Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT)

Kendis Paris is executive director and co-founder of Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT), a nonprofit organization that educates, equips, empowers, and mobilizes members of the trucking, bus and energy industries to combat human trafficking. Paris has grown TAT to train over 845,000 industry members to be the eyes and ears of our nation's roadways. TAT’s network includes 50 state trucking associations, trade groups, the vast majority of large trucking companies and truck stops, the bus industry, and a range of state agencies, including state departments of transportation, attorneys general, and law enforcement. Paris is co-winner of the Norma Hotaling Award for demand reduction and winner of the 2019 Presidential Award for Extraordinary Efforts in Combating the Trafficking of Persons. She served as a member of the USDOT's Advisory Committee on Human Trafficking, and is also an Ashoka fellow, a global organization that identifies and invests in leading social entrepreneurs.

As hundreds of thousands of women and children are repeatedly coerced, tortured and sold for sex up to 20 times a day across North America, the problem of human trafficking is all too real. Recognizing that professional drivers often find themselves in locations victims are brought to be sold, Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) seeks to activate these 'eyes and ears' of our nations roadways on behalf of the vulnerable and exploited. Dedicated to targeted systems change through the discovery and disruption of human trafficking networks, TAT is raising up a mobile army of transportation professionals to assist law enforcement in the recognition and reporting of human trafficking, in order to aid in the recovery of victims and the arrest of their perpetrators.

Human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery that involves the exploitation of human beings through force, fraud or coercion for the purposes of commercial sex or forced labor, wherein a third party is making a profit. Around the world, it is estimated that there are over 40 million slaves today, and that this criminal activity generates $150 billion in profits annually. Human trafficking has been reported in all 50 states, and the number of victims in the United States is estimated in the hundreds of thousands. Traffickers recruit out of our schools, online, in shopping malls, as well as the streets and other locations. They rely on the transportation industry in every phase of human trafficking including recruitment, moving and controlling victims, as well as delivering victims to buyers. A large percentage of the people trafficked are women and children. Many of them are used in the sex industry. They are the prostituted people on the street and in private homes, and in legitimate businesses such as restaurants, bus terminals, truck stops and motels. They need to be identified and rescued.

TAT recognizes that members of the trucking, bus and energy industries are invaluable in the fight against this heinous crime. As the eyes and ears of our nation’s highways, they are in a unique position to make a difference and close loopholes to traffickers who seek to exploit our transportation system for their personal gain. As such, TAT exists to educate, equip, empower and mobilize them, as well as applicable state agencies, to combat human trafficking as part of their everyday jobs. We have three main goals:

·      Saturate trucking and related industries with TAT materials.

·      Partner with law enforcement and government agencies to facilitate the investigation of human trafficking.

·      Marshal the resources of our partners to combat this crime.

In an effort to deliver on our mission and build the largest mobile army of transportation professionals dedicated to discovering and disrupting human trafficking networks, TAT creates turnkey, anti-trafficking protocols and policies for our key market sectors to implement within their existing infrastructures. In doing so, we have achieved targeted systems change across hundreds of private companies and public agencies, as very few of our partners had activated their organizations to combat human trafficking prior to TAT.

Ultimately, TAT seeks to serve victims of human trafficking by activating hundreds of thousands of industry members and government officials to partner together to aid in their recovery ... and it's working. Over 845,000 industry members are now registered as TAT trained, and truck drivers have now made close to 2500 calls into the National Human Trafficking Hotline, resulting in over 660 cases, involving over 1230 victims ... and this is only one slice of the data pie as no one is tracking calls into 911 or the local sheriff's office in relation to this crime. While TAT does not provide direct services, we are working to prevent this crime from occurring through our focus on demand reduction by educating and equipping three, extremely large, male-dominated industries (whose combined span makes up over 14 million individuals in the US alone), to combat this crime. TAT also works closely with survivors of human trafficking, by employing two of them on its staff to train industry members and law enforcement officers on how to take a victim-centered approach, and we work with a host of others through the broader abolitionist movement to continuously inform our work.  

Human trafficking is often hidden in plain sight. As traffickers count on our ignorance and apathy, it is imperative that previous bystanders to this crime become trained to recognize and report it. TAT provides turnkey solutions for both its public and private partners that fit within their existing infrastructures negating obstacles for implementation. In addition, TAT recognizes that this ultimately is a battle for the heart and mind, and elevates the backstory of the victims themselves to the audiences we are seeking to bring to their aid. In doing so, their humanity is put on display, promoting actionable empathy. 

My mom, Lyn Leeburg, came up with the original idea for TAT. Our family (my mom and three sisters) had started a nonprofit in 2007 in order to combat exploitation, but after learning about the realities of human trafficking, and remembering that truckers had been some of the friendliest customers at her parents motel in El Paso, TX growing up, my mom recognized that we needed to approach the trucking industry to help solve this problem ... and TAT was born in 2009. A trucker himself took a week off the road and created the first version of our website, but it was in 2011, with the creation of our first training DVD, that TAT really began to grow and we turned it into its own 501c3 and I became the executive director. My mom still volunteers as the Communications Director. My big sister Kylla is TAT's deputy director. My oldest sister Kirsta, prosecuted traffickers for over a decade as an assistant district attorney and through the Texas Attorney General's Office, but has recently formed the Institute to Combat Human Trafficking, and my little sister Karin, who works for Amazon, was instrumental in bringing them into a partnership with TAT.

A few years before starting TAT, someone very close to me was raped. She knew the perpetrator who slipped a drug into her drink, carried her immobile body out of the club to his car, and later from his car into a hotel room where he raped her repeatedly. I always think about how many people saw what was happening but didn't really understand what was going on. Similarly, truck stop prostitution has been around for years and years, with most of the victims referred to as lot lizards. What if the veiled was pulled back to reveal what was really taking place out there? What if truck drivers understood the back story of the young girl walking the lot and knocking on cab doors? What if bus terminal employees could recognize their local pimp ... that guy always chatting up the vulnerable teenage girls? What if oil and gas workers understood that pimps follow the money and are now bringing victims into their small town to be sold? And what if a good percentage of these men could be empowered to take action and combat this? We're actually seeing that happen and that's why I'm passionate about TAT!

My father died when I was 9 years old, leaving my 3 sisters, my mom and I to run the family farm. Two years later my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer which made things even tougher on my family physically, emotionally and financially, forcing us to develop an incredibly strong work ethic. I'm six feet two inches tall and earned a Division 1 college scholarship to play basketball where I became team captain by my sophomore year. My first job out of college was at a youth correctional facility where I developed a curriculum on character education for my students. Later on, as a pastor's wife, I not only preached from the pulpit, but also created a curriculum for the young girls in our church youth group dealing with body image issues. After the rape of my loved one and reading the book, Not for Sale by David Batstone, our family became involved in the fight against human trafficking and never looked back. Growing up surrounded by strong female role models who pushed through obstacles no matter how daunting, and guided by a faith that works for justice on behalf of the oppressed, I am uniquely positioned to lead TAT because I recognize that ordinary people can be changemakers right where they're at given the opportunity. Truck drivers and state agency employees at the DMV or DOT are often overlooked in helping to solve the world's toughest problems, but TAT provides them with avenues to do just that.

In 2014, TAT faced a major industry setback due to media sensationalism. I was misquoted in an AP story that eventually found its way into the premier trucking publication and infuriated some of our key partners resulting in TAT being disinvited from a significant industry event and broader apprehension in working with us. Although a correction was later made, the damage had been done. This problem had been building as a result of similar sensationalized media stories about our work that tended to paint the trucking industry, and truck stops in particular, as hotspots for human trafficking. Not only did TAT ensure (and still does) the correction to the story was made, we convened a gathering of our key industry partners where a very honest conversation emerged regarding the concerns they fostered for the image of their industry in tackling this issue publicly, and how TAT could help mitigate those effectively. This meeting, which came about through a media disaster, proved to a pivotal tipping point in our work, as TAT not only listened to industry concerns but made several significant changes to our practices that proved to trucking we are truly their partners in this work.

After TAT was asked to testify before the US Chamber of Commerce in 2017, their legal counsel called and asked what amendments could be made to Senator Klobuchar's bill in regard to how the USDOT could more effectively combat human trafficking. During the course of the phone call I suggested the USDOT create an advisory committee that could construct a report developing best practices for all state DOTs, as well as for every major modes of transportation. This amendment was indeed added to the Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act, and the USDOTs Advisory Committee on Human Trafficking was formed in 2018. I was selected to serve on the broader advisory committee, and chaired the subcommittee on Training and Awareness. Recently, Secretary Chao sent a copy of our final report to every governor and state DOT in order that these best practices be implemented nationwide. TAT policies and protocols populate the report throughout and serve as replicable models for others modes of transportation who are just now developing anti-trafficking efforts. In addition, TAT has garnered numerous additional partners and has solidified its relationship with the USDOT and its Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking.

TAT is dedicated to systems change. As defined by Ashoka, systems change means, "addressing root causes rather than symptoms by altering, shifting and transforming structures, customs, mindsets, power dynamics, and rules through collaboration across a diverse set of actors with the intent of achieving lasting improvement of societal issues on a local, national, and global level.” Before TAT existed, no one was rallying the trucking and bus industries, or state agencies to the abolitionist cause. TAT is using an innovative approach to address the social problem of human trafficking, insofar as it is raising up often overlooked and yet pivotal market sectors to create a cultural shift away from "she's just a prostitute" and toward "she's a potential victim." In addition, TAT finds allies within the systems that need changing and listens to their expertise in order to develop replicable models that work within existing infrastructures which in turn, removes obstacles to implementation for both its private and public partners. For example, 48 states have adopted TAT's Iowa Motor Vehicle Enforcement in part or in whole, which is designed to activate state agencies and law enforcement officers to combat human trafficking in their state alongside industry partners. TAT also works with legislators at both the state and federal level, which has led to 12 states mandating anti-trafficking training for entry-level commercial driver's license holders, as well as the creation of the USDOT's Advisory Committee on Human Trafficking. In short, TAT has discovered how to institutionalize a proven intervention. 

Truckers Against Trafficking is raising up a mobile army of transportation professionals to assist law enforcement in the recognition and reporting of human trafficking, in order to aid in the recovery of victims and the arrest of their perpetrators. Thus, central to its theory of change is the belief that equipping members of transportation to spot and report potential signs of sex trafficking can lead to the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of traffickers and freedom for victims. Network leadership is core to TAT’s approach. TAT is not about scaling its organization, but rather equipping and mobilizing partners to use their expertise, resources, and power to fuel the movement. This powerful approach equips partners who develop ideas and approaches in their organizations, regions, or spheres of influence. If it is successful and there is potential for broader application, TAT partners with them to write about their work. And as applicable, together they advocate across the industry to spread the innovative approaches. TAT’s programs are working to cover the many touch points that members of the trucking and bus community and law enforcement may have with trafficking. Collectively they are enabling the discovery and disruption of human trafficking networks by incorporating relevant policies, practices, and trainings into their respective work. Through these programs and practices, TAT and its partners are facilitating systems change. For example, they are creating:
Values, Meanings, & Training: awareness of human trafficking, empathy for victims, training around anti-trafficking actions, and efforts to stop the objectification of women and children 
Power, Resources, & Influence: shifts of power from traffickers to the truck, bus and law enforcement community who are leveraging organizational and individual resources and relationships in anti-trafficking efforts
Policies, Processes, & Social Practices: adoption of new policies, processes, and social practices across trucking, busing and law enforcement communities to close loopholes to traffickers.

And this all translates into real results, as truck drivers have now made close to 2500 calls into the hotline, resulting in over 660 likely cases of human trafficking, involving over 1230 victims. Before TAT began in 2009, the hotline had received 3 calls from truckers.

As TAT primarily works with its industry and state agency partners, and has expanded into the energy industry recently, its potential is vast. From an industry perspective, the trucking industry is 7 million strong, with 3.5 million of those being CDL (commercial driver’s license) holders. The bus industry is 1 million nationwide, and the energy industry is comprised of 6 million members. While we have close to 845,000 individuals registered as TAT trained on our own site, our training has been uploaded onto various LMS systems (both private and public), and is required by law in multiple states. As such, we currently serve at least 1.5 million individuals. The pandemic and resulting economic fallout will most certainly set our work back, and it already has, particularly within our recently launched program to the energy industry. However, given the implementation of TAT policies and protocols within so many existing infrastructures, I believe we'll have reached an additional 500,000 individuals in a year. In five years, we should reach close to full saturation with truck and bus drivers (both commercial and school), and have developed promising systems change within the energy industry, resulting in 5 million individuals being served. All of this translates into hundreds of victims being identified and potentially recovered out of their trafficking situations.

In 2020, TAT will conduct 10 of its coalition builds, bringing together federal, state and local law enforcement with key industry stakeholders, in order to create a local response to combating human trafficking in their state. We will see 1,000,000 industry members registered as TAT trained, by reaching our key market sectors with the TAT message. By partnering with industry members and government agencies, we will continue our expansion into Canada, as well as the replication of our model in Mexico. We will work to expand full adoption of our Iowa Motor Vehicle Enforcement to all 50 states, and tour our Freedom Drivers Project, a 48' long show trailer outfitted with actual artifacts of trafficking cases, to 40 events across the nation. In five years, through legislation, ongoing training, network leadership, and the creation of replicable models, pivotal systems change will be occurring throughout TAT's key market sectors in North America, resulting in the majority of school bus drivers becoming trained with Busing on the Lookout materials (a program of TAT), all major commercial bus companies partnering with us and adopting our training, the majority of the 3.5 million CDL holders traversing our nations roadways equipped and empowered to identify trafficking, as well as a substantial percentage of oil rig workers and energy employees.

The pandemic and resulting economic fallout have already created massive financial barriers to our work, as the majority of our revenue comes from corporate sponsors. While truck drivers have been on the front lines stocking shelves, the demand will lessen, and the economic impact will be severe for the remainder of this year and in 2021. Due to the oil price wars, the energy industry is in a free fall and massive layoffs are occurring. The bus industry  will also take awhile to rebound. As a result, TAT has had to prioritize programs and make some tough choices, which will limit expansion in certain regions and limit our impact with audiences. We also know that it will take our key market sectors and state agencies awhile to rebound from the pandemic, and that their work with us might be put on the back burner. Long term, we are also recognizing that some states want to create their own statewide campaigns around anti-trafficking measures, and while that is to be applauded, for over the road truck and bus drivers, a state number will not work as they traverse the nation and see human trafficking incidents beyond their state. In addition, the cogs of the corporate machine take a long time to move in the approval process, especially if they have no type of anti-trafficking policy already in place. Lastly, TAT is always looking for additional introductions in order to make forays into new industries that have logistics arms. 

TAT will address the consequences of the pandemic with an outlook of patient optimism, standing in solidarity with our partners in the meantime, and working with all those who provide a window of opportunity, through digital training, remote consulting and ongoing partnership development. In addition, we are working hard to reschedule postponed events and will reallocate staff resources to meet the workload despite having our numbers reduced. We will also carefully consider which events have the highest return on investment in 2020 and invest wisely. In addressing the states who might not see the need for TAT, we will continue to work through existing partnerships and network leadership ... particularly emphasizing the states who have conducted joint outreach operations with TAT materials. In addition, we will work at the law enforcement association level to win over states to the fact that 1) our program addresses the unique approach to combating human trafficking through the transportation industry, 2) we have proven and highly replicable models, and 3) we are dedicated to working within an existing state infrastructure to remove barriers to implementation. In regards to expanding our reach, we will pour additional resources into our Shipping Partners program, which is designed to open doors into new industries (food, chemical, auto, etc.), via their logistics arm, wherein we ask the company to use their influence as the customer of carriers to introduce the TAT program and encourage training implementation.

TAT partners with every major national trucking association and all 50 state trucking associations. In addition, we have forged partnerships with hundreds of trucking companies across the United States, including UPS, FedEx, Ryder, Werner, J.B. Hunt and Schneider. TAT also partners with the largest truck shop chains, the National Association of Truck Stop Operators, as well as mom and pop operations. We partner with large corporations like Amazon, Dow and BNSF to get the carriers who move their products TAT trained. In addition, through its Busing on the Lookout (BOTL) program, TAT has partnered with national, regional and state motorcoach, pupil transportation and public transit associations to get training materials out to bus operators throughout the country resulting in 75,000 members of the bus industry registered as BOTL trained, including Greyhound and Coach USA/Megabus. In addition, multiple energy companies have begun to implement TAT's Empower Freedom training, while also requesting TAT coalition builds in areas where they drill. TAT partners with state agencies (Department of Transportation, Department of Motor Vehicles, Department of Public Safety, Department of Licensing, Department of Revenue) in 48 states to adopt its Iowa Motor Vehicle Enforcement model. TAT has partnered with state legislators in 12 states to ensure our training has been mandated in CDL schools, and we also have worked with US Senators to provide input and ideas on multiple federal bills. In addition, we partner with a host of non-profits across the country to defeat full decriminalization bills, and further the broader abolitionist movement.

88% of consumers think companies should try to achieve their business goals while improving society and the environment. 

83% of consumers think companies should support nonprofits with financial donations.

53% of workers said that "a job where I can make an impact" was important to their happiness, and 72% of students about to enter the workforce agreed.

As more and more consumers demand corporate social responsibility, many companies, in establishing these departments, turn to the United Nations Sustainable Development goals to develop their focus and key areas of support. In addition, in the last few years the media has shined the spotlight on the horrors of human trafficking, along with how widespread it is, urging companies to get involved. As TAT helps companies achieve SDG #5 and #8, and as we provide turnkey, anti-trafficking policies and protocols to companies that work within their existing infrastructures, TAT removes obstacles to training and awareness implementation. As a result, both our private and public partners (as state agencies are also being called on to combat human trafficking), receive an easily adoptable platform, tailored to their specific needs, from which to combat this crime.

TAT leverages its position within multiple industries to develop its corporate sponsorship program, which markets our sponsors brand through a variety of avenues (webpage, radio, newsletter, presentations, mobile exhibit, media outlets, etc.), adding value to the power of our distribution channels, which increases sustained giving and the attraction of new sponsors. In addition, some of our industry partners are developing exciting ways to fundraise for us. Last year, Travel Centers of America conducted TAT's first-ever cause related marketing campaign in all of their locations, raising over 100k, by selling a series of merchandise (coffee mugs, flashlights, hats, phone charges, etc.) all branded with the TAT logo. TAT received $1 from every item sold during the length of the campaign. And in 2017 and 2019, two Everyday Heroes Trucks were built out by major manufacturers to be toured around the country at a series of awareness raising events, and then were auctioned off with the proceeds donated to TAT. Moreover, while traditional philanthropy still does not give to anti-trafficking work in any significant way, TAT is working to locate and develop partnerships with the foundations and giving circles who do support the abolitionist movement. Finally, through employee fundraisers, social media and matching grant campaigns, one-on-one outreach, volunteer events and donor recognition programs, TAT continues to grow its individual donor base.

TAT is continually raising funds to support its organization. All of our corporate sponsors, and even our highest individual donors are listed on our website along with their giving levels. Writing them out here would exceed the allotted space. Please check out: https://truckersagainsttrafficking.org/ for more information.

TAT leverages its position within multiple industries to develop its corporate sponsorship program, which markets our sponsors brand through a variety of avenues (webpage, radio, newsletter, presentations, mobile exhibit, media outlets, etc.), adding value to the power of our distribution channels, which increases sustained giving and the attraction of new sponsors. In addition, some of our industry partners are developing exciting ways to fundraise for us. Last year, Travel Centers of America conducted TAT's first-ever cause related marketing campaign in all of their locations, raising over 100k, by selling a series of merchandise (coffee mugs, flashlights, hats, phone charges, etc.) all branded with the TAT logo. TAT received $1 from every item sold during the length of the campaign. And in 2017 and 2019, two Everyday Heroes Trucks were built out by major manufacturers to be toured around the country at a series of awareness raising events, and then were auctioned off with the proceeds donated to TAT. Moreover, while traditional philanthropy still does not give to anti-trafficking work in any significant way, TAT is working to locate and develop partnerships with the foundations and giving circles who do support the abolitionist movement. Finally, through employee fundraisers, social media and matching grant campaigns, one-on-one outreach, volunteer events and donor recognition programs, TAT continues to grow its individual donor base. Through these avenues, TAT is seeking to raise $1.7 million in 2020 to reach its yearly budget goal. 

In 2020, TAT is seeking to raise $1.7 million dollars to fund the following programs:

Industry Training Program, Coalition Builds, Freedom Drivers Project, Shipping Partners Program, TAT Canada, Busing on the Lookout, Empower Freedom, and our in-depth law enforcement training and overall work with state agencies

The marketing and media exposure The Elevate Prize will provide for TAT, if selected, is invaluable. As we are seeking to break into the energy industry, despite its own economic hardships, exposure is key. We are looking for massive industry introductions, with a key focus on helping decision makers understand that this work empowers their own workforce to be heroes and changemakers. The energy industry understands that it is must take into account its environmental impact in areas where it operates, but by partnering with TAT's Empower Freedom program, it can also address its social impact. We also believe this same exposure will pull in dividends with trucking and busing, where TAT has already established relationships, but who very much care about their image and are always looking for ways to elevate it within the broader public sphere. Along those same lines, industry introductions with any type of company that has a logistics arm, will allow TAT to reach its goal of training all 3.5 million CDL holders in our country. Moreover, the funds and development services will enable TAT to continue to scale, as well as help us flex our "individual donor fundraising muscle" by creating a broader fanbase. We also believe that additional technical expertise could further our work with state agencies, as well as with our partners in Canada and Mexico, given our work of model replication within their existing infrastructures. 

The marketing and media exposure will be key in amplifying the work of TAT's everyday heroes who are helping to recover victims of human trafficking during the course of their everyday jobs. A well designed marketing campaign like this is critical in helping each person come to understand that they can combat this crime within their own sphere of influence and that action steps are available to them right now. In addition, depending on what types of contacts are available, TAT would not only seek key introductions to new market sectors, but also expert industry advice in how to approach these businesses and ways to scale partnerships. 

TAT would seek partnerships with any substantial business that has a logistics arm in order to engage them in our Shipping Partners program. For example, Dow, Amazon and Bristol Meyers Squibb, are already partners who train their private fleet and/or use their influence as the customer of the trucking carriers to encourage (or mandate) them to become TAT trained. In addition, we'd love partnerships with any kind of energy company (oil, gas, wind or solar), so we can introduce them to our Empower Freedom program to ensure their workforce becomes educated and equipped to recognize and report human trafficking, encourage the implementation of anti-trafficking in persons policies with a demand reduction focus, and form coalitions between them and local law enforcement to address this crime in areas where they live and operate. The same is true for any truck and bus (both commercial and school) companies. TAT would also greatly welcome technical or regulatory assistance on how Canada and Mexico structure their governmental agencies, particularly when it comes to their transportation and enforcement infrastructures. We'd also welcome a partnership with a major marketing company on how to broaden our fanbase and shine the spotlight on our amazing network of everyday heroes.