The programs for the month of January will be provided to us by our Rotary E-Club member, Bob Kuck from Sarasota, Florida.

This weeks program is presented by a personal friend of Bob’s, Elizabeth Fischer, who is on a campaign to end sexual exploitation through her organization called Selah Freedom. She initiated her work in Sarasota, but has since expanded into the Chicago area and has plans to expand further.

Look Again: Sex Trafficking in your Own Backyard

Elizabeth Melendez Fisher 

Elizabeth Melendez Fisher, Selah Freedom CEO and President, gives a surprising look into the world of sex trafficking and challenges communities to look again at this issue. Her passionate approach stretches our understanding of this matter from being an “over-there” problem, taking place in third-world countries and unleashes the realities of what it looks like in our own backyard. She shares eye opening realities about how girls and boys are lured into this industry and brings to light the root issues which have allowed it to thrive within our own nation.

Elizabeth Melendez Fisher, CEO/President leads Selah Freedom, a national organization, providing solutions to local victims of sex trafficking. Fisher has been described as, “Part healer, part businesswoman, all resolve—if Selah Freedom is bringing light into the darkness, as the slogan says, then Fisher is the one behind the megawatt.” Selah Freedom educates over 45,000 annually, has residential safe houses in Florida and Chicago, leads at-risk teen prevention programs, and trains and equips law enforcement agencies.

Fisher speaks nationally about the root of sex trafficking, received the prestigious Tampa Bay Business Woman of the Year Award for the Nonprofit Category in 2014 and has been featured in various media outlets. Prior to Selah Freedom, Fisher worked in the Chicago area as a therapist and in leadership development. She is a graduate of Southern Illinois University with a bachelor of arts in communications and a Master’s in Clinical Psychology.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

For more information on this organization, please visit the following websites:

https://www.selahfreedom.com/videos

https://www.selahfreedom.com/statsandresources

Published on Nov 21, 2016