Identifying Labor Trafficking in the U.S.

Jane Anderson brings her expertise in prosecuting domestic violence, sexual violence, and human trafficking to her role as an Attorney Advisor with AEquitas. Prior to joining AEquitas, Jane served as a prosecutor in Miami, Florida where she tried many of the state's first human trafficking cases. In her role as a founding member of the Human Trafficking Unit, Jane developed policies to better identify and provide necessary services to trafficking victims, while ensuring offender accountability through the use of digital evidence and creative charging decisions. Jane also served as a supervisor in the Domestic Violence Unit, where she trained new attorneys and oversaw the prosecution of domestic violence, stalking, and violations of protection orders. Throughout her career, Jane prosecuted felony-level crimes of all types, including homicide, kidnapping, and sexual assault. Currently, Jane’s responsibilities include serving as a member of the IACP technical assistance team and as ICF’s “field coach” for human trafficking prosecutors around the U.S. Jane graduated cum laude from American University, Washington College of Law and is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Jessica Grisler is a member of the IACP Programs Team where she currently works on the Enhancing Law Enforcement Human Trafficking Task Force Operations Program to support the needs of ECM task forces through training and curriculum development. Previously, Jessica worked on IACP’s Leadership Services and Training Team where she provided logistical and programmatic organization to the leadership trainings for police executives. Before becoming a team member with the IACP, Jessica was a Communications Specialist at the Arlington County (VA) Police Department, where she assisted the Public Information Officer with inquiries from the media and public, coordinated community outreach events and safety campaigns, and worked closely with other county agencies. Jessica started her career as a Media Relations/Public Affairs intern with the Arlington County Police Department. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Delaware and is currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration at George Mason University.

Colleen Owens is an expert on human trafficking with over a decade of experience directing and implementing U.S. and international research and training and technical assistance projects funded by the U.S. Department of State, National Institute of Justice, and Bureau of Justice Assistance. She currently serves as a technical assistance provider with the national human trafficking training and technical assistance team, funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, and led by the International Association of Chiefs of Police in collaboration with AEquitas and John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Through this work, she provides technical assistance and training and is involved in labor trafficking curriculum development for the federally funded human trafficking task forces. In addition to this work, Ms. Owens is the recent Founder and CEO of THE WHY, a non-profit organization dedicated to eradicating modern slavery, promoting and supporting sustainable and ethical design, and economically empowering survivors. Prior to founding THE WHY, she served as Senior Research Associate with the Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center where she codirected an over $4.1 million portfolio of research on human trafficking in the U.S. and several foreign countries.