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.
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 an Outstanding Anti-Trafficking Service Award Nomination Form. Send your completed nomination form at any time to gbelitsos55@gmail.com.
2024 Awards
On January 11th, 2024, Governor Kim Reynolds and Secretary of State Paul Pate signed a proclamation declaring January 2024 as Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month in Iowa. This event was held at the Rotunda of the Iowa State Capitol Building and was organized and sponsored by the Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery. Despite the snow and low temperatures, 72 concerned Iowans from across the state attended.
Governor Reynolds signed the proclamation but departed in order to attend the funeral of Ahmir Jolliff, the six grader who was murdered at his school in Perry, Iowa. Following the proclamation signing, Outstanding Anti-Trafficking Service Awards were presented to five Iowa heroes. This award honors individuals and organizations that have made remarkable contributions to ending trafficking in Iowa. Substituting for the governor, Secretary of State Paul Pate and Lieutenant Governor Gregg Abbott are shown below with each awardee.
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Helping a survivor move from a trafficking victim back to normal life is a long and intensive process, requiring both professional expertise and emotional support. Our first awardee today, Wings of Refuge in Ames, plays this key role by providing restorative services to survivors of human trafficking. Wings of Refuge is a faith-based organization that provides opportunities for healing and restoration to women survivors of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation. Their program encompasses three elements: a restoration home, a trauma-informed work environment for learning practical job skills, and transitional housing. Here is an excerpt from their nomination letter. “There are at least four other safe homes in the state of Iowa now that provide housing and programming to survivors and plenty of groups that provide training and awareness to the community. So what makes Wings of Refuge stand out? I believe it’s their conviction and unique ability to empower survivors to step into positions of leadership . . . Wings of Refuge believes in the power of survivors to change our world.” In 2023, Wings of Refuge achieved two milestones: they marked their tenth anniversary of serving survivors of sex trafficking and also achieved accreditation by the National Trafficking Sheltered Alliance. Accepting the award for Wings of Refuge is Kelly Butcher.
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The Secretary of State’s Iowa Businesses Against Trafficking (IBAT) program encourages Iowa businesses to “see something, do something” about trafficking in Iowa. IBAT includes some of Iowa’s largest businesses but many small businesses as well. This year’s IBAT anti-trafficking awardee shows that a small business can have a big impact in the fight against trafficking. Susan Parker, owner and CEO of Sparker Solutions in Story City, hosts an annual archery tournament to raise funds for Wings of Refuge. The 2024 Target Trafficking event in August 2023 attracted more than 70 sponsors, 175 archers, and 300 spectators and raised more than $88,000 for Wings of Refuge. Here is an excerpt from the nomination letter of Sparker Solutions: “Do what you love to fight what you hate” is a mission taken seriously by Susan Parker of Sparker Solutions. This past August I was able to attend the third annual event and see firsthand the amount of support they had from their community. They also insured that there is an educational piece to tie into the fundraiser. They placed signs around the targets with information on trafficking information on their tables. It was incredible to see an event where the IBAT business truly brought the community together to fight something they hate by utilizing their passion. We look forward to seeing this event continue for years to come.”
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Raising awareness of human trafficking means addressing multiple audiences. No audience is more important when it comes to human trafficking awareness than the students and staff in Iowa schools. Raising awareness in schools is a huge factor in preventing trafficking in Iowa. Because Human Trafficking is not part of the Iowa school curriculum, this work is done by volunteers invited into individual schools by school administrators. Our next awardee is one of these tireless volunteers. Here is an excerpt from George Belitsos’s nomination form: “Very few of us have left a full-time job to become a full-time volunteer in the fight to end modern slavery. Kim is one of those few people. She has specialized as a trainer in protecting children and youth from being groomed [for trafficking]. She has distinguished herself as an expert on online safety here in Iowa. She linked up with Shared Hope International in 2018 and became a training ambassador. Her work in developing an Iowa curriculum for online safety was recognized by Shared Hope International and they placed her as their lead [trainer] in preparing a national school online safety curriculum. This curriculum was tested with proven results with 4,000 Iowa children and teens. Kim’s online training has now been adopted nationally by Shared Hope International. There are very few Iowans who have made a positive difference in preventing human trafficking in not only Iowa but the whole nation.”
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A key component in the anti-trafficking effort is raising community awareness. Iowa is fortunate to have 12 regional coalitions dedicated to raising awareness and fostering cooperation in the fight against human trafficking. Our next awardee is the founder of the Sioux City Coalition Against Human Trafficking. The two words that first come to mind with regard to Bernadette Rixner are “tireless” and “volunteer.” Here’s an excerpt from her nomination letter: “Bernadette Rixner has spent most of her adult life as a volunteer social justice advocate, focusing for most of the past 10 years primarily on human trafficking. Bernadette currently serves as Outreach Coordinator for the Siouxland Coalition Against Human Trafficking (SCAHT). As Outreach Coordinator (a volunteer position) she takes care of all the day-to-day matters and overseeing most of the Coalition’s projects, such as having five different anti-trafficking billboards placed around the Siouxland area. For the past few years, [the organization] has promoted the January observation of Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month by working with the Siouxland Chambers of Commerce to encourage businesses to light up in blue for the month. Bernadette has given numerous presentations on human trafficking to groups from 5 to 275 in number and as varied as Girl Scout troops and local banks. It was the [Siouxland Coalition] that originally promoted January as National Human Trafficking Prevention Month in Iowa. This became the model for the Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking’s event here today.”
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Many caught in human trafficking do not even know they are victims of this crime. Unless someone in the situation identifies a human trafficking situation, the legal system will view the victim without regard to the trauma they have experienced. 15-year-old Pieper Lewis faced a murder charge for killing the buyer who raped her. In the case of Pieper Lewis, however, staff in the Iowa Office of the Public Defender recognized her as a victim of Human Trafficking. This made all the difference. That’s why Matthew Sheeley, Magdalena Reese, Paul White and Brandon Adams of the State Public Defender’s Office have received the 2024 Outstanding Human Trafficking Service Award. Here is an excerpt from their nomination letter: “Due to this team, Pieper now resides in a safe place of restoration and healing. This would not have happened were it not for this team’s dedication, hard work, willingness to think outside the box, patience, and perseverance. Pieper’s legal defense team worked long and countless hours on this case, often extending into evenings and weekends. They all fought extremely hard on this case, and continually went above and beyond typical attorney duties, serving as social workers, counselors, personal shoppers, advocates, researchers, answering services, mentors, father figures, bankers, media agents, and crisis line operators.” Matthew Sheeley, lead attorney, spoke on behalf of the four-member legal team.
2023 Awards
The Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery recently presented six 2023 Outstanding 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 needed to prepare for her inauguration the next morning. Instead, the Governor asked Secretary of State Paul Pate to stand in for her. The SOS is pictured with each of the six honorees along with Maggie Tinsman, NAHT Board Secretary and John Chesser, NAHT Vice-Chair. This award was originally created in 2016 through a grant from the Rotary Club of Ames, Iowa, and is now administered by the NAHT and the Governor’s Office.
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The 2021-22 Rotary District 6000 Governor, Alka Khanolkar, set the awareness and prevention of human trafficking in Iowa and globally as her major goal during her term. Despite this growing crime not being on the radar of the 65 Iowa Rotary Clubs or within Rotary International, she was incredibly successful at engaging both Iowa Clubs and Rotary International to join the fight against modern slavery. Rotary International is made up of over 5000 clubs in 90 countries and 1.2 million members.
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Coach Schipper has made an outstanding contribution to raising awareness of human trafficking and the need for advocacy for victims and survivors. He called on Iowans to come to the aid of a survivor who had been his 9th-grade student before becoming homeless and sex trafficked at the age of 15. He single-handedly set up a GoFundMe page for Pieper Lewis, which resulted in an outpouring of support by 15,800 donors who contributed $562,638 far exceeding the original $150,000 goal, which was the required amount of a restitution payment Pieper was court-ordered to pay to the family of a man who had raped Pieper five times.
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Volunteer extraordinaire at Chains Interrupted for seven years. She has been working tirelessly in the fight against human trafficking from the moment she heard the Chains Interrupted plea for help in 2014. Tish has volunteered countless hours. She has trained thousands of people, designed awareness and fundraising events, recruited and supported other volunteers, and assisted with direct service to survivors.
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As an early member of Iowa Businesses Against Trafficking (IBAT), IMT Insurance has demonstrated an outstanding response to the Secretary of State’s challenge for Iowa businesses to “learn something” and “do something” to fight human trafficking. IMT received four nominations for the Outstanding Service Award. IMT’s commitment to combat modern slavery resulted in the donation of three vehicles for use by Hope for Justice staff members. These three staff members utilize the vehicles to investigate and rescue victims of human trafficking. IMT has also donated money to support Dorothy’s House.
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Melody Stone is relentless in her passion for bringing modern slavery/human trafficking to an end. She had three nominators for the Outstanding Service Award. Melody is the founder of the North Iowa Coalition Against Human Trafficking, which had been an underserved region of Iowa. She spearheaded anti-trafficking education interventions within 11 northern Iowa counties. Melody is also a licensed trauma-trained clinical therapist who works with survivors. She is highly qualified but what is more impressive is her commitment to sharing her knowledge with others. She has launched human trafficking training for first responders, and many other community groups. Melody also organizes awareness events but also coalition building, service to survivors, prevention programs, and public policy advocacy. Recently, Melody and the North Iowa Coalition have partnered with the faith community to create Iowa’s first-ever statewide Anti-Trafficking Day of Prayer on January 18, 2023.
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Sister Shirley began her heroic work to fight human trafficking in 2015 by establishing a board of directors to promote awareness, education, and collaboration with the ultimate goal of establishing a home for adult survivors of sex trafficking. With a clear vision of service to survivors, Sister Shirley received the gift of a large house and the surrounding 35 acres for what was to become Lila Mae’s House. The first of twelve participants entered Lila Mae’s in January 2021. Without state or federal funding, Sister Shirley and her board have worked hard to raise funding for remodeling, staff, and operating expenses. Lila Mae’s was the first and remains the only residential service dedicated solely to trafficking survivors in the Siouxland service area. Sister Shirley is a retired Briar Cliff University Professor of Social Work and a four-year member of the Network Board of Directors.
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.