Dear John,

We have news! After a thorough, year-long, nationwide search, all of us at Polaris are thrilled to share with our friends and supporters that Catherine Chen will be our new Chief Executive Officer. As someone who cares deeply about reducing and preventing sex and labor trafficking, we feel certain you will be as excited as we are about this news, for so many reasons.

Catherine is a veteran anti trafficking strategist who has spent nearly two decades building and implementing innovative programs across the globe that are centered on the recognition that trafficking in all its forms is the end result of inequity, discriminations, abuses of power and massive systemic and governmental failures. Today, she brings the full force of that experience to build on the proud legacy Polaris has built over nearly 20 years.

The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Chen began her anti trafficking work as a volunteer before there even was a U.S. law that defined human trafficking as a crime. For the last two years, Catherine has led a talented team through the process of building out the organization’s 10-year strategy to reduce labor trafficking of migrant workers, expand accountability for sex trafficking, support survivors and leverage the reach and breadth of the financial services sector as key partners in all those efforts. She will also lead Polaris’s work to enhance our research and data capacity to better inform the anti human trafficking field and expand our state and local advocacy program to bring more of you into the fight to reduce and prevent trafficking.

To learn more about Catherine’s background, commitment and expertise, please read her bio here.

Thank you for all you do to support our community and our work. We are so grateful to have you in our corner and so excited about this next chapter we enter into together.

In Solidarity,

The Executive Team and The Board of Directors