Human trafficking can be an underground issue, but according to Katie Shelgren and Will Boggs, it doesn't have to be. Shelgren, a fourth-year public relations student, and her fiancé Boggs, a USC alumnus, founded Raising a Voice, to educate the public about human trafficking and help bring it to and end.
The organization came together as a part of a one-year planning period, during which the pair attempted to blend Boggs’ passions for justice and international travel with Shelgren’s personal work with women and her passion for writing.
The result was Raising a Voice, which launched in January 2015.
Currently, the organization is just the two of them, but Shelgren said they have built relationships with 41 other anti-trafficking organizations around the world during their three months of existence.
Raising a Voice focuses on uniting existing anti-trafficking organizations and connecting them to resources within their communities and around the world.
They hope to connect organizations within specific areas so they can help and provide resources and support to one another, Shelgren said.
“In the long term, we hope to be able to send volunteers to these organizations to see trafficking first-hand and and assist their operations,” she said.
So far, the organization has raised over $20,000 to visit the organizations that they have partnered with. The money has largely come from individual donations and donations from local churches.
Shelgren and Boggs have applied to USC’s Dobson Volunteer Service program, which would fund some of their travel.
The pair comes from the Gamecock community and hope to see the organization branch out onto USC’s campus to involve more of the community who inspired them to explore their own passions.
Ultimately, through these connections, Shelgren hopes Raising a Voice will be able to send students and volunteers abroad to volunteer with other anti-trafficking organizations.
“We see such passion for injustices in the college community and hope we can find a way to get students involved with Raising a Voice in the future, whether that be a campus organization, creating local volunteer opportunities, participating in short-term trips or assisting in fundraising,” she said.
Shelgren said although they have reached out to anti-trafficking organizations in the U.S., most of their focus will be international. She attributed this to the high volume of anti-trafficking organizations in target areas such as Atlanta and Los Angeles.
In the end, Shelgren believes that their organization will be a way for them to interconnect anti-trafficking organizations and help to raise awareness about the issue.
“It can be non-profit that is continuing an education program to help people of all ages understand what happens with human trafficking here and abroad,” she said.