Named after the North Star, an historical symbol of freedom, Polaris is leading a survivor-centered, justice- and equity-driven movement to end human trafficking. Since 2007, Polaris has operated the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline, connecting victims and survivors to support and building the largest known dataset on human trafficking in North America. This experience informs strategies that hold traffickers accountable, support survivors on their healing journeys, and address the vulnerabilities that enable the business of stealing freedom for profit.
Traffickers use violence, threats, debt bondage, and other tactics to force people to engage in commercial sex or to provide labor or services against their will.
Polaris captures data based on victims’ experiences to identify specific types of trafficking, build awareness, and improve support for victims, law enforcement agencies, and communities.
Polaris envisions a global ecosystem of individuals, agencies, and communities with access to data on all forms and types of trafficking, coordinating targeted responses to end modern slavery.
After helping thousands of victims and supporting dozens of communities to shut down trafficking networks, Polaris helps global partners apply its methods.
Polaris works to prevent sex and labor trafficking and support victims and survivors as they restore their freedom. Its work is based in deep respect for survivor experience and aims to transform the root causes that make people vulnerable to exploitation. Ultimately, Polaris envisions a more just and equitable society where every human has the freedom to choose how they live and work.
Through Direct Response, Research & Intelligence, and Campaigns & Public Engagement work, Polaris catalyzes survivors, service providers, law enforcement, community partners, government policymakers, political leaders, private sector institutions, and media and social influencers toward systems changes to transform the conditions that enable trafficking.
Catherine Chen has spent more than two decades building innovative social justice programs and pushing for policy change to address the root causes of sex and labor trafficking. Today she serves as the CEO of Polaris, the leading anti-trafficking organization in the United States. Before joining Polaris, Chen spearheaded a global campaign for Humanity United that raised the plight of migrant workers in Qatar ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and resulted in Qatar becoming the first nation in the Persian Gulf to enact a national minimum wage. In 2022, Chen was appointed to the Homeland Security Advisory Council by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. She is a Board member of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF) and a founding member of Chief, a national network of 15,000 women executives. She holds a B.A. from Stanford University and a Master of Public Health degree from Columbia University.
