Mr. Rodriguez has been a deputy district attorney for nearly 21 years. For the past two years, he has been assigned as the Assistant Head Deputy of the Sex Crimes Division. For the past year, he has worked with the Los Angeles Innocence Lost Task Force. Presently, Mr. Rodriguez reviews all task force cases presented to the District Attorney’s office for filing consideration, screening cases for potential filing before assigning cases to a deputy district attorney. Mr. Rodriguez supervises the handling prosecutor and, if necessary, engages in case settlement discussions. As part of his duties with the task force, Mr. Rodriguez also organizes seminars dealing with the investigation and prosecution of pimping of minor cases. In addition, he responds to inquiries from investigators and prosecutors on pimping/pandering of minor cases. In addition to Mr. Rodriguez’s task force cases, he assists with the supervision of deputy district attorneys assigned to the central sex crimes division, Stuart House and the Sexually Violent Predators Unit. Prior to his assignment to the Sex Crimes Division, he was assigned for approximately four years as the Deputy in Charge of the East Los Angeles Area Office and assigned for four years as the Victim Impact Program Coordinator for the Norwalk Branch Office. Mr. Rodrigues has tried about 90 jury trials of which about 75 were felonies, including several child and domestic violence murders, child physical abuse cases, other domestic violence-related crimes, child and adult sexual abuse cases and other aggravated crimes.

Wendy Barahona Savage is a multifaceted Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) professional with over 9 years of experience. Having traveled to over 30 countries her expertise ranges from field auditing to CSR program development and implementation, training and education, capacity-building, and stakeholder engagement.

In her current role as a Social & Environmental Responsibility Manager at Patagonia, Wendy is responsible for the company’s Supply Chain compliance and commitment to upholding Patagonia’s Workplace Code of Conduct and Fair Labor Association (FLA) obligations.

Through her career, Wendy has advised a wide variety of industries from Garment to Food, Agriculture and Mining, on programs based on CSR Certifications and Initiatives such as FLA (Fair Labor Association), RJC (Responsible Jewellery Council), BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative), ETI (Ethical Trading Initiative), SA8000 (Social Accountability 8000), and others.

Originally from Lima, Peru, Wendy completed her studies in Sociology at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).  She was then awarded with a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship to represent the United States in France, where she completed a Master’s in Business Management at SKEMA Business School.  She is fluent in Spanish, English and French.

Carmen A. Trutanich was elected City Attorney for the City of Los Angeles on May 19, 2009, and assumed office July 1, 2009. Carmen, who was born and raised in the South Los Angeles neighborhood of San Pedro, attended local schools, earning both his undergraduate degree and MBA at the University of Southern California. After working alongside his father at San Pedro’s StarKist tuna cannery and teaching at local community colleges, Carmen decided to pursue a law degree.

Upon completing his law degree at the South Bay University College of Law in 1978, Carmen joined the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office, where he cut his teeth in the “Hard Core Gang Division” before playing an instrumental role in the formation and success of the Environmental Crimes/OSHA Division.  Determined to complete an ongoing gang prosecution, Carmen became the first and only Deputy D.A. to secure a death verdict while assigned to the Environmental Crimes/ OSHA Unit.  Carmen was also the first prosecutor in California to obtain a felony conviction for illegal disposal of hazardous waste and the first to draft a set of court-approved jury instructions for environmental crimes.

Carmen left the District Attorney’s Office in 1988 to work in private practice.  In 1998 he formed Trutanich-Michel, LLP, where he continued to focus on environmental litigation.  Carmen has been lead trial counsel in more than 300 trials, including more than 100 jury trials.  California Lawyer magazine chose him as one of the top 10 in the field of environmental law and land use in his roles as practitioner and instructor.  Carmen has been named a Southern California “Superlawyer” for the past four years in a row, and has received an “AV” rating from Martindale-Hubell,  the highest possible rating, in the areas of legal ability and ethical standards.

Since taking office, Carmen has made it a leading priority to defend and provide outstanding legal representation on behalf of the City of Los Angeles. In one year alone, City Attorney litigators saved the City more than $200 million in civil damages in lawsuits filed against City Departments. In addition to defending the City Treasury, a top priority for Carmen has been to aggressively pursue monies owed to the City. Since July 2009, City Attorney litigators have collected nearly $14.4 million in delinquent business taxes.

Despite suffering a staggering loss of more than 10% of City Attorney staff and a reduction of approximately 30% of its budget in the first two years, Carmen has balanced the City Attorney’s budget, often with a surplus at the end of each fiscal year. In the Fall of 2009, in an effort to address the glaring shortage of prosecutors, Carmen initiated a Reserve Deputy Program that annually provides nearly $2 million in services to the City. Under Carmen’s direction, the City Attorney’s Office has also reduced the use of and fees charged by outside counsel by nearly 50%.

Carmen, and his wife Noreen, have four children:  Kristin is a Deputy D.A. currently assigned to Long Beach Juvenile; Nicholas serves as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California; Kimberly is an educator; and Caitlin is studying at Santa Clara University.

Jennifer Musto is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and holds dual academic appointments at USC and Rice University. She received her PhD from UCLA and her research and teaching interests are interdisciplinary, with specific expertise in the areas of human trafficking, forced labor, migration, policing, human rights, gender, and sexuality. Her dissertation research examined the emergence of human trafficking in the United States and the Netherlands, two leading countries of destination for the phenomenon. In this project, she comparatively investigated the collaborative alliances that have been forged between social justice advocates and law enforcement agents in both countries to identify and protect trafficked persons. She is currently working on two research projects. The first is a book-length project that explores how increased attention to human trafficking in the United States has led to heightened multi-professional efforts to identify and protect victims of domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST).  providers, and advocates. The second project explores the connection between trafficking and technology. For that research,  she is working with USC’s Center for Communication & Leadership Policy in examining how law enforcement leverage technology to pursue trafficking investigations.

As a recognized expert of human trafficking, Jennifer has lectured widely on these topics and has published in peer-reviewed journals such as the International Feminist Journal of Politics, Women’s Studies International Forum, and Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women’s and Gender Studies.  Her research has received financial support from a variety of sources, including Wellesley College, UCLA, Northeastern University, the Fulbright Scholar Program, the University of California Institute for Research in the Arts, and Microsoft Research and the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit.

Cynthia has been with World Vision, as the National Director of Women of Vision, for almost three years. A nurse educator, entrepreneur and Vice President of Strategic Solutions Inc, based in Seattle, Washington, she has been a board member for several organizations including a founding board member of the Institute for Business Technology and Ethics. She has lived in Ethiopia and worked as a development officer with Agros International in support of private land reform in Central America.

Recognizing women and girls as critical partners in development, World Vision and its U.S. based mobilization effort, Women of Vision, work to equip, protect, and advocate for women in nearly 100 countries. Programs help women access health care, recover or protect themselves from exploitation, become educated and literate, access microloans and economic opportunities, and gain influence in their community to promote positive change. Cynthia is passionate to change the global story for women and girls, believing that collectively investing in women and girls is significant to the alleviation of poverty, and key to peace building and sustainable social change.

After college Joel worked for 7 years helping at-risk youth in Florida and Tennessee. Spending half of his childhood internationally in the Caribbean and Europe, Joel was ready to integrate this with his non-profit experience and spent 4 years in the U.S. offices of organizations working in Haiti and and Latin America.  While completing an M.A. in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Seminary, he met the Oasis team and served two years as a board member before taking on the Executive Director role.  He, his wife and their two boys are excited to be back in the Los Angeles area, while still connected to the work of Oasis around the world.

Jenny Wood currently serves as Director of Operations & Legislative Assistant for  Congress member Karen Bass. Her policy portfolio includes child welfare, human services, transportation, and environmental issues. Prior to working in Washington DC, Jenny served as District Director for then Assembly Speaker Karen Bass in Los Angeles. Jenny completed the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs and graduated from UCLA with a degree in International Development.

Michael and Carol had careers in the motion picture industry, as well as owning an industry related business.  They have been involved in Christian work for over 30 years… (Michael has been a Christian for 30+ years and Carol 45+ years)

Michael and Carol have always had a desire to serve as missionaries in unreached areas of our world with the gospel and in August of 2002, Michael and Carol heard for the first time about the global atrocities of the Human Trafficking epidemic.

In December of 2002, The Hart’s founded ZOE International – “ZOE” is the Greek word for “Life”

Michael and Carol sold their large Southern California custom home, their cars, and most of their possessions to start ZOE…

To help continue to rescue more children, Carol gave away her diamond wedding ring totaling 6 carats in a campaign to raise awareness and funds which resulted in thousands of dollars to go toward the work in Thailand.

Michael and Carol have been joined by a brilliant and dedicated group of people – 7 USA staff, 20+ self-funded missionary families (24 missionary children), 60 Thai staff, 36 ministry-business-vocational-language school fulltime students, and 63+ rescued children.

Tamar Benzaken Koosed manages UL Responsible Sourcing’s Risk and Data services. She is responsible for the portfolio of products that help clients better understand their supply chain characteristics, allowing them to allocate supply chain monitoring resources more efficiently. Beyond risk evaluation and quantitative analysis, Tamar’s other areas of expertise include stakeholder engagement, community development, public policy and its roles in promoting responsible labor practices, and evaluation of social interventions. Tamar has written several articles published by reputable organizations, such as Business for Social Responsibility, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the United Nations Global Compact. Tamar has recently been appointed to the World Economic Forum’s Global Shaper Community, a network of young leaders with potential for future leadership roles in society.  She obtained her B.A. in International Relations at the University of Southern California and an M.A. in International Affairs with a specialization in international economics from the University of California, San Diego.

Mary Heller is currently serving as a chief of police in the Denver-metro area and has 23 years of law enforcement experience. Her law enforcement experience includes chief of police and command level positions in training, investigations, emergency response and patrol. She also spent several years working covert investigations in vice and narcotics. Mary served three years in Chennai, India, as the Director of Investigations for the International Justice Mission, leading a team of investigators responsible for identifying, investigating and documenting cases of bonded labor and other human rights violations. During her time in Chennai, the team rescued nearly 1500 people from slavery. She has earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Colorado at Denver, and a Master of Criminal Justice in Executive Leadership from the University of Colorado at Denver.