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The Freedom Collaborative and Freedom Registry Story

The vision of this project is to see the global anti-trafficking movement increase its capacity to collaborate, develop inter-country and cross-border referral mechanisms and learn from one another on evidence-based practices and emerging issues.

Evidenced-based practice was drawn from many years of implementing a grassroots level coalition in Cambodia working together to end trafficking and slavery.

Chab Dai’s Freedom Registry project began in 2009. While contextualizing the organization’s ethos and vision in the development of Chab Dai USA, we carried out research among the anti-trafficking movement on the gaps that existed.

The result was a need for a registry with vetted organisations  that could be used as a mapping tool and searchable referral mechanism.

This was initially piloted in 2011 among  U.S. stakeholders, and subsequently launched to the public in March 2012.

Global Expansion

In December 2013,  the full platform, including the Freedom Registry, was launched internationally and integrated with the additional tools of Freedom Library, Freedom News and Freedom Dialogues as the all-encompassing Freedom Collaborative.

As of today, this is how the community of anti-trafficking and anti-slavery movement are using the platform:

Community:

1,007 Registered Individual Users from

135 Countries  who have registered

926 Organisations from diverse program focus within the 4 P's

Protection: 574

Prevention:399

Partnership:137

Prosecution: 42

Spending 2,775 total hours on the platform

Library:

2,087 User-added studies, reports, journal articles, laws, articles, books and videos. from

245 Countries and territories, in

29 Languages

Expanding into the Future

After years of working with our partners, building grassroots organisations and developing Freedom Collaborative, we still see so much potential for growth that will see the platform expand from its current form into an interactive, macro-level tool that helps us address human trafficking and slavery from a multi-sectoral perspective – working not only in victim referral mechanisms but also developing tools to suppress the environment that allows and enables slavery to flourish in this world.

Watch this space…

Our User-Powered Library Reaches 1000 Resources

You may have seen

Our Library recently passed (June 2014) 1000 user-added resources.

Chab Dai first started dreaming up this counter-human trafficking resource platform back in 2012 and it's been amazing to see it go so quickly and come to full fruition. (It's been open just 6 months now.) Below is the current breakdown by resource type. 

Engagement

We built it in a way that empowers everyone to contribute — and we think it's making all the difference.

As a registered user, you are able to add resources to the system and up-vote other items that you like and have reviewed. 

The Library democratically displays materials based on the number of up-votes they've received in conjunction with the number of comments. If you search a subject — say "victim rehabilitation" — you're given results in the order that the community has determined through its collective voice. 

For each resource, you're able to push comments up and down as well (through "upvotes"/"downvotes"). Take a look to the right at the amazing discussion generated by one of the resources in the Library (Episode 01 of Freedom Dialogue: the micro-podcast series we recently started). 

If you've written, created or partnered with someone on a resource, you are also able to add it your personal profile as well as your organization's profile.

Try it out by registering here. If you have a Facebook or Twitter account, it only takes one click.

Moving Forward

It's been amazing to see this tool continue to grow and increase its engagement

Be sure to check back anytime you're in need of the latest information on a particular subject.  One of our 919 users are sure to have added something on the subject.

If you're looking for something recently published to read, you might want to take a look through the U.S. 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report which was published just a few weeks ago (June 2014).

In July, we are finishing up the development of a few additional filters. Current filters are: Subject, Type, and Geographic Focus. This month we're adding:

Browse

Recently added

Recently Commented

Most Commented

Most Viewed

Publish Date

Since 2010

Since 2005

Since 2000

Since 1995

Since 1990

Since 1985

Since 1980

Since 1975

Before 1975

Language

Resources in available languages.

If you have suggestions for improvements to the Library, we would love to hear them! Thanks for reading!


Taylor Poe
Freedom Collaborative Manager
Chab Dai Int'l

Knowledge in Action

By Christina Chan

When the topic of human trafficking was discussed in my upper division Human Rights class at UCSB, I was completely engaged. Learning about the different issues we face, the human rights violations that occur, and the detriment that poverty has on the human experience, a deep desire to actively engage and understand the issue of human trafficking was triggered.

Then I heard that my church, Reality Carpinteria, was offering a course called, “Renew”, which focused on the topic of local and international human trafficking and poverty. I took it as an opportunity to gain knowledge about the issue, and to find ways to become involved in the cause.

These opportunities to learn about anti-trafficking caused me to move beyond simply absorbing knowledge, it spurred a passion in me to do something. Chab Dai has provided me with an outlet to share knowledge on a large scale, and it has also served as a valuable resource in gaining practical skills in countering trafficking.

During my time with Chab Dai, I’ve gained skills in presenting the topic of human trafficking. I’ve also learned how to share about the work of Chab Dai in the U.S., framing it as an organization working to promote a collective database of resources for anti-trafficking groups. I’ve also learned methods of researching materials and resources related to counter-trafficking, as well as developing a correct and neutral language when discussing issues of trafficking.

As I input information into FC and research events and resources, I am exposed to the enormity of the issue and the growing network of the counter-trafficking collective. At the end of my internship, I know that I will carry with me the valuable insight I’ve gained regarding trafficking, the discussions I’ve had with staff, interns, as well as individuals outside of Chab Dai, and the community of compassionate, talented individuals who want to eradicate this very real, local/international, lucrative, unjust crime of the exploitation, coercion, and sale of human beings.

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Launching Freedom Collaborative

By Taylor Poe

At 1 am on December 2nd 2013, WE FINISHED IT!

We launched Freedom Collaborative — a web application we've been working on at Chab Dai for the past three + years. It's a project designed to help bring new connectivity to the counter trafficking movement-at-large.

The launch

The feature release that held the most anticipation for me personally was the Freedom Library. I often cringe when I hear statements like this, but I'm going to say it anyway, this resource center is undeniably innovative. I'll let this page convince you of this and will use this blog space to tell you a little bit about its creation.

We started designing this collaborative resource center in 2012 — spending a few months researching the latest paradigms in wiki library models. Our design process was conducted in Cambodia that summer during a two month sprint of furious white-board writing & prototyping.

As for the Library's creation, I want to say a special thanks to Rob Perrett & Joy Anchalee P. Roberts for all of the time, energy and expertise they put into crafting this feature. Rob is an IT professional from Australia who has visited nearly every country in the world; Joy is a metadata expert at the American University of Cairo. While I'm at it, I'd like to to thank our entire advisory board — who has put so much into this project over the years:

As we upload our initial data input of resources over the next few days, our counter-trafficking library system will be set to become the largest of its kind in the world. And our team is pretty excited about this.

Other updates for the launch include the addition of personal profiles and the extension of the Freedom Registry to make it a global platform. Read about these updates here or you can view this PDF format.

We're not stopping in 2014

Below is our project schedule for a few of the major tools we are working on building for the community this year.

And since you've read this far, here's a reward: a premiere sneak peek at one of them. It's a human trafficking news aggregator that pulls in posts across all social media channels which use the hashtag #humantrafficking. We're working on incorporating it fully into the app before publicly announcing it, but go ahead and test it out by using the hashtag on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & Google+.

I hope you will join us in this new and exciting collaborative platform.

Getting your Nonprofit Dream Job is about Collaboration... and It Begins by Embracing How We Work

Our lives have become more transparent and more interconnected, and our jobs and careers both reflect and help to produce this new way of being in the world. Within the Nonprofit sector, our work has always been interdisciplinary, requiring us to play multiple roles, develop creative methods of problem solving, and network with a variety of groups and organizations. So it’s no wonder that our training and job search embraces the core value of collaboration in nonprofit work. Collaboration -- as it relates to getting into a nonprofit organization and finding your dream job in international development -- goes beyond networking. 

In order to collaborate you first need to understand that what an organization can offer you is just as important as what you can offer an organization. You have to figure out what you hope to do in the future, in reference to daily tasks and responsibilities; and then you have to identify your strengths and current skills. So far these are basic steps everyone, I am assuming, has been told to follow at some point in their careers, whether in school or in the job market. 

As a freelance communications and media specialist I have offered my expertise to a variety of groups using multiple angles, strategies, and targets, always keeping in mind what I am offering and expecting to gain: personal success, connections, experience, purpose, etc.. 

And for me, taking a job always comes down to whether I believe in the project and can see my work having a collective impact in order to establish a relationship with the organization and its members.

When you find a niche you are passionate about follow these strategies:

(1) Plan out specific ideas you bring to that position and how they will relate to the organization;

(2) Map the different ways your skills can be helpful and determine the sector in which they are needed;

(3) Focus on specific programs, especially if you have an idea of the type of group or location you want to work in, researching their missions, making contact with people on the ground, and understanding the goals and processes of the organization.

Once you have your story and are comfortable pitching what you can offer, it is important to find and analyze the organizations or projects that have the most potential to allow you to grow and develop your skills and experiences. In my own career, this is the point where I begin to network, now that I know which direction to take. By “network” I don’t mean going to meetups, posting contacts, or taking advantage of contacts. I am talking about a collaborative process that allows us to apply our values in the nonprofit sector to what we do every day, to create a space for committed individuals to work together on mutual goals.

If we begin to use collaboration rather than networking as our main strategy, we add a second element that gives the individual who’s actively looking to enter the nonprofit sector a new mindset to search out a space or group to collaborate with rather than just “work-a-net” (networking).

But coming up with a strategy and executing is only half the battle; the other 50% of “Getting a Nonprofit Dream Job” is for nonprofit organizations to allow for cross-disciplinary innovation and developmental growth within their own missions.

Which brings me to my current dream job working with ChabDai.org. Chab Dai is an organization that addresses human trafficking and exploitation by bringing communities, organizations, and people into a relationship to create a dynamic coalition that builds partnerships, shares knowledge and lessons learned, and empowers advocates. By encouraging true collaboration internationally we facilitate coordination, develop connectivity, and grow together by seeing what others are doing. We build from their work to create a collective impact.

Applying the strategies that Chab Dai uses to build coalition through collaboration, nonprofit organizations can attract strong and innovative team players that will help them to develop strengths across various sectors. One way to do this is to search spaces within your field that allow for such activities to happen, like The Freedom Registry or The Freedom Collaborative-- online platforms for organizations, agencies, institutions and advocates to communicate, exchange resources and information, and COLLABORATE.

COLLABORATION IS ACTION, 

AND IT IS ONLY POSSIBLE IF WE ALLOW IT!

Written by Pablo Robles, Chab Dai International Communications Coordinator

New tools on the Freedom Registry

We launched a new version of the Freedom Registry! The major addition in this release is an interactive data visualization map of the movement's services. We can now dynamically visualize and filter the specifics of how organizations have registered the types of services they offer. This enables the movement to see who is doing what on a regional basis, and — just as importantly — where there are gaps in services. Potential volunteers can use it to see which nearby organizations have listed themselves as requesting help. We think this new tool goes a long way in cultivating new and powerful layers of connectivity into the movement.

Continuing in this narrative, we are building a means for anyone — organization or individual — to build new tools for the movement on top of our existing data structure. In tech-speak it is called an application programming interface (API). It enables third-parties to connect to our application and build their own new tools for the vetted organizations that make up our user base. We're very excited about the possibilities that are opened up with this type of freely accessible data ecosystem! Our hope for all of this is to facilitate organic coordination and relationships between counter trafficking organizations, agencies and institutions.

Currently, the Registry is only released to the United States, but over the past year we have been in the process of working with national steering committees in a myriad of countries to tailor the Registry to regional needs. As we launch the many additional tools we will be releasing this year, we will simultaneously open up the Freedom Registry to the rest of the world.