Survivor Voices Initiative

Survivor Voices Initiative (SVI)

Mission

The mission of the Survivor Voices Initiative is to elevate and amplify the voices of survivor leaders in the fight to end human trafficking.

This initiative recognizes that survivors provide vital insights, experiences, and leadership that can inform and transform anti-trafficking efforts. However, many face financial barriers that hinder their participation in events, training sessions, and consulting opportunities.

Survivor Voices seeks to eliminate these barriers by creating opportunities for survivors to be heard and compensated fairly, ensuring their participation is ethical, trauma-informed, and non-exploitative.

Track Record

1 survivor council

2 events a year

120 organizations and companies impacted through speaking

Problem We are Solving

This initiative aims to fill an important gap in anti-trafficking efforts: while the voices of survivors are incredibly valuable, many face financial barriers that prevent their participation. Traveling, speaking at events, and taking on advisory roles often come with personal costs that can be burdensome. Additionally, when survivors do participate, they sometimes find themselves being tokenized or pressured to share their painful stories without proper compensation, support, or consideration for their well-being.

This initiative addresses both the practical and ethical challenges involved, enabling survivors to engage in a meaningful and safe way while providing them with autonomy, support, and fair compensation.

Results

The Survivor Voices Initiative adopts a trauma-informed, survivor-centered approach to avoid exploitation and tokenism by:

Respecting Autonomy

Survivors decide when, where, and how to share their stories, if they choose to share them at all. There is no expectation or pressure to recount trauma narratives.

Recognizing Lived Expertise as Legitimate Knowledge

Survivors’ insights are critical, experiential knowledge essential for informing policies, practices, and system changes. This expertise is respected equally to academic or professional knowledge and is included in Eagle Venture’s survivor council work.

Providing Support

Survivors receive support, including training in public speaking and post-speech debriefing to help manage the potential emotional impact of their involvement.

Guaranteeing Compensation

All survivor contributions, whether through speaking, advising, or consulting, are compensated fairly and transparently.

Measuring Success

Typical

0-1 survivors get paid scholarships to events

Goal

3-10 survivors can attend each event

Currently

Typical

0-1 Survivors on a survivor council

Goal

3-7 Survivors can be on a survivor council that is paid

Currently

Typical

0-1 Companies with survivor feedback

Goal

5-10 companies get survivor feedback

Currently

Leader Profile

Elizabeth Bowman McLaughlin, PhD, LICSW, LCSW-C
Assistant Professor at Gallaudet University in the Department of Social Work

She holds clinical social work licensure in 4 states, is an Advanced Clinical Trauma practitioner, & utilizes expressive arts in a holistic approach to well-being & mental health in her clinical practice. She is a survivor of both CSEC & DMST, and founded a nonprofit to support survivors of sex trafficking, the Restoring Ivy Collective.

Org History

The SVI is a part of the Clapham Accelerator.

This organization was started as a partnership with Tim Tebow Group, Scott Donnell, and Eagle Venture Fund in fall of 2023 as a way to accelerate the best and newest technologies that were being created to fight human trafficking.

We have met spring and fall for the last 18 months to grow this mission and now have 120 to 150 people semi-annually attending our events and engaging in a mighty network online platform. As a rule, we tend to overestimate what we can do in a year, but underestimate what we can do in a decade, so we plan with a 10+year horizon. Survivor voices are essential to this initiative.