It’s been an exciting few months for the Partnership for Freedom’s Reimagine: Opportunity challenge.  At our launch in September, the challenge sought creative ideas to address three critical issues faced by human trafficking survivors: sustainable housing; economic empowerment; and social services. By the close of the competition period, we received more than 160 entries from over 260 community organizations, service providers, hospitals, corporations, universities, government agencies and community coalitions.

In December, the Partnership for Freedom announced our finalist teams and their exciting new ideas. The following month, we pulled the teams together in Washington D.C. for our Innovation Workshop – an intensive three-day event designed to further develop each team’s idea. Our finalist teams consulted with ‘coaches’ in a wide range of fields – from design to architecture to public health. They worked closely with each other to refine and hone their plans, and consulted with survivors of trafficking from a wide range of personal and professional backgrounds.

Since the end of the Innovation Workshop, the finalist teams have been preparing their final proposals, which they’ll submit on March 17th. We’re looking forward to seeing how their ideas have developed since the Workshop.

Today, we’re pleased to announce our panel of Judges who will review the finalist submissions:

  • Nick Grono is the CEO of The Freedom Fund, the world’s first private donor fund designed to end modern-day slavery. In the past, he served as the inaugural CEO of the Walk Free Foundation, a leading international actor in the fight against modern slavery.
  • Bruce McNamer is the Head of Global Philanthropy and CEO of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. He brings a broad range of experience in the public, private and philanthropic sectors.
  • JaMel Perkins heads the JaMel & Tom Perkins Foundation and is an activist focused on public education and women’s empowerment.
  • Pamela Shifman directs the NoVo Foundation’s work to promote the human rights of girls and women globally. In the past she served as the Co-Executive Director of Equality Now, where she focused extensively on trafficking of girls and women.
  • Ambassador Melanne Verveer most recently served as the first US Ambassador for Global women’s issues. Today, she is the Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security.

We’re thrilled to be working with such a distinguished panel of individuals, and we’re looking forward to receiving the final proposals from each team in just a few weeks!