Breaking Chains: The Collective Effort to Combat Human Trafficking

Tammy Lee, CEO of Our Rescue. Photo Sarah Whiting

“We need more partners in this fight,” says Tammy Lee, the CEO of Our Rescue, a nonprofit dedicated to eradicating sex trafficking and child exploitation. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), forced commercial sexual exploitation generates $173 billion in illegal global profits annually. Although many think of human trafficking as a back-alley crime that occurs in other countries or big cities, Minnesota has become an epicenter of human trafficking cases.

Our Rescue aims to fight that reality through education, operations, and survival care. Lee joined Our Rescue in 2024 following decades of leadership experience in Minnesota-based industries such as Delta Airlines, the University of Minnesota Foundation, and Carlson Companies. While at Carlson, she spearheaded initiatives supporting nonprofits working to eradicate human trafficking. She also served on the White House Interagency Task Force to Combat Trafficking in Persons.

Lee, of Hopkins, spoke to Women’s Press about the state of human trafficking, Our Rescue’s move to Minneapolis, and how the organization is joining forces with local partners to make change.

What is the current state of human trafficking?

Human trafficking is quickly catching up to the illegal drug trade. You can sell a bag of drugs one time. You can sell a human six to 10 times a day. This is one of the most heinous crimes on the planet. Here in Minnesota, we have the third-largest number of child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation cases filed in the country. (Editor’s note: this is a widely cited detail from a state court website, but it is not clear what the source is.)

How did you end up at Our Rescue?

Earlier in my career, I worked in the airline and travel industries, which are active in anti-trafficking. Then I went to Carlson Companies and had the privilege of working for Marilyn Carlson Nelson, who was an early pioneer in the anti-trafficking fight as a global hotelier. Marilyn and Carlson were awarded the first-ever corporate award for preventing trafficking. When I was working for Marilyn, I was able to serve on the White House task force to prevent human trafficking under Secretary John Kerry. That line on my resume tripped some algorithm run by the LinkedIn gods, and a CEO role came into my inbox. I wasn’t looking for a job, but this popped up, and I thought, “Oh, that’s interesting.” I hit the “Easy Apply” button and here I am. This mission found me, and I’m so grateful to be on it.

How long have you been CEO of Our Rescue?

I joined at the end of February [2024]. It’s been a whirlwind. When I came into the organization, they had just brought on a new board of directors. Since then, we’ve brought in a new executive leadership team and expanded operations.

What made you pick Minneapolis for your new corporate headquarters?

There is a great ecosystem here of anti-trafficking nonprofits and NGOs. There are partners here who understand the needs of survivors and law enforcement partners who are well versed in identifying predators and arresting them. There’s already a base of strength.

How does the rescue work? What makes it more effective than other anti-trafficking strategies that are currently in place?

We have three parts to our mission: education and prevention, partnerships with law enforcement, and survivor care. We support law enforcement partners with tools, technology, digital forensics training, and canine dogs so they can do the investigative work to identify predators and potential victims. Once we’ve identified a child or a man or a woman who has been a victim of trafficking, we provide support to get them into survivor care services.

Do you interact with survivors?

There was a ring that was trafficking women from Colombia to Spain. These women showed up in the Canary Islands thinking they were going to get hospitality jobs. Instead, when they landed, their passports were taken and they were immediately brought to a strip club, to a dark basement, in a room with mattresses on the floor and windows that were all bricked up. They were basically locked into a life of sexual servitude.

I was on that mission, in which 18 predators were arrested and 18 women were rescued.

How do you plan to engage local partners?

We’ve already been in conversations with the local Bureau of Criminal Affairs. They lead the ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) investigations into crimes against children. We’re working with the Minneapolis Police Department to see how we can build out and support their efforts. We want to provide them with whatever support they need — tools, technology training, and canine dogs that detect storage devices that may contain child sexual abuse material.

We’re also looking for a place where we can build a shelter. There are not enough beds for indigenous women and children who are being trafficked. The LGBTQ+ community is also underserved. We’re here to fill the gaps.

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