This networking and interactive event is for experienced advocates and professionals who are active in addressing human trafficking in Michigan through prevention, education and/or the provision of services to survivors and at-risk populations. The objective of this forum is to increase collaboration and effectiveness of the SE Michigan community by identifying barriers, building relationships, and strengthening partnerships.

Dinner is provided 5:00-5:30.  Tickets are $25/person.

Our Program…

• Legal First Responders.  Trafficking survivors face legal obstacles that arise from the circumstances of their exploitation.  Yet, they often do not have the knowledge or the financial means to secure skilled legal representation.  Known as the “justice gap,” this inability to secure legal assistance often impedes survivors from moving toward a brighter future.  In this presentation, Jennifer Grieco and Nate Knapper jointly discuss the legal community’s efforts to close this justice gap through The Joseph Project – a network of “Legal First Responders” committed to servicing survivors’ legal needs on a pro bono basis.
• What next Michigan? Where should Michigan go and what should we do next in our pursuit to end trafficking and sexual exploitation?  What is the Nordic Model of legal and service framework aimed to reduce sex trafficking? Angela Aufdemberge provides insights into some common elements of local (within US) best practice initiatives and her findings from 2019 Eugene Miller Fellowship project which focused on improved legislation and disruption of patterns of sexual exploitation. She examines ideas to include in Michigan’s pathway forward.
• Legislation and Commission Update.  What new legislation is in the workings and what gaps or issues will it address?  What will Michigan do to reduce demand? What is the Commission’s focus in 2020? Kelly Carter brings us an update on the latest news from our state government.
• Networking.  Time is available after our program for networking. A Roster of participating organizations will be made available to attendees. Bring literature to share on our resource table. Bring business cards to share with other advocates.

Speaker Bios…

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Jennifer Grieco

Jennifer currently serves as the immediate past President of the State Bar of Michigan. She concentrates her practice in the area of complex commercial litigation. Jennifer has more than 20 years of trial experience and has been awarded multiple high-profile verdicts and arbitration awards.

Jennifer is a 1993 graduate of the University of Toledo and a 1997 cum laude and order of the coif graduate of the University of Toledo, College of Law, where she served as Note and Comment Editor of the University of Toledo Law Review.
Routinely recognized for her accomplishments and contributions to the legal profession, Jennifer was named one of only five Up & Coming Lawyers for 2004 by Michigan Lawyers Weekly. She has been recognized as a Super Lawyer and Top 50 Women Lawyers since 2010; as one of the Top 100 Lawyers since 2013; a Top 50 Business Lawyers since 2013; and one of the Top 25 Women Business Lawyers in Michigan since 2013. She was included in The Best Lawyers in America© for 2015-2018 and recognized as a dbusiness Top Lawyer in 2012-2018. In 2018, Jennifer was named a Leading Lawyer in Leading Lawyers Magazine for 2017 and 2019, including top 10 Women Business Lawyers and Top 10 Women Lawyers. She was also recognized as a Notable Woman Lawyer by Crain’s Detroit in 2017. Jennifer was also awarded the Michael E. Lee Memorial Award Recognizing Diversity by the OCBA in October 2017.

In 2010, Jennifer was also named to Crain’s Detroit Business‘ annual “40 Under 40″ list, based on business achievements and community impact and in 2011, she recognized by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as a “Woman in the Law.” In 2011, the Legal Aid and Defender Association Inc., presented Jennifer with the Pro Bono Service Award of the Oakland County Bar Association (OCBA) for her work in establishing the OCBA Pro Bono Mentor Match Program. The OCBA Pro Bono Mentor Match Program won both the LexisNexis Community Education Outreach Award at the American Bar Association’s annual meeting in August, 2011 and the State Bar of Michigan’s Kimberly M. Cahill Award for bar leadership in September, 2012.

Nate Knapper

Nate Knapper is the founder of The Joseph Project. As a federal law enforcement officer, he served on a Detroit-based anti-trafficking squad, where he investigated human trafficking and child exploitation matters. Nate formerly served as an Assistant Attorney General at the Michigan Department of Attorney General, where he worked as a member of the Michigan Commission on Human Trafficking. He is a member of the State Bar of California and the State Bar of Michigan. He is a graduate of Calvin College, Pepperdine Law School, and the Straus Dispute Resolution Institute.

Angela Aufdemberge

Angela Aufdemberge is President and CEO of Vista Maria, a non-profit agency that provides care, support, treatment, and education to at-risk children and families. The organization is the oldest, longest standing nonprofit in Michigan with over 135 years of serving the community.

Under her leadership, Vista Maria has experienced accelerated financial growth and mission expansion.  She is the visionary behind the strategy that led to Vista Maria’s successful development of a continuum of care service model for children and young adults, ages 0 to 24, who have experienced abuse and foster systems of care.  In addition, her leadership furthered the delivery of youth centered after-school program called Journey to Success, STEM programming for middle school aged girls, broad based expressive therapies and after care programs which added client centered value and improved outcomes.   The most significant expansion included capacity and programming to aid the rescue and restoration of girl survivors of human trafficking. Today, Vista Maria is the only agency of its kind to provide comprehensive, continuous care, treatment and education to Michigan’s most victimized youth.

Angela serves as a tireless advocate for vulnerable youth.  Her work to inform and raise awareness combined with other strong voices, led to the passage of critically needed safe harbor and treatment legislation for adolescent survivors of human trafficking.  During this important time in our nation’s history to address barriers and challenges faced by youth in systems of care, she continued to speak up in support of much needed identity theft protections for at-risk youth that also resulted in legislative changes within Michigan.  She regularly provides briefings on adolescent sexual exploitation, youth aging out of systems of care and their barriers to success as well as improving performance based systems of care.  Most recently, she is a 2019 Eugene Miller Fellowship Recipient that afforded her the opportunity to study best practices to improve legislation and disrupt patterns of sexual exploitation.  Angela is a recipient of the SEEN Changemaker Award 2019 and a Crain’s Notable Non-Profit Leader 2018.

Angela has over 25 years of for-profit leadership experience within Operations, Human Resources, Quality and Training.  She served as Executive Vice President of Operations, General Manager Fundraising and Director of Human Resources.  Angela also has experience in manufacturing, service, and health care industries.

Aufdemberge serves as Board Chair of StarrVista, a Wayne County Juvenile Justice care management non-profit as well as Executive Leader of the Child Welfare Partnership Council for Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.  She previously served as Chair of the Wayne State University Transition to Independence Advisory Board, Executive Committee Member for Michigan Federation of Children and Families, and Local Health Services Subcommittee of the Michigan Human Trafficking Commission.

Kelly Carter

Kelly Carter has been an Assistant Attorney General for over 20 years, primarily in the Criminal Division of the Michigan Department of Attorney General with past assignments including the High Tech Crime Unit, Child Protection Unit and the Mortgage Fraud Unit.

Just after Attorney General Schuette took office in 2011, she was tapped to join the new Human Trafficking unit where she prosecutes human traffickers.  She has convicted almost 20 people under the state’s human trafficking statute.  She was appointed by the Governor as Chair of the Michigan Human Trafficking Commission, and works on behalf of the Attorney General on Michigan’s Human Trafficking Task Force.  She regularly contributes to the Attorney General’s efforts to improve Michigan’s criminal law, testifying on over a dozen occasions before Michigan House and Senate subcommittees considering legislation involving child sexual exploitation and human trafficking.  She also frequently trains on human trafficking throughout Michigan.