Human Trafficking Conference: Capstone Project

On March 2, 2019, Ngan Bui organized a Human Trafficking Conference to inform the community about human trafficking. Since freshman year of high school, Ngan dedicated an assignment every year to educate herself and inform her classmates about human trafficking. In 9th grade, she wrote an editorial paper on this topic. In 10th grade, she delivered a speech about One Body Village, a non-profit organization that rescues victims of human trafficking, in her Communication Class. Junior year, she delivered her Ted Talk on human trafficking and had the opportunity to speak at TEDxYouth@RVA. To continue what she has been doing for the past three years, Ngan hosted a Human Trafficking Conference as her senior Capstone Project to raise awareness and educate the local community about the dangers of human trafficking.

Colonel Katz, the Chesterfield County Chief of Police, delivered the introductory remarks to begin the conference. He reminded the attendees that human trafficking happens where they live and encouraged them to take action. The keynote speaker for the conference was Ms. Tanya Street, a survivor expert and founder of IDENTIFIABLE ME. She shared with the community her story and helped them understand the dangers of human trafficking. The attendees were able to enjoy lunch catered by Chicken Fiesta while discussing the topic with Ms. Tanya Street. The second session was the panel discussion. Ms. Lili from The James House, Ms. Denison from Richmond Justice Initiative, Ms. Copty from Safe Harbor, and Ms. Pond from Bon Secours all shared their organizations’ missions in the fight against human trafficking. Community members had the opportunity to ask questions regarding human trafficking and receive answers from experts in the field.

After the conference, the attendees left with a t-shirt from ImPACT Virginia, a button pin, and various resources provided by our panelists. The success of this project was not measured by the number of attendees but by the impact that it created within each one of the attendees.