advocating for better policies and public services that strengthen and optimise localised development.

For 21 years, Maurice’s work experience has predominantly been in the Social Protection sector, focused on Program Management, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), and Research. He has worked for various international organizations and he recently concluded his engagement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Zambia Mission as M&E Advisor, having previously completed two successful contracts with PATH as Senior Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Manager, in-charge of overall M&E and Research functions under a massive United States funded program called Program for Advancement of Malaria Outcomes (PAMO). He also served as a Team Leader for M&E and Research on a nationwide reproductive health and family planning project at Abt Associates; as M&E Advisor and Deputy Chief of Party at Population Council; as M&E National Coordinator at mothers2mothers International; as Program Management Coordinator for M&E and Learning at CARE International; as M&E Officer at Catholic Relief Services (CRS); as Technical Assistant and National Expert on Social Protection at Germany Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ); as Project Coordinator at Gossner Mission of Berlin; and as Technical Assistant for M&E and Research on Informal Sector Employment Promotion at GTZ. With a PhD in Development Studies (focused on Communication for Development) obtained in 2021, Maurice also holds a Master of Communication for Development and a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Zambia; a Health Management Program professional qualification from the Foundation for Professional Development (FPD) in Pretoria; an Advanced Health Management Program (AHMP) professional qualification from University of Yale; a University of Oslo Certificate in DHIS2 Analytics Tools; and a Foundry Certificate in Data Analytics awarded by Palantir Technologies.

Fahmida earned her Master of Social Work (MSW) degree with a certificate in Non-Profit Management from the University of Georgia in 2019. She also holds an undergraduate and a graduate degree in International Relations from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her social work interests lie primarily in the areas of human trafficking, poverty and inequality, and social and immigration policy. Prior to attending graduate school, Fahmida worked for several national and international NGOs in Bangladesh for three and a half years including international nonprofit organization Concern Worldwide. While working in those organizations, she gained insight into the fields of social development and human rights. Additionally, while earning her MSW in the U.S., she interned at a number of well-known non-profit organizations which included J.W Fanning Institute of Leadership Development, Action Ministries, and the United Way of Northeast Georgia. As a social worker, Fahmida has worked with diverse populations including homeless people, sex workers, slum dwellers, immigrants, and individuals and families with low incomes.

Justine Bruder is a Ph.D. student at the University of Liverpool. She graduated with a Master’s degree in International Relations and Security, in which she researched Populist trends in the European Union. Her current research focuses on the root causes of child trafficking specific to West Africa and aims to reveal gaps or weaknesses in existing anti-trafficking policy initiatives. She works alongside Professor Balch, who is supervising the research, as well as with the rest of the APRIES team. She is currently participating in the analysis of qualitative data collected through the APRIES Anti-Trafficking Research and Programming Project. In addition to using data made available by APRIES, Justine plans to incorporate in depth interviews with key policy actors in West Africa. As a native French speaker, her contribution is particularly valuable for research in Guinea and Senegal.

Shaëny Cassim-Itibar is a PhD student at the University of Liverpool. She graduated with a Master's degree in International Criminal Justice, in which she researched the key issues of post-conflict reconstruction of survivors of wartime sexual violence. Her current research focuses on survivor centred justice in anti-trafficking efforts in Senegal. She works alongside Professor Balch, who is supervising the research, as well as with the rest of the APRIES team. As a native French speaker, her contribution is particularly valuable for research in Senegal.

Megan Gordon is currently a Graduate Assistant at the University of Georgia, where she is pursuing her Master’s of Social Work. During her undergraduate at the University of Kansas, she served as a Diversity Fellow, where she assisted with research, advocacy, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and program creation to advance DEIB initiatives for diverse and minority students throughout the School of Music and the larger university system. She has previously volunteered with various music organizations and nonprofits, including serving on an advisory council to advocate for mental wellness and diversity initiatives and assisting with fundraising and conference management. Megan’s experiences and interests span across the fields of social work, the arts, disability studies, and beyond, which she will continue to pursue through cross-disciplinary work during her studies and career.

Angeles Cruz is a graduate research assistant for CenHTRO pursuing a master’s degree in Social Work at the University of Georgia. She graduated from Boston College with a double-major in Theology and Applied Psychology & Human Development. Her professional goals include advocating for victims and survivors of domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and human trafficking. In her spare time, Angeles enjoys being active, reading, and watching documentaries.

Isatu Alphina Forna (she/her) is a social work student pursuing a master's degree at the University of Georgia. She has a background in nursing and a bachelor's degree in social work from Fourah Bay College University of Sierra Leone. Her past experience includes mentoring vulnerable girls in Sierra Leone with Project Pikin, where she provided life skills training, academic monitoring, and personal growth support. Currently, she is drawn to issues of human trafficking and modern slavery, highly prevalent in Sierra Leone as youth are forced to seek opportunities elsewhere. She aims to broaden her knowledge and contribute to addressing these wider issues of exploitation and trauma. She plans to specialize as a trauma-informed therapist and advocate, focusing on gender inequities.