Veronica Zeitlin is a lawyer and international policy and program expert. She has over 20 years of experience combating human trafficking and assisting survivors through trauma-informed approaches. Currently a consultant, she served as Chief of Research and Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking, Senior Advisor, Counter-Trafficking in Persons, Gender, and Migration, at the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Reports and Political Affairs Analyst at the U.S. State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, where she covered Africa.

Young professional with experience in the Secretariat of the Committee on Culture and Education, Directorate-General for Citizens’ Rights, Justice and Institutional Affairs in the European Parliament. With academic grounding in International Relations and an Erasmus Mundus Master of Arts in Sports Ethics and Integrity, my professional focus centers on fostering fair, inclusive, and safe sporting environments. My work emphasizes anti-discrimination policies and the promotion of integrity and inclusion, ensuring that all individuals can participate with dignity and respect.

Beyond sport, I am deeply invested in the transformative fields of education and culture. I believe in their vital role in shaping democratic societies and work to advance values-driven policies that encourage youth civic engagement, cultural participation, and accessible learning opportunities. Alongside my professional path, I write poetry with a focus on queer themes, exploring love, identity, and the political dimensions of intimacy. I use poetry as a way to reflect, resist, and imagine more compassionate and inclusive futures. For me, art and advocacy are deeply intertwined, and writing serves as both personal expression and social engagement.

Heather’s international career in organizational development, instructional design, strategic management, multimedia, cross-culture, and advocacy has spanned five continents and multiple fields.

As Executive Director of MESPERO: Impact for Resilience, she consults corporations, governmental groups, educational institutions and other entities on digital transformation, leadership development, workforce experience, change management, and globalization. This includes innovating effective approaches for scaling support to underserved populations. For example, she co-developed an online initiative to build mental health capacity in last-mile settings in Syria and Yemen

A firm believer in EdTech, PeaceTech, and the democratization of knowledge, Heather is an expert in various forms of virtual learning. As the CEO of elearn.works, she creates customized digital solutions for public and private entities and has developed multiple Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). As the founder of blockhub.care, she is pursuing innovative uses of Blockchain for the humanitarian and development sectors, especially regarding mental health, climate change, forced migration, and human trafficking.

Carly (he/she/they) believes in the power of language—especially when it comes to honoring the intimate experiences of gender and sexuality. With a background in Women’s and Gender Studies from Sonoma State University, Carly’s research explored trans lives across time and place. As a culmination of his studies, he designed and taught the undergraduate course “Trans Lives in the New Millennium: Trans Visibility and Trans Violence in the U.S.”

Dedicated to making trans and gender-expansive histories central to the archive, Carly also contributed to the LGBTQ history curriculum for the California Fair Education Act, ensuring queer histories are part of public school education across the state.

Now, as a mentor to young people in the San Francisco Bay Area through Summer Search, Carly shows up with an open ear, an open mind, and a commitment to deep listening. She helps teens navigate the systems and cultural landscapes around them, creating space for reflection and conversation—starting with the often complicated question, “How are you?” Carly also recognizes the contradictions and limitations of the nonprofit industrial complex and continuously pushes for student-centered practices within their organization.

Laurent Ziegler (MA) is the author of the print publication »Die Erinnerung an meine Kindheit«, an autobiographical analysis of traumatic experiences of childhood trafficking and ritual abuse, captured in paintings, drawings, text and photography. In his artistic work Laurent also focuses on installation and performative work. He studied Political Science at the University of Vienna and completed educational programs in contemporary dance and film. Laurent collaborates with artists in Europe and Japan and in 2009 initiated an arts-in-education program for photography in Sri Lanka (One World Foundation). For several years, he led courses on perception and memory at the NDU New Design University in Austria. His work is internationally represented in group and solo exhibitions. Laurent is a current member of Künstlerhaus Wien and Bildrecht LLC.

Les Simm founded the International Forum for Understanding. Les works in the business sector, with governments, the UN, INGO’s and other entities in areas ranging from security risk management and business resilience to humanitarian operations and disaster relief. He has expertise in nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons disarmament, non-proliferation, arms control and verification, security sector reform and countering transnational organised crime. Having trained as a psychiatric nurse in his early career, Les has long-term interest in mental health and wellbeing. Les is a passionate supporter of the SDGs with a particular focus on project implementation and making a demonstrable and direct impact on people’s lives.

Halima has a wealth of unique local and international experience and knowledge in social research, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) as well as in project management. She has led projects targeting the alleviation of suffering for marginalized, minority, discriminated, at- risk and vulnerable communities.
With over 12 years of experience in the field in the Horn of Africa, she brings unique value ensuring desired results are attained through effective, efficient, ethical and economical approaches. She has a BA in International Relations and an MA in Public Policy from Strathmore University, Kenya.

Kaltuma is a seasoned professional in program management and coordination, specializing in social healing initiatives across Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. Over the past eight years, she has devoted herself to crafting impactful programs tailored to diverse contexts.

In 2016, Kaltuma spearheaded a significant peacebuilding endeavor engaging 3,887 participants and earning recognition at the prestigious Paris Peace Forum. Additionally, she has been pivotal in pioneering virtual social healing programming, contributing engaging content and videos for digital learning platforms.

Originally from Syria, Doaa Al Zamel (Abo Nabout) is one of 11 survivors of the 2014 Malta migrant shipwreck that killed approximately 500 people. The boat capsized after being rammed by the smugglers. Doaa survived four days at sea, holding two infants; she was rescued, taken to Greece and then resettled in Sweden. Doaa Al Zamel (Abo Nabout) is a motivational speaker, human-rights advocate, and subject of a major book.

Rania Ali is an award winning journalist, public speaker, and human rights defender from Syria. Having made her first award-winning documentary with the Guardian in 2017, she works with several NGOs as a campaigner highlighting to governments the importance of protecting human rights defenders worldwide. She is an advocate for human rights generally and refugee and women’s rights specifically, engaged in that pursuit for the past five years. She has dedicated herself to speaking on many international platforms for said issues.

Having successfully completed a degree in international relations, Rania Ali is working on multiple projects applying her expertise in areas related to post-conflict peacebuilding and reconciliation.

Kendall Alaimo is an international activist, a clinical educator, a professionally trained artist, and a survivor of child trafficking and re-exploitation. What survived is her voice and she is using it around the world to innovate clinical care for complex trauma survivors. Kendall is an expert in child sexual abuse prevention and versed in medical modalities for complex trauma recovery.She has spoken both domestically and internationally in her mission to educate, support and provide hope to populations affected by the fallout of all types of trauma through her Trauma Talk. During her address at the 2021 United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on Combating Trafficking in Persons she stated, “Lets come together, let’s work together and let’s bring these survivors home.” As an Artist, she is known for using her iconic Red Seats. Her artwork and activism has recently been featured on CNN International. Kendall is the founder of The University Alliance on Human Trafficking.

Originally from Somalia, Suad has also lived in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Pakistan, and Austria. She speaks six languages: Somali, Arabic, German, English, Hindi and Urdu.
Suad graduated with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Karachi. She works as a Social Medical Consultant (including psychological counseling) at Diakonie Österreich and as an Assistant Consultant at the Austrian Red Cross. She is a certified counselor regarding female genital mutilation (FGM) issues and is active in related community outreach. SDG 3 is especially important to Suad.
Suad is a sought-after panelist and presenter, known for her storytelling skills in a variety of areas. She has spoken at the United Nations on interreligious topics, contributed to a migration and health panel at European Forum Alpbach, and contributed to high-level events including at the Diplomatic Academy Vienna, the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens and at an International Peace Day celebration hosted by the Second President of the Austrian Parliament.
Suad aims to spread awareness about refugee and migration issues, to improve the healthcare and pharmaceutical systems in developing countries, and to empower women. She often quotes Oprah Winfrey: ‘You become what you believe.’
Suad is the Founder of the Somalia Health Club which is a space to help the global Somali community meet with Somali health professionals and ask questions regarding medical topics, especially in relation to Covid-19 and vaccines (Instagram).

Malaika Oringo is the founder and CEO of Footprint to Freedom (2019), a survivor-led organization. She is a talented advocate and speaks up against human trafficking and stands up for victims’ rights and works to strengthen the survivor’s inclusion and engagement. She has spoken on various stages throughout Europe, such as in Paris, Geneva, Athens, London, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Raised in Uganda in harsh conditions and exploited in the Netherlands, she has devoted her life to fighting against human trafficking. She believes that since survivors are the most significant stakeholders in the fight against human trafficking, they should sit at decision-making tables from community level to national level and international level.  She has lobbied at the European Commission and spoken at the European Parliament about the gaps in the current approach human trafficking. She also advised on the best practices that can provide victim centered trauma informed and survivor centered approaches to improve response to survivors and victims’ needs.
She is a Member of the International Survivors of Trafficking Advisory Council (ISTAC) which assists the work of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in combating trafficking in persons.

Aigerim Seitenova is a human rights professional from Kazakhstan with more than three years of experience in the civil society sector of Kazakhstan with particular focus on human rights and peace education, youth and feminist activism.
She worked as the Head of the Department of Programmes in local NGO ‘Wings of Liberty’ based in Astana, Kazakhstan. Her interests center on the most efficient ways of increasing human rights knowledge by engaging and empowering young people, raising awareness about different human rights violations on the local, regional and global levels. Aigerim is an expert for the OSCE #Perspectives20-30 where she contributed to the chapter on human rights and peace education. Her interests also focus on critical analysis of the international human rights law in particular feminist and the so-called TWAIL (Third World Approaches to Law) critiques. She also collaborated with UN Women in Kazakhstan by coordinating the Civil Society Advisory Group.
An alumni of EU Global Campus Master’s Programme in Human Rights and Democratization in the Caucasus, Aigerim is currently finishing her postgraduate degree in International Human Rights Law at the University of Essex as a Chevening Scholar.

Ishaan Shah is a 19-year-old international anti-human trafficking, gender equality and climate action young leader. In 2017, he founded Stolen Dreams, a youth-led organisation working with global stakeholders to drive concrete actions around countering trafficking in persons through education, advocacy, and policy. Ishaan is the first Youth Focal Point for the Review and Implementation of the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and a UN Women National Gender Youth Advocate. Ishaan spends much of his time with survivors, organisations, policymakers, journalists, and lawyers, learning from the best minds in the world on these issues and always recognising intersectionalities.