Minnesota Human Trafficking Task Force Quarterly Meeting July 26, 2021

Meeting Agenda

Time	Agenda Item
9:00-9:10	Welcome Caroline Palmer, Minnesota Department of Health
9:10-9:40	A Holistic Response to Human Trafficking and Exploitation: Framework for Action Shunu Shrestha, City of Minneapolis Madeline Lohman, Advocates for Human Rights Presenters will provide a background of the process; overview of the recommendations; and next steps.
9:40-10:20	Community Identified Strategies: Injury and Violence Prevention during Compounding Crisis Noelle Volin, Men as Peacemakers Catherine Diamond, Minnesota Department of Health Injury and violence prevention during times of compounding crisis is not the same as injury and violence prevention during times of relative stability. Despite the multiple crises of the past year (the COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest due to racial injustice), community-based prevention organizations (CBPOs)throughout the state stepped up when their communities needed them most. Under high-risk conditions and often with limited or uncertain funding and resources, these organizations quickly adapted their internal policies, priorities, and existing prevention programming to better meet the increased needs of their communities. Through an innovative approach to community-level evaluation, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and Men As Peacemakers (MAP) connected with grantees and other CBPOs across the state to learn key strategies for continuing prevention work during crisis and into the future.  Rather than a one-size-fits-all checklist of action steps, the strategies identified through this process encourage a broader reflection of how CBPOs, funders, and supporting partners can increase and leverage community-connectedness, ensuring that organizations are in a place of strength and stability and can respond effectively to community need whenever the unexpected takes place. In this presentation, participants will: 1. Be introduced to a new framework for community-level prevention, centered on the key protective factor of community-connectedness. 2. Understand what community-connectedness as an organizational practice looks like. 3. Receive an overview of practical strategies for increasing community-connectedness at the institutional level.
10:20-10:30	Safe Harbor Update   Caroline Palmer, Minnesota Department of Health

Presenter Bios

Shunu Shrestha is the City of Minneapolis’ senior advisor for human trafficking and exploitation prevention initiative in the City Coordinator’s Office. She assumed this role in June 2018 and since has engaged with external and internal stakeholders, including survivors and councils and commissions such as Transgender Equity Council and Workplace Advisory Council to produce an action-oriented blueprint, “A Holistic Response to Human Trafficking and Exploitation: Framework for Action” to further the city’s commitment to end and prevent human trafficking and exploitation. Shunu brings years of experience working for nonprofits and non-governmental organizations advancing social justice and human rights of people.

Madeline Lohman is a Senior Researcher with The Advocates for Human Rights. She conducts research, community education and outreach, and legislative advocacy on immigrant rights and human trafficking in Minnesota. In 2019, she developed protocol guidelines on behalf of the MN Department of Health to improve the statewide response to youth victims of labor trafficking. She also specializes in trainings and technical assistance on human rights advocacy for social justice organizations, as well as international monitoring and reporting.

Noelle Volin is the Director of the “We Are All Connected” Project at Men As Peacemakers (MAP). “We Are All Connected” focuses on increasing community-connectedness – a primary protective factor against all forms of harm and violence – and serves as the foundation for MAP’s statewide and national community-level primary prevention programs (including the Don’t Buy It Project, BEST Party Model, and IMPACT). These programs engage people, groups, and systems in the shaping of community policies, practices, culture, and environment, in order to create communities where everyone can thrive and reach their full potential. 

Previously, Noelle served as the Staff Attorney and Trafficking Policy Coordinator at Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MNCASA). As project lead for the Minnesota Statewide Safe Harbor Protocol Implementation Project (funded by the Minnesota Department of Health), Noelle assisted multidisciplinary teams across the state develop a community-specific systems response to sex trafficking and sexual exploitation. Prior to her time at MNCASA, Noelle was the Staff Attorney and Director of Policy and Education at Breaking Free, a Minnesota-based non-profit serving sexually exploited women and girls. She created the Criminal Justice Advocacy Program for victims facing criminal charges as a result of their exploitation, and implemented a pro-bono legal clinic to meet the myriad civil legal needs of victims. In addition, Noelle co-facilitated the Offenders Prostitution Program (“John School”) for men charged with solicitation, and represented the voices of survivors and advocates on state and federal policy initiatives.

Noelle is a graduate of Hamline University School of Law and is admitted to practice law in the state of Minnesota. As a 2006-2008 Rotary World Peace Fellow, she also obtained a Master of Public Administration and Certificate in International Peace and Conflict Studies from the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan.

Catherine Diamond, DrPH leads the Economics and Evaluation Unit of the Injury and Violence Prevention Section at the Minnesota Department of Health. For over 10 years she focused on youth development and the intersection of health and education before she became involved with injury and violence prevention. She now aims to pull it all together to highlight the shared risk and protective factors that impact so many health outcomes. She earned her doctorate in public health from the City University of New York, but now calls Minnesota home. She was honored to learn from so many members of the prevention community during this project and looks forward to carrying the lesson forward in her work and life.