Polaris' Nightingale Center, one of the only dedicated transitional shelters in the U.S. for victims of trafficking, specializes in serving both foreign national and U.S. citizen victims. Polaris Project also provides training and technical assistance to government and non-government agencies working to protect victims of trafficking. Polaris Project's programs have been recognized with numerous awards for innovation, social entrepreneurship, and leadership, including from Ashoka Innovators for the Public, the Do Something Brick Award, the Justice for Victims of Crime Award from the U.S. Attorney's Office of the District of Columbia, the Washington Area Women's Foundation Leadership Award, and honors from Marie Claire Magazine, the Body Shop, and Lifetime Television. Polaris Project has approximately 16 paid staff, offices in Washington, DC; Newark, NJ; Denver, CO; Los Angeles, CA; and Tokyo, Japan, and a Grassroots Network of over 6,000 community members across the U.S.
Bradley Myles, National Program Director--Bradley Myles is the National Program Director at Polaris Project. He is responsible for coordinating Polaris' regional offices and statewide chapters, providing training and technical assistance to federal and local audiences, managing Polaris' role on numerous federally-funded national programs, supporting Polaris' Federal and State policy advocacy efforts, and contributing to the grassroots and community-based anti-trafficking movement in the United States. He also is in a leadership role on the Washington, DC Human Trafficking Task Force. Brad worked previously at Caliber Associates on numerous trafficking studies and program evaluations and at Justice for Children as a Crisis Hotline Operator.
Karen Stauss, Staff Attorney--Karen Stauss is Staff Attorney and leads Polaris Project's Legal and Policy Department. She has worked with state legislators and within coalitions to improve legislation intended to criminalize trafficking and better protect and serve its survivors, and provides legal services to victims of both sex and labor trafficking. Before joining Polaris Project, she headed Human Rights Watch's field office in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, researching war crimes and other grave human rights abuses including sexual violence.