Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress. 5 0 obj Help Spotlight PA hold the powerful to account with a gift today. ", Spotlight was made to combat a difficult problem, and the data Spotlight handles is unsettling to say the least. Here are samples of the Spotlight product website: home page, request access page, and request demo page. THOR Usernames and Passwords must be maintained as confidential by the User and may not be shared. GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader Spotlights analytics pipeline begins with a third-party solution that ingests more than 100,000 new online escort ads each day, storing text and image data as objects in Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) buckets. 7 0 obj A leading assumption was that users wanted to learn by doing, so we used the outcomes from the New Orleans sting operation as a hands-on case study. I also created high-fidelity prototypes of key touchpoints on our site, whose content I validated through additional user feedback. The genesis of Spotlight started after we conducted a sex trafficking Survivor Survey in 2012, seeking to learn directly from victims how technology was used throughout their trafficking situation. Our programs and products find child abuse victims faster, make online environments safer, and deter criminal behavior. Our tools take massive amounts of data and turns it into an asset for law enforcement. Share it with us and well add it to the database! This was meant to identify areas in which we could make the tool more intuitive, to minimize obstacles to adoption. Spotlight is like a investigative partner in human trafficking investigations. Leadership Spotlight: A System Focus. Spotlight evolved from surveys completed by victims of trafficking that showed 63 percent of underage victims were bought or sold online at some point. Sign In. to get more GuideStar Nonprofit Profile data today! Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. <> The National Policing Institute, formerly known as the National Police Foundation, is an independent non-profit, non-partisan institution based in Arlington, Virginia that has been dedicated to advancing policing through innovation and science for over half a century, and works to translate those findings to practice through technical assistance, training, and dissemination. 3 0 obj Email contact available with a Pro subscription. Throughout this process, I worked collaboratively with Media Cause and Digital Reasoning to set timelines and execute. I joined a superuser with the Louisiana State Police on a human trafficking sting operation in New Orleans, to observe how they used Spotlight in the field. Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options. We believe that technology is a tool, one we can use for incredible good. The good news is, this can help investigators track down traffickers. Used by officers in all 50 states and Canada, our web-based tool has helped in identifying 17,092 child victims of human trafficking in the past four years. You can have your biggest impact in the community where you live thats where you know the most about the environment, the opportunities, the dangers. Easy communication at scale, disposable "burner" phones, and simple photo-editing tools these are just some of the ways the digital, connected world was helping traffickers operate anonymously, one step ahead of the lawespecially those who traffic children for sex online. I gathered additional information through phone call interviews with customers who were familiar with Spotlight and the other two products to get a sense of what features and design they liked. From there the software developed further to better analyze and track data that can lead to building strong cases against traffickers and finding the victims. You can view our, Meet the 2019 Skoll Awardees for Social Entrepreneurship. Our products would not be successful without the partnership we receive from the law enforcement users in every state, at every level of government, and in 37 other countries who use our products, give us feedback, and work tirelessly to identify children. On AWS, we can also respond to feature requests from officers in weeks or daysnot a level of responsiveness public-sector agencies are used to seeing. Learn more about Amazon EC2 C5 Instances. Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Viral child sexual abuse material is removed from the internet to end the cycle of trauma. He likes Neo-noir films, running and cycling, classic American novels, small venue music shows, and burritos. Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues. Spotlight does investigative work in minutes that can take hours sometimes to collect. result in increased adoption of Thorns tools, a reduction in time to stop abuse and an increase in risk for perpetrators. <> Our brand NoFiltr reaches youth directly with prevention and support messaging to help them better recognize online grooming. My goal was to not only design a workshop that increased adoption but to build a tool that added value for current users through an intuitive user experience and user interface - which would then translate to more victims identified in a shorter amount of time. In addition to a powerful team of experts, we work with the sharpest minds from tech, non-profit, government, and law enforcement to stop the spread of child sexual abuse material, stand up to child traffickers, and uncover new kinds of abuse. 2021 Dressember | Dressember is a 501 (C)(3) | design by anne agency + marrow design, Grant Partners, Dressember2018, human trafficking, modern day slavery, child advocacy, buisnesses ending slavery and trafficking, BEST, Danyella Wilder. Spotlight, which is offered free of charge to law enforcement and allied organizations, uses Amazon Cognito to provide a secure user directory that can scale to millions of users. Our team continues to monitor new and emerging trends that will help make sure our tool remains relevant for investigators to do their jobs efficiently and ultimately help the kids we serve. BACKGROUND Spotlight is a robust search tool that uses machine learning to help law enforcement identify victims of trafficking online. Thorn was founded in 2012 to build technology to defend children from sexual abuse. Learn more This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. endobj After I completed this phase of research, I used the information to iterate on the workshop design, and improve the overall usability of Spotlight. The bad news is that law enforcement just doesnt have the time, energy, or manpower to efficiently pursue the information available online. x nH@ \ Law enforcement doesnt have enough time to navigate the online commercial sex market to find children and identify their traffickers. This year, Dressember is proud to partner with Thorn, an organization that uses technology to combat child sex trafficking. Thorn's Spotlight tool combines publicly available classified ad and online forum data with smart algorithms to help law enforcement identify an average of eight child sex trafficking victims every day. How does this organization measure their results? Leadership Spotlight: Leading with the Pen - The Handwritten Note. Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Vietnam. Leadership Spotlight Compassion in Law Enforcement Compassion is characterized by a willingness to purposely assist others on an emotional level and to selflessly put the needs of others before. In 2012, we learned that 75% of child sex trafficking victims were being bought and sold online. xKk@aZp &@z(=6M5h6N0]|V^c DY: $ I~^_az{}n{wN2r0 G$?Df'QK(s[,3o@o Ecw]\Q sIIb4`W*4)zka0Xm?adhga$P0A*+F#JExueU\|%|Q(2TW,+ h[ QFSv`eDShjJ} x|c' $wGdX308@Ng/UTf is the CEO of Thorn and has helped grow the organization from inception in 2012. A virtual team based in the U.S., Thorn employs 25 people. To request technical assistance, training, or other resources through this initiative, agency POCs shouldemail usor call 202-833-1460. To build the world we believe in, we know we must: 1) Accelerate Victim Identification 2) Make Digital Environments Safer and 3) Deter Predatory Behavior. Sign up and stay up to date with our daily newsletter. Try a low commitment monthly plan today. Thorn's Spotlight tool helps law enforcement more quickly identify sex trafficking victims who are advertised online. Per Kristin, "The genesis of Spotlight started after we conducted a sex trafficking Survivor Survey in 2012, seeking to learn directly from victims how technology was used throughout their trafficking situation. stream The objective of Spotlight is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of domestic sex trafficking investigations and increase the number of children who are identified and connected with help resources. The software, called Spotlight, is now used across all 50 states by more than 4,000 law enforcement officers, according to Thorn's website. <> For this phase of the project, I used the data I already gathered from Spotlight users to create a journey for those seeking to learn more about Spotlight, request a demo, request access, and to log in. We build products and tools, partnerships and communities, that support and accelerate the impact and intentions of many people who are dedicated to defending children from sexual abuse. Kutchers company Thorn developed software to combat this challenge. Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? $300/yr. Rather, I will be detailing the UX/UI and program management that went behind the design of the on-boarding process, which I led during my time at Thorn. Dont see a resource that you know exists? Thorn is a team of issue experts, business leaders, and engineers who build technology to defend children from sexual abuse. I started by conducting a competitive and stakeholder analysis to help with the overall discovery of where we were with our current process. 11 0 obj Hear more from investigators using Spotlight on the front lines. We found that sixty-three percent of underage sex trafficking victims reported they had been bought or sold online. A virtual team based in the U.S., Thorn employs 25 people. Empowering law enforcement to collaborate beyond jurisdictions or national borders is a key to success in identifying victims who are moved frequently, or are broadcast through peer-to-peer platforms (P2P) on the dark web from a hidden location. in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section. While learning the ins and outs of Spotlight, and shipping features from our product backlog, I began to focus on ways to improve our on-boarding process for increased acquisition and adoption. Thorn builds technology to defend children from sexual abuse. 8 0 obj "Spotlight was designed based on insights from our first survivor survey. country every day, law enforcement cannot manually keep up with the volume of ads as they work to identify and track potential victims. Matt Damon wants clean water for all, Shailene Woodley was arrested protesting the Dakota Access pipeline, and Ashton Kutcher is the co-founder of a tech company fighting human trafficking and sexual exploitation. An infographic detailing the reach that Spotlight has gained, since its national roll-out in February 2015. She previously served as the VP of Marketing/Communications of (RED), where she helped establish the brand as one of the most successful cause marketing initiatives in history, delivering more than $160 million to fight HIV/AIDS across Africa. 4 0 obj As Thorn started work on a tool that could help investigators identify children being exploited, more than 150,000 new escort ads were being posted online every day in the United States. The software, called Spotlight, is now used across all 50 states by more than 4,000 law enforcement officers, according to Thorns website. It is the Google Search for combating human sex trafficking. about GuideStar Pro. Law enforcement doesnt have enough time to navigate the online commercial sex market to find children and identify their traffickers. Somewhere in that pile of data are children who are bought and sold online for sex. We do all of this so every child can be safe, curious, and happy. We reached out to her for more information about Spotlight. The organization collaborates with law enforcement agencies, tech companies, and nonprofits. User research through interviews, personas, and journey mapping of proactive and reactive searches had already been done prior to my start date. This combination of streamlining workflows and increasing successful victim identification is what has propelled Spotlight to continue to grow its user base. To design the curriculum for Spotlight Lab, I conducted preliminary research. Spotlight is the #1 investigative tool I have utilized to find child victims and arrest their traffickers in countless cases. Please continue to fund this very important resource; it saves lives. 2016-MU-BX-K005 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. "Day to day, we strive to balance hard work with care for ourselves and each other so that we have the resiliency we need to keep fighting," Kelbi writes, "At Thorn, we are invested in a team wellness plan where we carve out time to discuss how were feeling and how were approaching our work. Technology is a powerful tool. More From Thorn About the Spotlight Technology. The app does this on a serverless Amazon Web Services (AWS) architecture that includes Amazon Rekognition, a deep learningbased image and video analysis service, and Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) C5 instances. $25/mo. Research programs to better understand the role of technology in child sex trafficking. from UCLA and an M.B.A. from Northwestern. GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center. Spotlight has been used in 21,044 cases identifying 12,328 adults, 5,791 children, and 6,553 traffickers in the past two years. We are dedicated to ending child sex trafficking and eliminating child sexual abuse from the internet, and we wont stop until every child can simply be a kid. Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Potts adds, "We built Spotlight because we wanted to use advanced technology to help law enforcement turn the tables and find these children faster.". Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? For more information about the impact of Spotlight, check out the infographic below. The solution uses Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS) to send alerts to law enforcement agents. While learning the ins and outs of Spotlight, and shipping features from our product backlog, I began to focus on ways to improve our on-boarding process for increased acquisition and adoption. Password. Thorn also works to speed the identification of children featured in sexually abusive material. Copyright Human Trafficking Search 2023. Kelbi Ervin, Development Associate at Thorn, works with a team to develop partnerships and identify funding opportunities to sustain Thorn's work. According to our most recent user survey, Spotlight is helping find more child victims of human trafficking, faster. An improved product and UX journey delivers a seamless onboarding and training process for our users and admin staff, Streamlining the onboarding process for law enforcement, Designing a user experience for human trafficking investigators to help them solve cases faster than ever. Julie holds a B.A. %PDF-1.7 Forgot your username or password? Trafficking in human beings: protect women and children and focus on sexual exploitation, Desperate for Cash, Afghans Toil in Mines That Are Deadlier Than Ever, Forced to Beg: Tanzanias Trafficked Kids. The internet has become a widely used place for sex traffickers to advertise. You'll challenge yourself, expand your knowledge on modern slavery, and be equipped to lead your community in the fight to end human trafficking. "It didn't make sense to build our own facial-recognition service when AWS already offers a best-in-breed solution like Amazon Rekognition. All Rights Reserved, thorn.org, launched Spotlight nationwide in October 2014, Spotlight assisted in the identification of 1,980 children and over 2,186 traffickers. endobj We hate spam too, unless it's on a sandwich with some eggs. Our web-based tool is now used by over 5,000 officers in all 50 states and Canada. Copyright 2023 IBTimes LLC. With the approval of the Thorn CEO, I led the design of a Spotlight product website and managed our vendors, Media Cause and Digital Reasoning - who were in charge of graphic design and engineering development. When we surveyed underage sex trafficking victims, 3 out of 4 who entered the life in the past decade said they had been advertised online at some point in their trafficking situation. Spotlight's machine-learning models are trained and run on Amazon EC2 C5 instances. Problems of scale like this cry out for automated processes, but another big obstacle is the fact that escort ad data is anything but consistent: traffickers use code words, slang, and reused content to complicate detection by machines. Empowering law enforcement to collaborate beyond jurisdictions or national borders, is a key to success in identifying victims who are moved frequently, or are broadcast in P2P onthe dark web from a hidden location. Powered by 3.0 GHz Intel Xeon Scalable processors, Amazon EC2 C5 instances offer a memory-to-vCPU ratio that is ideal for demanding inference applications. We can use this tool to gather intelligence and plot trends prior to conducting an operation, during the operation we can allocate resources effectively and tighten our investigative vision to have the greatest immediate impact, and following this operation we can couple Spotlight with information gathered in interviews to develop a more complete picture of the scope of Human Trafficking in our area.. Activation of the tech industry helps eliminate abuse content from their platforms. I cant begin to tell you how appreciative myself and the victim's families are that we have people that support a worthy cause such as this. It is the greatest tool we have in the fight against human trafficking., Special Agent, Wisconsin Human Trafficking Task Force. My background in law enforcement and anti-human trafficking was well suited for the needs of Spotlight when I first joined the team. my.evidence.com. Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Spotlight is invaluable as a tool/resource. Moreover, users wanted to learn from a law enforcement investigator currently using our tool - so we made sure to co-teach with a superuser. According to our most recent survey, it is helping find more human trafficking victims, faster. Spotlight evolved from surveys completed by victims of . % Lucas Moore is a writer in Los Angeles. Hi-fidelity prototypes of key touch points on the Spotlight website. ", Combating online child sex trafficking is a team effort, according to Istook. " Earlier in her career she worked for Motorolas mobile phone division and helped launch HELIO, a mobile virtual network operator. Over the past year, reports show that we are identifying on average 8 kids per dayand that law enforcement who use Spotlight daily see a 65% time savings in their process. A GuideStar Pro report containing the following information is available for this organization: This information is only available for subscribers and in Premium reports. Thorn was founded in 2012 by Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore to combat online child abuse. stream The Amazon Rekognition team has been very responsive in helping us address any challenges we encounter.".

Chiggers Range Map, Nick Szohr, What Are The Different Classification Of Tools And Equipment, Articles T