Sandie is joined by Jeremy Vallerand, CEO and President of Atlas Free. Formerly Rescue Freedom International, Atlas Free is leading the charge to discover, connect, and grow the global network of anti-human trafficking organizations.

Jeremy Vallerand

Using your passions to fight injustice | Jeremy Vallerand | TEDxKirkland

Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 281, Why Change Your Name, with Jeremy Vallerand.

Production Credits [00:00:08] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:28] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:33] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:36] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, I’m so glad for us to welcome today another guest expert who’s going to help us to really expand our horizons and to challenge us in some new ways as well. Jeremy Vallerand is the CEO and president of Atlas Free, a global nonprofit organization working in over 20 countries to prevent combat and sex trafficking and exploitation. His TEDx Talk, “Using Your Passions to Fight Injustice,” encourages people to leverage their own skills and passions to improve the world around them. He has an undergraduate degree in business from Trinity Western University in British Columbia and a graduate degree in diplomacy from Oxford University. Jeremy lives in Seattle with his wife Marin and their three children. Jeremy, welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast.

Jeremy [00:01:32] Thanks so much for having me. I’m excited to be here.

Sandie [00:01:34] And Jeremy, you and I have known each other for so many years. I think the first friend that we had in common was Dick Foth, who as a child, I grew up in the shadow of his leadership and have always admired him as a mentor.

Jeremy [00:01:52] Yeah, yeah. He’s one of my favorite human beings. And he was also the founding board chair of Atlas Free, so.

Sandie [00:01:58] Oh, well, that’s exciting. Well, let’s jump into this. So first of all, just a little bit about your background. How did you get involved in the whole anti-human trafficking movement? It doesn’t sound like that is something that would have come about in your normal everyday business agenda.

Jeremy [00:02:23] Yeah. So, as you kind of hinted at I was on kind of the business trajectory, I sort of assumed that that was where I was going to go with my life. And always had thought and was kind of grew up in a home with a family that taught whatever you do, that kind of the core of who are called to be as followers of Jesus is to use whatever resources and influence we have to advocate for the marginalized, the vulnerable and the oppressed. And so that was kind of woven into my DNA as a kid growing up in our family. My whole life, we had different people living with us, people who were in need; refugees. It just seemed like our house was kind of this revolving door of ways that my parents were trying to support people who needed help in a time of need. And so I kind of thought, oh, I’ll go on the business track, and if I’m successful, then I can use those resources for a cause that I care about. And I wasn’t sure what that cause was going to be. But you mentioned Dick Foth. Dick Foth was a mentor of mine as well. And about 15 years ago he was going on a trip to India. He had spent part of his childhood there and he wanted to go back to India and kind of retrace his childhood steps. And so he invited me to tag along. And at the time, I was still single, wasn’t married, didn’t have kids. And so I could do spontaneous things like jump on a plane and go to India. And so Dick and I were traveling India together and at the tail end of the trip, he said, You know, I have these friends that have been rescuing kids out of brothels, mos...