Ms. Cindy Malott has over 30 years experience in the field of victim services. She currently serves as the Director of Advocacy Services for Crisis Aid International. In this role she coordinates programic development for CAI Refuge safe transitional living home for adolescent and adult survivors of sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation. She also coordinates Crisis Aid’s law enforcement, medical and community crisis response to victims of sex trafficking, online child sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse.

SGT. ADAM KAVANAUGH (RET) – Was a Sergeant with the St. Louis County Police Department, Special Investigations Unit.  Sgt. Kavanaugh retired from law enforcement in September 2021 with 29 years of experience in law enforcement.  Sgt. Kavanaugh (RET) was the Commander of the Eastern District of Missouri Human Trafficking Task Force for 8 years and Deputy Commander of the Missouri Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force for over 16 years.  Sgt. Kavanaugh (RET) was assigned as a task force officer with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) working in the area of human trafficking and internet crimes against children.  He worked in an undercover capacity for the St. Louis County Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) throughout his law enforcement career. Sgt. Kavanaugh (RET) supervised undercover officers for over 16 years and has trained thousands of law enforcement officers, medical professionals and citizens in the area of child exploitation and human trafficking.  Sgt. Kavanaugh (RET) has received numerous awards for his years of service including the Distinguished Service Award from the Office of the United States Attorney for Eastern District of Missouri for his work with victims of Domestic Sex Trafficking in 2013.

Lauren received her Master of Social Work degree and Certificate for Violence and Injury Prevention from the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. She individualized her MSW concentration to focus on Advocacy and Empowerment for Survivors of Sexual Exploitation. She has worked alongside survivors of both labor and sex trafficking in India, Minnesota, Illinois, and here in St. Louis. She has served in several advocacy capacities, and has done extensive research, training, and teaching on this topic. She currently serves as an Advocate for Crisis Aid, working with survivors of internet crimes against children and their non-offending family members to provide crisis intervention, emotional support, education, safety planning, and resources in the hopes of preventing further victimization online and potential human trafficking. Her advocacy also includes working with adolescent and adult survivors of sex trafficking and facilitating psycho educational groups. Additionally, she is an adjunct professor at Bethany Global Fellowship and teaches a course called Responding to Human Trafficking. She’s been passionate about pursuing anti-trafficking work and serving survivors for the last 15 years and hopes to continue doing so for the rest of her life.

Almost a decade into teaching, Darius White works as a full-time high school English teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as serves as a board member for the San Francisco Education Fund, which aims to support students and families in the local public school system. He uses his classroom and social media platforms to invite activists, advocates, allies, and educators into radical collaboration, inclusion, and liberation work. Lastly, when he is not lesson-planning or grading, he is working on sharing his experiences as a Black male educator on his personal blog, www.justblackthoughts.com.