Foster Care Children and Youth and the Risk of Commercial Sexual Exploitation

Sarah Ladd, JD, Human Trafficking Child Protection Program Coordinator, DHS Child Safety and Permanency Division
At the DHS Child Safety and Permanency Division, Sarah Ladd leads collaborative efforts to create a more effective and cohesive response to child trafficking victims through the child welfare system statewide. Sarah is also a licensed attorney who has been active in the anti-trafficking movement for nearly a decade, and she has nearly fifteen years of direct services experience with victims of crime and human rights abuses. Sarah has a bachelor’s degree from Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI, and a law degree from Michigan State University College of Law.

Karen Lambie, PhD, Shared Hope Ambassador of Hope Volunteer
Now retired, Dr. Karen Lambie taught for a total of 32 years at both the elementary school and university levels. She has a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology. She was a foster parent for 14 years. Currently she is an Ambassador of Hope for Shared Hope International, serves on the Mayor’s Commission For Youth in Statesboro, Georgia, is a regional Vice President for the Adoptive and Foster Parent Association of Georgia and is on the Georgia Statewide Human Trafficking Task Force in Atlanta, Georgia. She has spoken throughout the state of Georgia on the issue of human trafficking and most specifically the sex trafficking of minors. Speaking engagements have included foster parents, CASA, medical personnel, guidance counselors, churches, civic clubs, the hospitality industry and youth groups.

Barbara Amaya, Director of Survivor Leadership, ATI and member of ECPAT Survivors Council
Barbara holds a background in education, and a credential in early childhood development. Her award winning book, Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Lost Innocence, Modern Day Slavery and Transformation, shares how a victim of brutally horrific adversity can overcome, recover, and move forward to use her personal experiences to educate and motivate others.Barbara shares her personal compelling story of experiencing extreme trauma, and overcoming adversity against all odds as a source of awareness, education, inspiration and motivation. She has provided testimony in Congress, national and international venues, in multiple documentary films, and in various media.

Meiko Taylor, MBA, CEO, The Power Project​
As a former foster youth, Meiko Taylor spent 8 years giving back working with at-risk teens in foster care and on probation. After learning some of the youth she worked with had been sex trafficked, Meiko developed a passion for prevention. A filmmaker by trade, she created a hip-hop film and prevention training program aimed at educating teens on some of the tactics used by sex traffickers to recruit and ways to keep safe.
After growing a national prevention program from serving 300 youth to training over 26,000 in just two years, she was inspired to launch The Power Project as a way to further spread a message of hope, overcoming challenges, and finding success. Meiko holds a B.S. in Psychology from Loyola University Chicago as well as a MBA.