After launching its “Humans Over Human Trafficking” awareness campaign in January, the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking has formed a Leadership Council for its Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition.

"The Leadership Council reflects the evolution of our community’s response to human trafficking from isolated efforts to unified action rooted in prevention, equity, and survivor leadership,” Collaborative to End Human Trafficking president and CEO Kirsti Mouncey said in a statement.

“When we align strategy across systems and center those with lived experience, we build the infrastructure needed to stop exploitation before it starts. This is how we change what’s possible not just for survivors, but for our entire community.”

Leadership Council brings together visionary leaders from across several sectors—public health, government, law enforcement, and nonprofit—who are committed to aligning strategies, amplifying survivor voices, and building a more coordinated response to human trafficking in Northeast Ohio.

The new group will serve as the Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition’s strategic decision-making body—ensuring the group’s work is community-powered, survivor-centered, and rooted in equity.

“The Collaborative to End Human Trafficking has been grounded in the belief that we do not do this work alone,” said Mouncey. “Since our founding, we have helped grow a coalition of more than 75 organizations committed to increasing our region’s capacity to respond to human trafficking. This Leadership Council continues that legacy ensuring our efforts are not isolated but unified.”

The inaugural members of the Leadership Council are:

• Tenisha Gant-Watson, president and CEO, Jordan Community Resource Center
• Phyllis Harris, executive director, LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland
• Jennifer Johnson, executive director, Canopy Child Advocacy Center
• Harry Kamdar, CEO, Asian Services in Action
• Jeffrey Lox, president and CEO, Wingspan Care Group
• Collaborative to End Human Trafficking's Leadership Council for its Anti-Human Trafficking CoalitionNicole McKinney-Johnson, president and CEO, Cleveland Rape Crisis Center
• Dr. Martina Moore, president and CEO, Moore Counseling and Mediation Services
• Kirsti Mouncey, president and CEO, Collaborative to End Human Trafficking
• Sheriff Harold A. Pretel, Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department
• Sabrina Roberts, senior advisor, partnerships engagement, Office of the Cuyahoga County Executive
• Joseph Savarise, president and CEO, Ohio Hotel and Lodging Association
• Dawnya Underwood, executive director, The Centers’ H.O.P.E. Campus

“Together, we will keep pushing forward,” she continues. “Because every individual deserves to live free from exploitation and every system must work together to make that vision real.”