Human Trafficking Symposium: Protecting Youth and Our Communities from Sex and Labor Trafficking

Daniela Deas is a trauma-informed professional, survivor leader, and social justice advocate with over eight years of experience supporting youth and adults impacted by sex trafficking, commercial sexual

exploitation, and gender-based violence. She currently serves as a Survivor Mentor with You Are More Than, Inc., providing group and one-on-one mentorship and supporting economic empowerment through career guidance and small business development. Daniela also works as a Human Trafficking Collaborative Strategic Advisor with the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime, where she supports federally funded anti-trafficking programs nationwide.

Daniela’s background includes direct service, prevention education, and systems-level collaboration with organizations such as Pace Center for Girls, Kristi House, Fair Girls, and the Jewish Community Center. In 2023, she founded Survivors HOPE, a survivor-led nonprofit dedicated to healing and empowerment for commercially sexually exploited youth involved in delinquency systems. A national speaker and panelist, Daniela is known for centering survivor voices, challenging tokenism, and advancing collaborative, equity-driven responses to trafficking. At the Imagine Freedom 2026 Symposium, she brings both lived and professional expertise to the conversation on ending sex trafficking and building survivor-centered systems of care.

Robin Hassler Thompson, M.A., J.D., is the Executive Director of the Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center (STAC), a non-profit agency she co-founded in 2015 to assist survivors of human trafficking. Her work focuses on how survivors of human trafficking can more effectively achieve support and justice in their lives. Robin’s experience includes policy development and analysis, meeting planning and organization, training and education, public speaking, strategic planning, and program evaluation.

Robin has served on and held leadership positions on local, state, and national boards and committees. In 2014, she was appointed by the Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court to serve on Florida’s first Commission on Access to Civil Justice until June 2020. She served on the Tallahassee/Leon County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls from 2011 to 2014 and chaired that body from 2012 to 14.

Robin led Florida’s first Task Force on Domestic and Sexual Violence from 1993 to 1998 as its Executive Director. At the request of the U. S. Department of Justice, she served on the National Advisory Council on Violence Against Women. Robin holds a Juris Doctor and a master’s degree from Florida State University, as well as a B.A. from American University in Washington, D.C.

Sameer Jain is a native of India and a passionate advocate for a scientific and data-driven approach to raising awareness against labor and sex trafficking. As a subject matter expert on labor trafficking, Sameer focuses particularly on cases involving individuals or groups who are moved to the United States through legal channels, often under the guise of legitimate employment opportunities. Having moved to the U.S. on a visa for specialty occupations, Sameer spent much of his life in a white-collar profession. Despite his educational, social, and financial background, he became a survivor of labor trafficking. His journey fuels his resolve to prevent others from experiencing similar exploitation.

Sameer actively works to raise awareness of human trafficking at the federal, state, and local government levels. He is especially committed to engaging faith-based organizations and ethnic minority-serving communities as vital partners in identifying, preventing, and responding to trafficking. His advocacy includes speaking engagements with governmental and non-governmental organizations across the country, where he highlights the complexities and underreported realities of labor trafficking in the U.S.

He currently serves on the United States National Advisory Council on Human Trafficking, where he contributes lived experience and subject expertise to influence national policy and strategy. In July 2025, Sameer joined the Survive and Thrive Advocacy Board of Directors and was featured on Episode 4 of the Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center’s Imagine Freedom Podcast, where he shares his powerful story and insights on creating systemic change.

Hollie Nadel is a leader and business owner with expertise spanning business operations, human resources, recruiting, training, public speaking, policy, and anti–money laundering. Her most impactful work is in the anti-trafficking movement, where she collaborates with fellow leaders to raise awareness of the evolving realities of human trafficking and to advance protections and justice for survivors. As a survivor herself, this mission is deeply personal.

Hollie has been a featured speaker for ACAMS AML Symposiums, USAA, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, congressional briefings, the DC Rotary Club, the Virginia Attorney General’s Annual Human Trafficking Summit, the National Governors Association Criminal Justice Policy Advisors’ briefing on human trafficking, and trainings for mental health and legal professionals on trauma related to human trafficking.

She has consulted for and serves on advisory boards for leading anti-trafficking organizations, including 3Strands Global Foundation and the Alliance to Lead Impact in Global Human Trafficking (ALIGHT). As a 2025 Pembrook Fellow, Hollie worked with the Human Trafficking Legal Center to expand survivor leadership programs and currently serves as the Manager of Advocacy and Strategic Development at 3Strands Global Foundation.

Hollie holds a certification from the ACAMS/Liechtenstein Initiative for Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking, has provided survivor support through the Survivor Inclusion Initiative, and continues to actively advance survivor-centered, bipartisan anti-trafficking legislation.

Jamie Rosseland

Jamie Rosseland, Consultant and Lived-Experienced Expert

Jamie Rosseland is a consultant in the field of anti-trafficking work with expertise in the program development and implementation for victims and survivors of sexual exploitation, trauma-competent

and survivor-centered digital marketing and outreach strategies, and most recently, working on policy guides and research projects. She has been active in local government and statewide level policy advocacy. Through sharing her lived experiences and unique perspective, Jamie is committed to change the cultural view of the sex trade, addressing systems that drive demand, and confronting gender inequality.

Jamie has experience providing mentorship, court advocacy, and care coordination to youth impacted by sexual exploitation as part of the Open Doors Outreach Network with the Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center. She has presented at countless community events, statewide summits, and national conferences. Currently, Jamie serves on the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice’s State Advisory Group. She is a Social Science Scholar at Florida State University, where she is working on earning her undergraduate degree in interdisciplinary social science.

In 2018, Jamie won the Survivor Advocate of the Year award presented by the Florida Attorney General for her outstanding work with exploited youth. In 2021, the United Nations published the Delta 8.7 Justice Policy Guide, which Jamie contributed to as a working group member. Additionally, Jamie recently guest appeared on the New York Times podcast, The Argument, addressing the intersection of anti-trafficking work and pro-sex work technologies.

Ms. Ana I. Vallejo joined the St. Thomas University College of Law in 2023. She serves as Assistant Dean of Experiential Learning and Administration. Prior to re-joining St. Thomas, she was the Director and lead attorney at VIDA Legal Assistance, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the rights of immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, trafficking in persons, and other violent crimes.

For 20 years, Ms. Vallejo has represented victims of the above-mentioned crimes. She has worked collaboratively with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that immigrant survivors have access to justice. Ms. Vallejo has testified before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on forced labor in Florida’s agricultural industry. She has participated as faculty in international trainings and conferences for law enforcement and government officials sponsored by the Department of Justice in Panama, El Salvador, and Mexico. Also, she has served as a subject matter expert on trafficking in persons in programs organized or sponsored by the U.S. Department of State in Mexico, Colombia, and Costa Rica as well as its International Visitors program. Additionally, she has presented in international conferences on the topic of access to justice for survivors of trafficking in persons in the Dominican Republic, Thailand, Spain, and Puerto Rico. Throughout her career she has supervised law students completing internships and externships at the organizations she has worked.

Prior to her work with victims of violent crimes in the U.S., Ms. Vallejo represented victims of human rights violations seeking asylum in the United States. She received a B.A. in Political Science and a B.A. in International Affairs from Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a J.D. degree and a LL.M. degree in Intercultural Human Rights from St. Thomas University College of Law, Miami, Florida.