Last week, John Nehme, Allies Against Slavery President and CEO, spoke at the Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation (CESE) Global Summit focusing on the intersections between technology and sexual exploitation. The event, hosted by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, was held August 5-8, 2024, in Washington, D.C.

“I am honored to speak at the CESE Global Summit and share how data can drive meaningful change,” said Nehme. “Data, and the insights we derive from it, can prevent trafficking, identify victims, and support professionals working in the field. Understanding the true scope of the challenge can help the anti-trafficking movement stay one step ahead of perpetrators.”

John has been at the forefront of the fight against human trafficking, using innovative data solutions to drive systemic change. Under his leadership, Allies developed Lighthouse, a groundbreaking data platform that integrates over 18 million data objects and collaborates with 200 partner agencies across Texas, Louisiana, and Florida.

John presented "Building a New Data Ecosystem: Leveraging Aggregate Data on a National Scale to Combat and Prevent Human Trafficking." Key points covered include the importance of data in illuminating the hidden crime and scope of human trafficking, how Allies builds trust and education around data sharing, the role of Lighthouse in making data current, accessible, and actionable, and the impact of data-driven insights.

During the summit, members of the Allies team were joined by Sherry Jonas, a new board member. The team met with the McCain Institute, data partners at The Network, Senator Blackburn and Klobuchar's office about the new legislation they've introduced, called the National Human Trafficking Database Act, and with Katherine Chon, the Director of the Office of Trafficking in Persons at Health and Human Services.  Allies is honored to have engaged with such influential leaders at the conference and look forward to building upon these connections to end human trafficking.