Connection. Education. Research.

Our mission is to provide education and empowerment to human trafficking survivors, activists, researchers, advocates, and community members working in the anti-trafficking response movement.

Dr. Anne Friesen

Researcher. Chief Strategy Consultant.

Dr. Anne Friesen, Chief Strategy Consultant, holds a Doctor of Education in Leadership Research and Programming and has over 20 years of professional experience in social justice and human services. Anne is committed to fueling the engine for positive social and economic change in her community and communities worldwide.

For more than 12 years, she served as the Executive Director of Friend to Friend (a non-profit serving victims of Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking). During her tenure there, she led community and regional efforts to improve the safety, health & well-being of women in crisis, including homeless & displaced survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault & human trafficking. For more than 15 years, Dr. Friesen has worked to combat and reduce Human Trafficking victimization and exploitation by empowering and educating service providers, advocates, first responders, community members, and survivors throughout the world.

Anne is nationally recognized, award-winning in her field, and passionate about effecting social, emotional well-being, and economic change for survivors of human trafficking.

Having spent more than 20 years working alongside foundations, government agencies, and non-profit organizations, advancing issues ranging from education/prevention to direct support service programming to survivor-centered support services and shelter. Anne offers training and support to non-profits and brings broad and unique expertise in:

  • Consulting & Supporting Non-profit Organizations in Leadership Transition

  • Anti-Human Trafficking Consultant, Researcher, Speaker, Advocate, and Analyst

  • Organizational Design, Strategic Planning, and Sustainable Growth Strategies Tailored for Health and Human Service Organizations and Government Response Systems and Sustainable Models

  • Women Empowerment & Leadership Programming

  • Survivor-Focused Advocacy, Support & Trauma-Informed Care

  • Holistic Leadership and Strength-based Training and Consulting with Expertise in Health and Human Services

  • Strategic Planning-Creating Non-Profit Long-Term Sustainability

  • Trauma-Informed Coordinated Human Trafficking Sustainable Response Systems

  • Evidence-Based Programming That Results in Self-Sufficiency for Women, Children, Men & Families in Crisis

  • Creating Strength-Based Teams & Diverse Workplace Cultures of Positivity & Effective Communication

  • Best Practices for Crisis Intervention Response, Support, and Services for Human Trafficking Survivors

ACTIVITIES & AFFILIATIONS

Dr. Anne Friesen served a six-year tenure on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCCADV), where she also served as Co-Chairperson. Additionally, she was a member of the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Coalition Against Human Trafficking. Currently, Anne serves as President of the Board of Directors for Springs of Living Water, a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting women and children who are survivors of sex trafficking in Ethiopia. Anne is currently the Board Vice-President for Fields of Hope, a non-profit offering trauma-informed, survivor-focused shelter and support to young women sex trafficking survivors. Anne provides transformational and adaptive leadership consulting services to organizations worldwide. Her expertise and research help organizations cultivate cultures of empowerment, equipping them to develop high-performing operational systems and models that sustain success. In her professional capacity, she is the Chief Strategy Consultant for Empowerment Now, a holistic leadership consulting agency that equips leaders to foster a more responsive and just global community.

  • 2016 Recipient of Moore County Citizen of the Year by the Rotary Club of Carthage (honoring community members who exemplify the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self”)

  • 2019 Moore County Woman of the Year by the NC Community Foundation.

Anne is the author of

Anne continues to present her research at conferences on human trafficking operational response models, trauma-informed/survivor-centered advocacy, and developing holistic empowerment leadership programming for survivors to gain long-term self-sufficiency and healing.

CERTIFICATIONS & EDUCATION

University of Kansas: B.A. and M.A.

Trevecca Nazarene University: EdD in Leadership Research and Programming

Harvard University, Kennedy School: Certification in Performance Measurement for Effective Management of Non-Profit Organizations

Duke University: Executive Education Program in both Non-Profit Management and Non-Profit Leadership

Does your organization need training and consulting expertise on: 

  • Organizational Design, Strategic Planning, and Sustainable Growth Strategies Tailored for Health and Human Service Organizations and Response Systems

  • Executive Transition & Succession Planning

  • Research on best practices for Nonprofit Board Anti-Human Trafficking Leadership

  • Building Effective Trauma-Informed Human Trafficking Shelter Programs

  • Women Empowerment & Leadership Programming

  • Creating Non-Profit Long-Term Sustainability

  • Evidence-Based Programming That Results in Self-Sufficiency for Women, Men & Families in Crisis

  • Creating Strength-Based Teams & Diverse Workplace Cultures of Positivity & Effective Communication

    TO HELP REDUCE BARRIERS FOR NONPROFITS, DR. ANNE FRIESEN OFFERS HER TRAINING & CONSULTING USING A SLIDING FEE SCALE. For more information, email anne@annefriesen.com