One of the questions that I’m always asked is, “Why did you go into the field of child protection?” Usually, I state some variation of every child needs to be protected and I want a safer world for all children. And I do. But in reality, I woke up one morning, Lehman Brothers had gone bankrupt, I was on severance and I realized that unequivocally I was not living my values. I was in essence living a lie. The lie was the lie that I had been telling myself daily, that even though finance was not a fit and although, I had an MBA, if I shrunk myself or reshaped myself that I would be happy. But I wasn’t. I knew then as I know now, that when my life ended, I would not want to be remembered for working on investment portfolios but making a world and a life that I would be proud of.

For as long as I can remember, I recognized that I had an obligation and the responsibility to honor the sacrifices of my family, my ancestors, and all those who came before me to make the world better and to reach back and bring opportunities to others. So, one fateful Saturday morning, while putting my daughter down for her nap, I watched Rachel Lloyd’s documentary “Girls Like Us” about trafficking in the United States, I realized what I was put on this earth to do. The documentary featured girls like us, girls like me- brown girls. Girls who through poverty, race, and fractured relationships were extremely vulnerable to exploitation. These girls were my girls, each one could be my daughter. The power dynamics of trafficking mirror closely intimate partner violence, feeling stuck, believing that love takes work and sacrifice, and ultimately, staying silent. All of us have had moments where we’ve kept quiet in our personal and professional lives and we harm ourselves irreparably when we stay hidden and shrink ourselves. So, on that Saturday, I got out of the shadows and decided that no matter the outcome I was going to do my part to amplify the voices of survivors and be a part of the solution to end all forms of violence against children.

And now, over a decade in working with vulnerable children across the United States and internationally, I know that the time is now to stop being silent about the public health epidemic that is child sexual abuse and exploitation. Child sexual abuse lives in the shadows and only when we shine the darkest light in the crevices of our families, our friends, institutions do we truly become child protectors. When our children are protected from child sexual abuse and all forms of violence, we are also safeguarding them from vulnerability to sexual exploitation online and offline, substance abuse, and mental health challenges.

We all have a role to play- come join me on the journey!