Finding the Courage to Collaborate with Unlikely Allies on Behalf of Justice
A letter from Safety Compass Founder on:
World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, 2026
Reflections from Nashville
Dear Friend of Safety Compass,
Earlier this July, I traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, for a conversation that reflected one of the deepest convictions at the heart of Safety Compass: service to others is most effective when unlikely allies decenter themselves and focus on what they can accomplish together.
I was invited to join Jim Cole and Sonny Von Cleveland at Our Rescue for an interview on their upcoming new series, the Unlikely Allies Podcast. Jim and Sonny bring profoundly different professional histories, personal experiences, and perspectives to their work. I arrived with my own story: more than two decades of serving survivors of human trafficking, work that has required building multidisciplinary partnerships among people and institutions that do not always understand or trust one another. It has been the pioneering collaborations amongst unlikely allies that has served to propel this movement forward most effectively.
Standing Between Worlds
Human trafficking exists at the intersection of violence, poverty, addiction, exploitation, trauma, commerce, and public safety. No single profession, ideology, or institution can adequately respond to it.
Effective advocacy is learning to stand between worlds, bridging the space between survivors and systems, holding both profound grief and unwavering hope, while continually asking, Who else needs to be involved in the creation of this survivor’s support community, if they are going to make it out of this warzone alive?
That question has shaped the mission of Safety Compass.
In response to a crime that is fundamentally dehumanizing, choosing to humanize one another may be one of the most strategic acts of justice available to us.
Institutionalizing Collaboration
At Safety Compass, we do not want collaboration to depend on the personalities of a few gifted relationship-builders.
We work to institutionalize alliances to safeguard them for the long haul.
We coordinate multidisciplinary teams, facilitate task forces, develop shared protocols, train professionals across disciplines, and intentionally elevate survivor leadership alongside partners from law enforcement, healthcare, child welfare, prosecution, and community organizations. Our goal is to weave trust into the fabric of community response so that collaboration becomes cultural rather than exceptional.
That is why Our Rescue’s podcast interview in Nashville felt so special to me. It reminded me that the future of the anti-trafficking movement will be determined by how courageously we bring our distinct strengths together in service to others.
Relentless Hope
At Safety Compass, “relentless hope” is a disciplined practice. Because we are focused on achieving an objective that is paramount to our own role in the story, we must keep building trust when trust has been broken, returning to difficult conversations, and believing that individuals can heal, institutions can improve, and justice can become more accessible when we are willing to work together.
The people most capable of changing society may not look alike, vote alike, worship alike, or speak the same professional language. What matters is whether they are willing to recognize one another’s humanity, remain accountable to those most affected, and place their unique gifts in service of something greater than themselves. I returned from the Our Rescue interview in Nashville encouraged and more convinced than ever that lasting justice will require the courage to build unlikely alliances.
Thank you for standing with Safety Compass as we continue strengthening multidisciplinary partnerships, elevating survivor leadership, and practicing relentless hope. Your support makes this work and these unlikely alliances possible. And be sure to check out Our Rescue’s new series Unlikely Allies, a Podcast coming this fall.
With gratitude,
Esther Garrett
Founder & CEO
Safety Compass
Learn more & get involved at SafetyCompass.org
