THE SURVIVOR ALLIANCE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY 2024

Survivor Alliance is pleased to announce Cohort 2 of the Survivor Leadership Academy (“the Academy") with support from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the Sherwood Foundation. Grounded in the learnings from the pilot of the Survivors LEAD program in 2021, the Survivor Alliance Leadership Academy (the Academy) is an 18-month leadership development initiative designed to fill a gap in survivor leadership in the anti-trafficking sector. The Academy is designed for survivor leaders who want to work full time in anti-trafficking and related sectors full time, whether as independent consultants or employees of organizations.

The Academy’s 2024-2025 cohort is dedicated to elevating the Spanish-speaking community and bilingual survivors, recognizing the unique impact of racism on survivors of human trafficking. With the significant Spanish-speaking community in the United States, our focus in this cohort is on amplifying the Latin@ and Chican@ survivors in their work and advancing their leadership skills. Historically, there has been a lack of programs tailored specifically to survivors serving Spanish-speaking communities, highlighting the need for more representation within the anti-trafficking sector. The Academy aims to address various forms of trafficking that affect the Spanish-speaking community and provide a supportive environment for survivors to come together to build collective support and power.

The content of the Academy is delivered through the implementation of three modules that build upon one another to deepen survivors’ knowledge and skills to work in the anti-trafficking sector. The program is open to survivor leaders nationwide in the United States.

What to Expect?

Practical, focused, and relevant leadership development seminars

Two-hour weekly, live online sessions with breaks

Participants who fulfill their commitments have the opportunity to be compensated every 3 months through scholarship stipends which add up to $5500 for the full 18 months

The Academy provides foundational skills around leadership and wellbeing with an approach informed by Critical Pedagogy and Paulo Freire’s work. The curriculum combines experiential education, socioemotional learning, leadership development and upskilling for employment to achieve its intended outcomes. The Academy engages in a trauma-informed, multimodal approach designed to be accessible to and beneficial for people from diverse backgrounds with varying levels of formal education. The Academy incorporates self-directed learning, live virtual workshops and virtual educational field trips, when possible. Throughout the program, Academy participants benefit from working directly with other survivor leaders, who serve as facilitators and peer mentors to participants throughout the program.

Participants who choose an internship placement will work directly with host sites with the support of Survivor Alliance. Placement host sites, typically organizations that engage in anti-trafficking work as a priority focus, receive training on implementing ethical survivor inclusion practices. This training and ongoing support for supervisors hosting a survivor intern helps with organizational readiness to recruit and hire survivors in the future. As a final stage, Academy participants, with input from their placement site supervisors, will have the opportunity to reflect on their placement experience and opportunities to continue to grow.

We are harnessing employability and career paths for the Academy’s participants and creating opportunities for anti-trafficking organizations to contribute to wider systemic change.