Iowa Outstanding Anti-Trafficking Service Awards
Award Purpose
Each year, the Network honors the outstanding efforts of those individual Iowans and organizations who have inspired others in the fight to end human trafficking. Eligible individuals and organizations include those who have significantly contributed to anti-trafficking public policy, education, and prevention, coalition-building, service to survivors, law enforcement and prosecution, rescue of victims, raising awareness, and advocacy. This award demonstrates how one individual or one organization can make a positive contribution to the eradication of modern day slavery.
2022 Awards
The Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery presented five 2022 Outstanding Iowa Anti-Trafficking Service Awards. The presentations took place at the Rotunda of the Iowa State Capitol Building in Des Moines, Iowa. Governor Reynolds was scheduled to present the awards but was ill the day of the award presentation. Instead, the NAHT partnered with Secretary of State Paul Pate and Lt. Governor Adam Greg who are pictured with each of the five honorees.
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- Max Christensen, School Transportation Executive Officer for the Iowa Department of Education – In the fall of 2018, Iowa became the nation’s first state to require training about human trafficking for its school bus drivers. The Iowa Department of Education collaborated with the Department of Transportation and Truckers Against Trafficking and now all 9,000 Iowa school bus drivers are trained!
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- Tri-State Coalition – The Coalition continued to sponsor many trafficking awareness panels, films, and information booths. They distributed and posted Network Rescue Stickers, funded a billboard on Highway 20, held an annual “Run the Runway” 5k run/walk fundraising event, and funded a bus wrap that drove through Dubuque city streets all of last year.
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- Kim Hilby – Kim leads the research, writing, and editing of a first-ever Iowa Best Practice guidelines for services to adult human trafficking survivors. Kim spent several hundred hours conducting literature reviews, as well as supervising two University of Dubuque student interns, who assisted Kim with her research to create the nearly 60 page document.
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- Lenchen Raeside – Lenchen has been fighting human trafficking in Iowa long before many even knew it existed. She has been a fierce warrior in the fight, founding Cedar Rapids Gives and partnering with local, state, and national organizations to fight to end human trafficking.
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- Hotel/Motel Employee Video Training Video Production Team – The Network partnered with the Department of Public Safety to come up with a training program to satisfy the passage of HF455 requiring all hotel/motels who want to do business with the state of Iowa to be trained in both labor and sex trafficking. This team volunteered to create the training video.
2021 Awards
Outstanding Anti-Trafficking Service Awards were presented by the NAHT and Governor Reynolds on January 14, 2021. Five exceptional Iowa anti-trafficking heroes were honored.
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- Ruth Buckels, Advocate Extraordinaire – Foster/adoptive parent to 8 sex trafficked female survivors. Ruth is also a licensed therapist and has been a counselor to dozens of victims and survivors.
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- U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa – Rich Westphal is the acting U.S. Attorney and accepted this award on behalf of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In recent years, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has prioritized human trafficking investigation and prosecution.
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- The Rotary Club of West Liberty, Iowa is represented by Clifford McFerren, President Elect 2021-2022, and Steve Dakin, Rotary District 6000 Governor. This Rotary service club organized four anti-trafficking education and prevention projects for the public schools and community at large.
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- Iowa City Human Trafficking Law Enforcement Task Force – This task force carried out a sex trafficking investigation that received what is considered the highest federal honor for victim services by law enforcement.
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- Stacy West, Survivor Who Has Turned Her Scars Into Stars – Stacy now works as a Survivor Advocate for Chains Interrupted in Cedar Rapids.
2020 Awards
The Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery presented five 2020 Outstanding Iowa Anti-Trafficking Awards. The presentations took place at the Rotunda of the Iowa State Capitol Building in Des Moines, Iowa. George Belitsos read the tribute to each outstanding honoree. We partnered with Governor Kim Reynolds and Lt. Governor Greg who are pictured with the honorees along with Maggie Tinsman, Co-Chair of the Network Legislative Advocacy Committee.
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- Heather Brown -Survivor and spokesperson for Iowa trafficking victims
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- Senator Charles Grassley (represented by his grandson Pat Grassley) – Sponsor of several federal anti-trafficking congressional bills
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- Brenda Long – Founder of Garden Gate Ranch and the annual Eyes Wide Open statewide anti-trafficking conference
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- Jim Townsend – Business leader and voice against trafficking, especially in illicit massage businesses
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- Mark “Rocky” Vest – founder of Break the Cycle bicycle ride, raising over $750,000 donated to anti-trafficking organizations
2019 Awards
The Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery presented five 2019 Outstanding Iowa Anti-Trafficking Awards. The presentations took place at the Rotunda of the Iowa State Capitol Building in Des Moines, Iowa. We partnered with Governor Kim Reynolds and Lt. Governor Greg who are pictured with each of the five honorees along with the incoming chair of the Network board, Liz Cox. The five awardees were as follows:
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- Teresa Davidson – founder of Chains Interrupted; Mercy Medical Center’s Anti-Human Trafficking Coordinator
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- Joy Fopma – Development Director for Wings of Refuge, long term restoration home for survivors
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- Chief David Lorenzen – instrumental in launching Iowa Model in conjunction with Truckers Against Trafficking, educating all of Iowa’s bus drivers, DOT website of survivor resources, and more
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- Vanessa McNeal – produced “Gridshock,” a documentary on sex trafficking
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- Stephen Patrick O’Meara – lead prosecutor for federal Omaha Child Exploitation Task Force for five years, Assistant US Attorney in Des Moines for 18 years; played lead role in hotel/motel training
2018 Awards
The 2018 NAHT Outstanding Iowa Anti-Trafficking Service Awards were presented by Governor Kim Reynolds and Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg on January 17th, 2018 in the governor’s formal office at the State Capitol Building in Des Moines. In her opening remarks, the Governor stated “I want to tell you awardees how committed my administration is to joining you in your cause. This evil crime has no place in our state.” The five awardees were as follows:
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- Brittany Sowder- Survivor and spokesperson for Iowa survivors
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- Kellie Marky- Founder of Dorothy’s House in Des Moines
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- Greg Heartsill- State representative and Erin’s Law advocate
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- Mike Ferjak- Lead Iowa Human Trafficking Enforcement and Prosecution Task Force
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- Teens Against Human Trafficking- 15 TAHT clubs reaching 90 schools
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- There were nearly 100 in attendance at the award ceremony, including news media.
The final awardee was Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. This plaque was presented by the chair of the Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery, Dr. George Belitsos. For the past two years Kim Reynolds has served as an honorary NAHT board member. The governor’s support for the Network mission has been highly commendable. She has endorsed the Network’s statewide Hotel/Motel Employee Training Project and gave the network extensive media coverage by holding a September 19th 2017 press conference to announce this new initiative. That was the second time Kim Reynolds provided the Network with her administration’s weekly press conference.
Having such a high-profile anti-trafficking advocate as Governor Kim Reynolds has been a great help to getting out the Network mission and the undeniable truth that both sex and labor trafficking is in Iowa.
2017 Awardees
The first awards were presented on January 9th, 2017 by former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad. In his remarks, the Governor stated that he has become convinced of the urgent need for Iowans to recognize that human trafficking does happen in Iowa and that we each need to play a role to end it. Awards were presented to the following five deserving Iowans;
Maggie Tinsman– Author of Iowa’s first anti-trafficking legislation, founder of Braking Traffic
Kevin Kinney– Author of three human trafficking legislative bills and investigator of trafficking
Chris Branstad– Advocate for Teens Against Human Trafficking and AMP
Cathy O’Keefe– Braking Traffic CEO and FBI anti-trafficking service awardee
Brad Fox– Elementary school principal who uncovered a major trafficking ring in eastern Iowa
Christi Geisler– Survivor and spokesperson for Iowa survivors
Later in 2017, two additional awards were presented by the Iowa NAHT to the following;
Luis CdeBaca– Iowan who served as U.S. ambassador to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Mr. CdeBaca served in this role under three U.S. presidents. The Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery Outstanding Anti-trafficking Service Award was presented on October 27th, 2017 at the ISU Scheman Building during an annual ISU alumni awards event. Ambassador CdeBaca also received the ISU Alumni Humanitarian Award at the ISU merit awards ceremony. The NAHT is proud to have nominated Ambassador CdeBaca for this ISU award.
City of Johnston, Iowa – The Outstanding Anti-Trafficking Service Award was presented to the city of Johnston, for becoming the first city in Iowa to adopt an ordinance to regulate massage businesses. This award was presented on September 19th 2017 during the governor’s weekly press conference. Mayor Paula Dierenfeld and Police Chief Dennis McDaniel accepted the award on behalf of the city. The NAHT has sent out a “call to action” to fight prostitution and sex trafficking that takes place in illicit massage parlors. All across Iowa, advocates and coalitions are asking their city councils to pass local ordinances similar to the City of Johnston.
How to Nominate
If you would like to nominate someone for an Iowa Outstanding Anti-Trafficking Service Award, you are asked to complete and submit a nomination form at this link. Please be aware that Ashton Kutcher has already been nominated and approved for recognition. The Network hopes to present the award when Ashton is next in central Iowa. MVE Chief David Lorenzen and Truckers Against Trafficking have also already been nominated. Send your completed nomination form at any time to gbelitsos55@gmail.com.
