summer weekend with my children in the
country I opened my inbox and there was
an email from a complete stranger that
knocked me off my chair it said I’m a
female of age 32 from Cameroon but a
made in Kuwait I wish to be freed and
returned to my country my master
there are many of us girls here who are
treated like prisoners and not allowed
please help Francisca my head spun right
away my heart was racing how could I
help how could I help this person so far
away who did I know what if this was a
scam and worst of all what if she got
killed communicating with me this was
the first time that I had been contacted
by somebody in slavery I’d worked for
eight years with organizations in five
countries to help them free people to
help them create innovative solutions
for instance the tsiyon forum in the
Philippines rescued women who had been
hurt in domestic work and Umbraco they
created solutions to rescue them they
taught ferry companies and the
government how to identify young victims
at the point of transit they are now
dealing with the horrific crime of cyber
sex and rescuing children as young as
one year old from being tortured by
viewers thousands of miles away in India
japako free has freed over 30,000 bonded
Labor’s they’ve empowered 21,000 women
with self-help groups so that they can
maintain the freedom of their village
and their families in Ghana challenging
height rescues children who have been
enslaved in the fishing villages through
freedom for all I had worked with these
groups and they had endangered their
lives every day to end slavery
they’re my rock stars now I was being
called on through this email to free
someone I let Francisca know that I
would try to find somebody who could
help her who could rescue her I called
the national hotline Polaris Project I
called our partner in the Philippines I
called international agencies that deal
with slavery I tried to find a local
shelter that might rescue her the few
four days later she emailed me again
please don’t forget me of course I
couldn’t forget her every second since
she contacted me it seemed like a day
and the next day I received an email
that I dreaded I might receive it said
my master is abusing me I’m scared and I
was helpless to help her I hadn’t found
anyone
the next morning miraculously she had
Francisca is a college graduate she was
pursuing her graduate degree in Norway
and multiculturalism but she couldn’t
afford to live there so she returned
home to Cameroon where she met a Labour
broker who told her about a job teaching
English in Kuwait it paid $800 a month
through Francisco we were able to rescue
27 other women we returned them to their
home countries each of them had been
promised a different job by a corrupt
labor broker with good salaries when
they got to the destination all of them
were forced to work as domestic workers
with essentially no pay it may be some
got a little but no pay board I was used
to working with young vulnerable people
we scouted all over the world
I told young aspiring models what they
could earn in New York and the potential
for different types of jobs they had
hopes and dreams of a better life when
they came they didn’t know where they
were they didn’t know how to get around
frequently they didn’t speak English so
they lived with us we took care of them
like they were family people who are
trafficked for work have that same hope
and dream of a better life but when they
arrived what they were promised is not
there
usually they’re young and they end up
trapped when my parents started forward
in 1946 the agency business looked a lot
like the labor broker system where it
looks today
the models weren’t paid they were
exploited my parents thought it was
natural to pay them and of course it was
the right thing to do to protect them
and that’s why they did it but as it
turned out it was also good for business
the models at other agencies when they
heard Ford models were being paid
so I thought what if we try to do
something for domestic workers something
similar to this where we compete against
the corrupt labor brokers I told this
idea to a friend in the not-for-profit
world he turned to me you said you run a
not-for-profit don’t you said yes but
what if we can solve a human rights
violation with a business that’s
self-sustaining what if we can actually
do something better isn’t that worth
I looked at it as my goal was to end
slavery whether it’s through a
not-for-profit or a business it doesn’t
matter the point is to end it so I
started on a plan I found someone who
had experience in recruiting and
training workers we worked on a business
plan and presented it to the government
of Dubai where she’s located unbeknownst
to us the government was changing its
labor laws as it related to domestic
workers they gave us an initial approval
and we started to look for investors
I really thought social impact investors
were going to love the solutions I was
wrong
we didn’t fall into any of their
categories we weren’t primarily tech we
were an education environment or
healthcare and most did not invest in
the mill piece so I went to some
business investors and I said what’s
wrong with this business plan how can I
make it better what’s missing
please critique it instead of critiquing
it they chose to invest my work at
freedom for all is still necessary and
philanthropic donations are very
important if we’re going to end slavery
in our time but charitable organizations
can’t do it alone
slavery is more profitable than
abolition it is a huge industry it’s a
hundred and fifty billion dollar
industry the second largest crime after
drug trafficking
there are 40 million people in slavery
today that is more than the combined
populations of New York Los Angeles
Chicago and the next 26 cities in the
United States
40 million imagine that imagine those
cities all being people who are enslaved
that is our reality today our business
is about to open we’re hoping that this
will change the lives of thousands of
people and their families we are hoping
to put the corrupt labor brokers out of
business all of these ideas are about
applying our values holistically the
same values and goals I had it forward
of developing people I had at freedom
for all also and now the same values are
driving me back to a business for those
of you in the room who are about to
begin your careers let your path be
driven by your values and let yourself be surprised by where it ends thank you