Covenant House and Corporate Allies Deepen Anti-Trafficking Efforts

As National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month draws to a close, Covenant House and corporate allies Signature Aviation, Marriott International, and Hard Rock International & Seminole Gaming sought to galvanize a forum of business and corporate leaders to deepen and extend their impact in the ongoing fight against human trafficking. 

"When companies move alongside us, we can shift standards and build stronger systems at a scale we could never reach on our own,” Covenant House Senior Vice President Ashley Crawford told attendees of the forum, “Signals of Safety,” at Hard Rock Hotel in New York City.  

“We are proud to be in this work with our incredible partners, and I hope more people in this room will join us, because together, we have the power to transform individual lives and the systems that shape them,” Ashley said.  

Anti-Human Trafficking Council 

The event was moderated by media personality and NAACP Image Award-nominated podcast host Melyssa Savannah Ford. Paul Pellizzari, vice president for global social responsibility at Hard Rock, welcomed the corporate leaders to the venue. 

A few years ago, he said, talking about human trafficking provoked discomfort and uncertainty in business circles. “But a lot can change in a few years,” he added. “The discomfort of trafficking is never going to go away, especially when we’re talking about youth; it’s never going to disappear. So, for that reason, our task always involves channeling the uncertain discomfort into productive discomfort.” 

Getting started is a matter of finding “the right partner,” he said, “like Covenant House.” 

Ashley invited attendees to consider getting involved and introduced the new Covenant House Anti-Human Trafficking Council. The council offers corporate partners the opportunity to work with Covenant House and each other to create tangible change for homeless youth impacted by trafficking through legislative advocacy, public awareness, and research. 

Signature Aviation is a founding partner of the Anti-Human Trafficking Council.  

“Knowing the connection between survivors of human trafficking and homelessness, it’s a natural fit for us to support this council. We also know there is a lot we can learn from other hospitality and travel companies,” said Amy Alexy, Signature’s chief people officer and member of the Covenant House International board of directors. “There is power in numbers and more of us collaborating around this issue,” she said. 

The Human Trafficking – Homelessness Connection 

The connection between survivors of trafficking and homelessness is all too close. Of all youth who were trafficked or forced into survival sex, 68% were homeless at the time, and 22% of homeless youth were approached for paid sex on their very first night without shelter, according to Covenant House research. 

Rolidel Czekajlo, senior director of services for Covenant House New Jersey, told the gathering there are two characteristics traffickers look for in a victim: isolation and vulnerability. She defined vulnerability as anytime a person’s basic needs are not being met. “Anyone can be a victim,” she said.   

With no stable place to live and no one to care about them, young people facing homelessness are particularly vulnerable to traffickers who offer to meet their basic needs, including promises of love and protection. At Covenant House, 1 in 5 youth who come to our doors in the U.S. are survivors of human trafficking. At our Latin America programs, more than half of our youth, who are just 12 to 18 years old, are survivors. 

Melyssa shared a video message from a former Covenant House resident, Mia, who lived that reality. Mia was an ambitious, college-bound honors student whose life was thrown off course when her parents divorced. She experienced trafficking and faced many months of forced labor and sex. It was only through her own determination and Covenant House’s support that she was able to free herself and thrive.  

But her experience of trafficking is hardly singular. Worldwide, it’s estimated that traffickers victimize an estimated 27. 6 million people. 

Panelist Kathy Friess, of the Office of the Attorney General of New Jersey, clarified that few trafficking cases resemble those depicted in the movies, and she dismissed the misconception that any young person chooses trafficking. “Being trafficked is not a choice,” she said. “That's where the choice ended, and that’s where the victimization begins.” 

Rolidel noted that Covenant House New Jersey is the statewide provider of services to trafficking survivors. Covenant House offers survivors trauma-informed care and safe shelter. “In human trafficking, there is a loss of agency. Our program is dedicated to giving that back to survivors. We offer them choices they never knew were possible. And we build trust with them, keeping our word and showing up when we say we will.” 

Corporate Engagement and Leadership  

The industries represented at the event — travel, hospitality, aviation, and entertainment — touch millions of lives every day. “These are spaces where vulnerability and opportunity intersect,” Melyssa said, noting that corporations and business leaders can make a difference. 

Amy of Signature Aviation said 80% of international human trafficking journeys cross official border entry points, including airports. “Given our scale,” she said, we feel particularly responsible to ensure every Signature team member — from corporate leadership to the frontline worker — is trained to combat this crime.” Every new hire receives anti-human trafficking training within their first two weeks with the company. 

Durante Blais-Billie noted the particular vulnerability of Indigenous people, something her company, Hard Rock & Seminole Gaming is very cognizant of. She appreciated how Covenant House “identifies the most vulnerable people” who are susceptible to trafficking. 

“Being a tribal-owned gaming operation or hospitality venture, we have those centuries of historical context for what trafficking looks like, what violence looks like and what it is to have lived the reality of being a marginalized community,” she said. “So, because of that, our tribal leadership, who are our main shareholders, know and prioritize preventing this.”  

She and Abbe Horswill of Marriott both underscored the importance of lived experience in their companies’ approaches to fighting human trafficking. Abbe noted as a core principle that Marriott takes no steps to combat human trafficking without incorporating the point of view of trafficking survivors. 

There are three reasons Marriott decided to enter the uncomfortable conversation around human trafficking and do something about the issue, Abbe said: responsibility, business sense, and company culture and values.  

Because 80% of trafficking involves hotels, she said, Marriott felt an obligation to do something. Today, they work with Covenant House and other partners to donate unused rooms to people exiting trafficking and in desperate need of a safe place to go. The Hotel Help program is active in 12 cities, with 58 participating Marriott hotels. They have so far provided over 400 hotel nights of safety to 119 trafficking survivors. 

For corporations that want to step up and do their part but are navigating tight budgets, Durante offered some tips. “We invest heavily in awareness and training,” she said, “but we’re also realistic about capacity. A lot of our work focuses on activating existing touchpoints and infrastructure rather than building entirely new systems.”  

Some of her recommendations included adopting the PACT Code of Conduct, available at no cost, to promote an ethical workplace and shared language for policies, training, and reporting; offering guests the chance to round-up change for donation to organizations like Covenant House; rerouting lost or unclaimed cell phones to people in high-risk situations; and employing survivor-designed QR codes in guest areas to facilitate a call for help.  

Transforming What’s Possible 

Amy shared that Signature Aviation has been a proud Covenant House partner for two years and is excited about the work ahead to advance the Anti-Human Trafficking Council. She said Signature has been consistently impressed by Covenant House’s ability to be “at the forefront” of combatting youth homelessness.  

Regarding the council, she added, “We hope this will provide additional resources to support youth on the ground, while also having productive conversations with fellow hospitality companies, like my peers on this stage, to combat this issue together.” 

Ashley was hopeful about the opportunities for partnership the council will encourage, and she was energized by the commitment of those who stood alongside her at the event. She noted that in the more than 15 years she has worked at Covenant House, this is the most innovative collaboration she’s experienced with corporate partners across sectors who’ve joined together to deepen their collective support for Covenant House for greater impact.  

“What you’re hearing on this stage is what real leadership looks like: investing in partnerships that are robust, multifaceted, and rooted in working across sectors,” she said. “Covenant House is deeply grateful for these leaders and for their willingness to do the real work required to change the lives of young people. Their engagement transforms what is possible.”