Who We Are

Specialising in modern slavery, human rights, and poverty, Mina has an interdisciplinary background in engineering, sociology, anthropology and international development.

She has consulted in some of the world’s poorest and conflict-affected countries, with research experience in modern slavery, forced labour, and human rights issues across a wide range of UN bodies, governments, and NGOs. Additionally, Mina is a peer review colleague at the UK Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre

Eric is a former Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies in the Cities and Participation Clusters. He also served as course convenor for the MA in Development Studies, and lectured and supervised PhD research students. Eric combines his expertise in participatory social network analysis, systemic action research, complex adaptive systems and community organising practice to generate crucial insights. In his research he explores the ways in which relational structures and social dynamics of people living in urban poverty impact their ability to act collectively as agents of change.

Sharlene’s areas of expertise include migration, social justice, and fostering sustainability at a global level. Her research experience ranges from advancing the rights of migrant labourers and stateless children, to preventing violence against vulnerable migrants and human trafficking. With a dedication to International Politics and Human Rights issues, Sharlene has experience in working with NGOs, advocacy and policy making in refugee and asylum seeker rights. Sharlene has led numerous projects with HRC, contributing greatly to both research and writing.

As a survivor of cyber-scam slavery, Salam dreams of living in a world free from slavery and uses this drive to combat injustice as part of the HRC team. Salam works with other survivors, providing support in both rescue and reintegration; ensuring they feel empowered in their own work fighting against human trafficking and slavery. Salam has also shared his experience at numerous events and conferences, contributing vital knowledge to the counter-trafficking sector in order to enact change. His research experience has also covered participatory action research with survivor-led organisations.

Anastasia is a project officer at HRC with experience in the Taiwanese fishery industry, brings a strong interdisciplinary background of Digital Humanities and Modern East Asian Study. She has a keen interest in cybersecurity and policy monitoring. Her primary focus is on addressing human rights abuses across Asia and Europe. Anastasia has extensive research and professional experience in modern slavery, supply chains, and human trafficking. Anastasia speaks Mandarin Chinese (native), Taiwanese (native), and English.

‍

Jake works to combat major governance and human rights challenges. He currently serves as Visiting Expert on Transnational Crime at the US Institute of Peace and is a founding partner of #OperationShamrock, the world’s largest movement dedicated to disrupting the global forced scamming epidemic. Jake’s analysis regularly features in prominent policy forums and global news outlets. Previously, he held various senior leadership roles at International Justice Mission (IJM); directed policy research and taught courses at the College of William & Mary, and conducted human rights reporting in northern Myanmar.

Simon is a senior faculty member in management practice at Cambridge Judge Business School, a social entrepreneur, and an advocate for trafficked women. Prior to coming to Cambridge, Simon spent ten years at Imperial College Business School as director of the full-time MBA programme. His MBA course in entrepreneurship was ranked 3rd in the world by the Financial Times. Simon works to help entrepreneurs realise their full potential for both their own benefit and the benefit of society as a whole.

Karen works with social entrepreneurs to grow and scale businesses that change the world. An experienced professional consultant, Karen has worked with more than 1,000 social enterprises, community organisations, development trusts, community transport organisations, housing associations, co-operatives and charities. She specialises in developing sustainable organisations through innovative methods of growth, franchising/replication and buying profitable private businesses, as well as investment readiness support. She is a Churchill Enterprise Fellow for 2018.

Alan was a police officer for 32 years, the last three as Detective Superintendent Chief of an Organised Crime Unit in Eastern Europe. He had previously set up a UK upstream office for tackling human trafficking and people smuggling in Istanbul and was SIO in the child sex grooming case in Telford for which he was commended.  After leaving the police he became a serious organised crime expert for the government and was deployed to Sudan for four years establishing an intelligence unit spanning East Africa targeting human traffickers and people smugglers on the route through Libya.