History of Project Polaris: Ending Human Trafficking

After graduation, the friends moved to Washington DC and, although they did not have a clear plan for the organization, their initial work involved experimentation, innovation and testing of new ideas and strategies. Initial core efforts focused on discovering new ways to find trafficking victims and learning about trafficking networks through field research, to build relationships with law enforcement, to link victims with services to through referrals and to get more community members to care about casting and acting. Over time, the organization grew and developed in new areas, and its leadership came to understand the importance of combating the problem using a comprehensive approach that combined a set of interrelated strategies. These strategies evolved over time but grew to include victim outreach and identification, victim protection and services, policy advocacy, training and technical assistance, developing future leaders, and building a movement through community mobilization. Project Polaris celebrated its fifth anniversary in February 2007 as an organization that has become a widely recognized name in the anti-human trafficking movement and has grown to more than 30 professional employees, with five local offices in the United States. and Japan.

Project Polaris is committed to fighting human trafficking and modern day slavery, and strengthening the anti-trafficking movement through a comprehensive approach. The work of the Polaris Project is based on a set of organizational values ​​and beliefs that provide a common starting point for all programmatic activities. All staff and volunteers live to embody and model these values ​​within the Polaris community and in the field of anti-trafficking. Its values ​​are service, efficiency and impact, empowerment based on strength, diversity and multiculturalism, non-violence, innovation and sophistication and communication.

So far, the Polaris project has a long list of achievements. One of their greatest achievements is that they are the largest anti-trafficking organizations in the United States and Japan. The Polaris project operates internationally, nationally and locally, with offices in Washington DC, Newark NJ, Denver CO and Tokyo Japan. This organization is one of the few that is working on all forms of trafficking and serving both citizens and foreigners who are victims of human trafficking. Since its founding, Project Polaris has received numerous awards and honors for its accomplishments, including; Groundbreaking for the Ashoka Public, Marie Claire’s Top 10 Charities, 2006 Justice for Crime Victims Award from the Department of Justice, DO Something BRICK Award, Area Women’s Foundation Leadership Award of Washington 2004 and honors from Lifetime Television, Body Tienda and CNN.