Voices that Inspire

What inspires you from WFSU Public Media? Here's this week's Voices That Inspire. I am Robin Hassler-Thompson, and I'm the Executive Director of the Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center or Stack. Stack is a local anti-trafficking nonprofit, and we have two main goals of our work. One is to provide care and services to people who are sex or labor traffic, and we also do tons of community education. What led me to this work is really a sort of old Zen saying, and that is that you should polish your path. Whatever path you get on, and to me it's never been a straight path. It's always had its curves and ups and downs, but it was through my work on violence against women issues that I became more aware of the issue of human trafficking. And that all happened for me at a rescue shelter in DACA in Bangladesh when I was there working on a domestic violence-related project. And I learned about trafficking and just said, I need to do something when I get back home. It just feels like being of service is really important, and that's something I got from my mother. And just being aware as a human being about the needs or the realities that are around, and is there anything I can do to help? I mean, that's one of the reasons I went to law school, is that I saw the practice of law and being a lawyer is kind of a public service at its heart because the rule of law is so important. And I just felt like what part can I do to make a difference? You know? I'm Robin Hessler-Thompson, and I'm the executive director of the Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center or STAC, and thank you. You're listening to voices that inspire.