Kelsey Morgan

I’m a mother to an amazing daughter. I love being a mom and feel incredibly blessed to raise my daughter in a safe, loving environment full of opportunity. I have always loved kids and when I learned the horrific reality that millions of children around the world were forced into sex and labor exploitation, I knew I had to do something about it. Right out of college, I helped lead an organization providing comprehensive care to survivors of human trafficking in East Africa. I became obsessed with finding the best care and programming to support survivors and address the root causes of exploitation. On that journey, I founded a nonprofit and co-developed a tech tool to fuel our work, in partnership with Dr. Angela Robinson from UCI Blum Center. I’m currently finishing my PhD at UCI School of Social Ecology. Today, I’m honored to lead EverFree and our amazing global team.

50 million people are living in exploitation right now and the problem is only getting worse. Trafficking has increased 22% in just the last 5 years - with less than 1% of victims ever getting support. EverFree is on a mission to change that - ensuring that survivors around the world get the comprehensive, individualized care they need, and equipping the global movement with data and resources to end human trafficking.

Hear Kelsey speak on human trafficking in the clothing industry.

Choose EverFree at checkout on Cleobella.com so 1% of your purchase will go towards funding emergency shelter for 1 month for 5 female survivors of sex trafficking.

EverFree is there for survivors the moment they exit exploitation. We provide safe and loving care in our safe homes. Our team of professionals work alongside survivors to understand their strengths, vulnerabilities, and hopes for the future. Together, they develop an individualized care plan to ensure survivors go on to live full, healthy, free lives. We are so excited about this partnership because there simply is not enough support out there for survivors. Less than 1% of victims ever access support - these funds help us reach more women and children with lifesaving support and services.

My gratitude practice is central to my daily life. It keeps me grounded when I’m struggling with the scope and gravity of what we are up against and the change we are trying to make in the world. Movement is also key - I travel a lot and it’s essential that I have my daily routine of caring for myself physically, whether it’s yoga, a run, or strength training.

• Haza's Story 
• Sharlene's Story

I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can about my paternal grandmother, who I’m named after. She died before I was born, but I was raised hearing stories of what an incredible woman she was. My mom recently told me an inspiring story of how she rallied her community to collect and donate their blue chip stamps (think grocery store reward points) to purchase an entire school bus so her local YMCA could transport kids to camp and other life-changing opportunities. Before she did this, the YMCA was borrowing farm equipment and packing kids into trailers used for cattle. She also started numerous community programs to empower and support women and girls. I feel so honored to follow her legacy and to share her stories with my daughter.

My biggest source of inspiration are the people I’m blessed to work alongside every day - people who have committed their lives to changing systems so that all people can thrive. The survivors in our EverFree community are absolutely inspirational - not only do they overcome incredible odds, but they go on to be change agents in their families and communities.

I love to read fiction. Two fantastic fiction novels that do a wonderful job of depicting human trafficking are The Girl With the Louding Voice and Demon Copperhead. If you’re looking for non-fiction, I recommend Girls Like Us. We also work with an incredible survivor who has a book coming out this year! Follow us on @everfreeorg on Instagram to stay up to date on her book release.

’m headed to one of our program sites in Uganda in just a couple of weeks and I can’t wait. I absolutely love being there with our team and the women and girls at our aftercare center. During this trip, we will be traveling to the Karamoja region where we helped launch the first aftercare program for survivors. This project is so important to me because the challenges women and girls face in that community are truly overwhelming. I want to continue learning as much as I can so we can advocate for them and hopefully get more people in the world to pay attention and provide support.

The first quote that comes to mind is actually from Hamilton the musical. I love Hamilton, and I cry every time I hear the line, “But we’’ll never be truly free until those in bondage have the same rights as you and me.”