We have had the privilege of having several board members who are the light of this work! They inspire and care for us so that we may care for the survivors who come into our nonprofit.
Dr. Kat is the First and Only known US Survivor of Sex Trafficking to be included in the National Center for Civil and Human Rights Museum in Atlanta, GA.
Dr. Kat has a personal story of human trafficking from the time she was just 13 years of age to 17. Throughout her early life, she experienced several separate trafficking scenarios; first recruited at a hotel in Miami Beach by a sex tourist trafficking ring, then recruited through a friend in her middle school to more organized crime trafficking rings run by the drug cartel in Miami. Her final experience as a teen ended with a false modeling opportunity where she once again was exploited. She feels that God has never left her, and He never will.
All of her experiences centered around the metropolitan area of Miami, Florida. After escaping trafficking and drug addiction, she went on to experience teen pregnancy which led her into forced child marriage that lasted into a twenty-year abusive relationship. Leaving her abusive relationship was harder than staying. As she began to speak out about her trafficking experiences, her ex-family did everything they could to try and take her life.
With so many triumphs over unbeatable obstacles, Katariina is now a much sought-after speaker and trainer in the areas of human trafficking and domestic violence as well as an inspirational leader to many women all over the world.
Dr. Kat was the first Survivor Inclusion Officer for the United Nations University, FAST (Finance Against Slavery & Trafficking.) She has written two books on human trafficking: Her memoirs Stolen: The True Story of A Sex Trafficking Survivor and Trafficking in America: Real Life Stories.
Dr. Kat has provided expert witness testimony on human trafficking cases in Florida, testified before the Florida legislature, and provided testimony in Congressional briefings on Capitol Hill related to human trafficking in Washington, D.C. At the invitation of Florida Governor Rick Scott, she has also shared her testimony as to the importance of stopping human trafficking in Florida at bill signings and continues to work closely alongside state and federal legislative bodies on the issue. She is part of the Speaker’s Bureau and was a featured speaker at the National Survivor Leader Forum for DOJ in Washington, DC during January 2016. As well, Dr. Kat is a peer reviewer for most all federal agencies on grants pertaining to human trafficking, such as the Dept. of Justice – Office of Victims of Crime. Dr. Kat was part of the original S.O.A.R. pilot program and curriculum team of HHS & SAMHSA as well as a consultant for NHTTTAC and former policy champion for NSN. She has spoken on the topic before several federal and state legislative offices and agencies such as the Dept. of Justice, the State Dept., the Dept. of Health and Human Services, the Dept. of HUD on human trafficking. She is a long-time member of the speaker’s bureau for (NSN) National Survivor’s Network. She has ongoing speaking engagements on the issues of human trafficking & domestic abuse to universities & schools, law enforcement, prosecutor’s offices, juvenile justice centers, the medical profession as well as to the travel & tourism industry. Her story has been covered worldwide from local news NBC6, WPLG Channel 10, the Sun Sentinel Newspaper, and Miami Herald to being nationally recognized on the cover of Christianity Today’s Christian Woman’s Magazine, World Vision, CNN, Telemundo, AmeriTeve, and More!
Katariina holds an LL.M. (Masters of Law) degree from St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami where she got her start in activism against human trafficking; there she was on the inaugural law review for human trafficking in 2005 then on Child Soldiering in 2006. Kat also holds a PhD in Conflict Analysis & Resolution.
Dr. Kat is an alumnus of the FBI Citizen’s Academy – Miami Division, Class of 2020.
Dr. Kat has also worked as a consultant for the Department of Homeland Security on their Blue Campaign, conducting in person trainings to law enforcement through FLETC (Federal Law Enforcement Training Centre) and aiding to develop the Blue Campaign materials targeting potential identification of victims of human trafficking. Kat has also been the survivor fellow for the Dept. of Justice – Office of Victim’s of Crime OVC in helping to develop promising practices to serve survivors nationally.
“Hi Kat… I think of you and pray for you often…you came down to Homestead and spoke to our kids at …Middle School a few months back. You impacted our students in ways that you can never imagine…you changed a few lives while you were there. I can never forget you….” Miami, FLA.
Dr. Kat started There Is Hope For Me when she was in Miami, Florida doing outreach and found there were no survivor led programs for survivors of human trafficking. In the beginning of doing her outreach work, in 2010, Dr. Kat received a lot of push back by those in the movement who refused to embrace the survivor voice she carried. Instead of allowing that to be another setback, she let it be the momentum to push her forward in creating a survivor-to-survivor peer mentoring and support program. To date, she has helped thousands of survivors come out of human trafficking. She continues to successfully mentor survivors for over ten years. In a survivor led program, there is no expiration like with other programs of when the funds run out and the mentoring stops. Survivors are the cornerstone of all we do.
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Public Speaker, Author, Federal Consultant, International Survivor Leader. Founder of There Is Hope For Me, Inc., World Changer.
*For the safety of our nonprofit, we are not posting our board of directors at this time. For further information, please email: Info@ThereIsHopeForMe.org
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