Jayne Bigelson, Chief Policy/Education Officer National Organization for Women NYC, Women's Justice NOW
Opening speaker
Jayne Bigelsen is the Chief Policy and Education Officer at Women’s Justice NOW(WJN)- the sister agency to the NYC branch of the National Organization for Women (NOW-NYC.) At WJN/NOW-NYC, Jayne works to eradicate human trafficking and all forms of gender-based violence through uplifting the voices of survivors and fighting for systemic change. Prior to her work at WJN, Jayne was VP of Legal/Advocacy at Covenant House New York (CHNY) where she founded CHNY’s first anti-human trafficking department, supervised CHNY’s legal response to the current migrant crisis, created and led a youth leader advocacy program and co-led the first ever large-scale study on the relationship between human trafficking and youth homelessness.
Prior to her work at CHNY, Jayne was the Director of Legislative Affairs at the NYC Bar Association for eight years. At the City Bar, Jayne advocated for NYS’s first anti-trafficking law and a safe harbor law for child victims of commercial sexual exploitation.
Jayne has an undergraduate degree from Brandeis University, a law degree from Harvard and an MA in Applied Developmental Psychology from Fordham University.
Lisa Nolan, Director of Prevention Education, Willow Center NY
The Intersection of Domestic Violence and Trafficking
Lisa Nolan has been part of the Willow Team for nearly 6 years. Lisa’s role at Willow is as the Director of Prevention Education and includes training, educating, and consulting on all things related to trauma and domestic, dating and intimate partner violence throughout the community. She also serves as aliaison for many community partners back to Willow’s services or to other resources in the community. During her time at Willow, Lisa has trained over 20,000 members of our community in spaces such as K-12 schools, college campuses, mental health and healthcare settings, service provider settings, law enforcement and more. Lisa received her bachelor’s degree from SUNY Oswego and her master’s degree in education from Penn State University. She is a lifelong Rochestarian and loves a good garbage plate. When she’s not educating the community you can find her hiking local trails, drinking coffee at the Public Market, or planning her next trip abroad.
Session title: The Intersection of Domestic Violence and Trafficking
Hon. Ellen M. Yacknin (ret.)
Rochester SAFE Court: Lessons Learned About Survivors of Human Trafficking
Hon. Ellen M. Yacknin (ret.) was a Rochester City Court Judge, and later an Acting Monroe County Court Judge, from 2003 until her retirement in 2023. In addition to presiding over civil and criminal cases, Judge Yacknin created and presided over Rochester’s SAFE [Surviving and Finding Empowerment] Court, a problem-solving court for victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, and frequently presided over Teen Court.
Before assuming the Bench, Judge Yacknin was an attorney with the Greater Upstate Law Project, Inc. in Rochester, NY, a public interest law organization, where she litigated several landmark federal and state court actions involving health, welfare, civil rights, and housing issues on behalf of low-income persons. Before then, she was the managing attorney of the Buffalo Office of NY Prisoners’ Legal Services, law clerk to federal Chief Judge John T. Curtin of the Western District of New York, and staff attorney at Pennsylvania Legal Services Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Besides the cases she litigated in her employment capacity, Judge Yacknin brought several pro bono cases throughout her career. On behalf of her pro bono clients, she obtained a court order requiring the Buffalo, NY bus authority to display a pro-choice public service advertisement on its buses, a court order permitting demonstrators against President Ronald Reagan to hold signs attached to sticks, and a court order requiring Rochester, NY to grant tax-exempt status to a community building owned by the Gay Alliance of Genesee Valley. Additionally, for nearly 15 years, she was informal, and later formal, co-counsel for the 1,200 Attica Prison inmates who sued New York State for violating their constitutional rights by killing, torturing, and depriving them of medical care when the State quashed the inmates’ rebellion in September 1971.
Judge Yacknin has served on several community agency boards, including AIDS Community Health Center, Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys, Inns of Court, Rochester Area Task Force on AIDS, Empire State Pride Agenda, Gay Alliance of Genesee Valley, National Health Trust Foundation, and Mary Magdalene House. She is the author of several law-related articles and the recipient of several awards, including, most recently, the Cornell Law School Alumni Public Interest Law Award, the Monroe County Bar Association’s Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye Award, and the Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys’ Dolores Denman Award.
Session title: Rochester SAFE Court: Lessons Learned About Survivors of Human Trafficking
Session Objectives: This session will discuss the creation and implementation of Rochester’s Surviving and Finding Empowerment [SAFE] Court, Monroe County’s treatment court for victims of sexual exploitation, and discuss both the Court’s benefits and strengths as well as its weaknesses.
Sue Kirby, Founder and Executive Director/Brightstar Community, Inc.
Street Outreach Trends and Response in Rochester to Support HT Victims
Sue Kirby is a dedicated advocate in the fight against sex trafficking, working to raise awareness, support survivors, and drive systemic change. With her background as the Founder and Executive Director of the nonprofit agency, Brightstar Community, Inc., she has created a home for women survivors of sex trafficking, sexual exploitation and addiction where the women can live for two years, rent free, while they heal and rebuild their lives. It is the first program of its kind in the Rochester, NY, area. She has also joined with other nonprofit agencies in the community to do weekly street outreach to be able to meet more individuals that are experiencing sexual exploitation, addiction and homelessness to provide hygiene bags and build trust within the community to let them know that they matter and that there is hope and a way out.
Brightstar is a member of the Rochester Regional Coalition Against Human Trafficking and the Western District of New York Human Trafficking Task Force. Through collaboration with organizations, law enforcement, and community leaders, Brightstar works to address the root causes of trafficking and provide resources for those affected and they are committed to fostering education and action to combat this very important issue in our community.
At this conference, Sue will share insights on her work since starting this grassroots program and, specifically the work they do in street outreach, and the increasing need for offering practical strategies and inspiring change in the collective fight against trafficking.
Session title: Street Outreach Trends and Response in Rochester to Support HT Victims
Brittany Schulik, Program Manager of Monroe County Safe Harbour, Street Outreach, and National Safe Place in Monroe County/Center for Youth
Street Outreach Trends and Response in Rochester to Support HT Victims
Brittany Schulik has been working with the at-risk, adolescent population since 2010 post working in education after college. Brittany has 4 daughters of her own, which leads her passion to support and education the county and world about the risks of trafficking and how it does NOT always look like the movie, Taken. Brittany has been with the Center for Youth services for almost 7 years and has overseen Safe Harbour for the last 3. Brittany is committed to the support of the young people in our community and truly hearing their stories. Brittany believes step 1 to making changes in the world is Youth Voice, Youth Choice and working together from there to development prevention and change.
Session title: Street Outreach Trends and Response in Rochester to Support HT Victims
Nicola Dell, Associate Professor at Cornell/Director of the Clinic to End Tech Abuse
Mitigating technology-facilitated abuse and navigating digital safety
Nicola (Nicki) Dell is an Associate Professor of Information Science at Cornell University based at the Cornell Tech campus in New York City. She is also a part of the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute. At Cornell, she co-founded and co-directs the Clinic to End Tech Abuse (CETA). She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship (2024), a SIGCHI Societal Impact Award (2023), an NSF CAREER Award (2018), and was the 2023 Siegel Faculty Impact Fellow in the Public Interest Technology (PiTech) Initiative. Nicola received a Ph.D. in Computer Science & Engineering from the University of Washington and has published over 90 peer-reviewed conference and journal papers.
Session title: Mitigating technology-facilitated abuse and navigating digital safety
Session Objectives: Equip attendees with an understanding of common ways technology is weaponized for abuse in trafficking, along with strategies for mitigating technology-facilitated abuse and helping survivors stay safe.