Kevin Bales - Going undercover to meet slaves and slaveholders, Kevin Bales exposed how modern slavery penetrates the global economy and flows into the things we buy. Named by Utne Reader as a "visionary who is changing your world;" and the originator of one of "100 World-Changing Discoveries" by the Association of British Universities, he is a leading abolitionist in the anti-slavery movement. In 2001 he founded Free the Slaves, the American sister organization of the UK’s Anti-Slavery International, the world’s oldest human rights group. In eight years it has helped to liberate thousands of slaves in India, Nepal, Haiti, Ghana, Brazil, Ivory Coast, and Bangladesh, and worked with them to build new lives of dignity.
After reading Bales' book Ending Slavery, President Clinton told the plenary of the Clinton Global Initiative: "It tells you that it is a problem we can solve and here’s how to do it." This year, with Ron Soodalter, he published The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today, an expose and plan to make America slave-free at last.
Melissa Bradley-Burns - Melissa Bradley-Burns is a Senior Strategist for Green For All. Her primary role is leading the Capital Access Program - working to provide human, social and financial capital to entrepreneurs and businesses in an effort to create, scale and sustain green jobs.
Bradley-Burns currently serves as an Advisor to Renewal 2 Investment Fund and holds board positions with Georgetown University Board of Governors, Green America, the Tides Network and the Tides Foundation. Bradley-Burns holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Georgetown University and a Master's in Business Administration in Marketing from American University.
Bales discusses the definition of slavery, how the population explosion has transformed slavery in the modern age, and how changing the patterns of global demand can effectively increase the value of human beings.
Bales' momentum: "We can end slavery, the laws are in place, the economics work, there is no debate -- everyone agrees it should end. All it takes is a good hard shove and it goes over the brink of its own extinction. Imagine being able to give our kids a world without slavery."