A Call to Action: Next Gen Ambassadors
By Ainsley Hurford
Before beginning my year of volunteer service as a St. Joseph Worker, I knew little about policy advocacy and even less about anti-trafficking. To ground myself during my transition to Los Angeles and my work as the policy intern at Cast (Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking), I wrote to myself, “I’m beginning my adult life the best way one can: fully committed to justice.” That was the truth I knew: I, a woman with the energy and curiosity characteristic of so many young people, had a special invitation to joyfully commit my full self to better understand the world around me and the people within it.
Reflecting now, a few months into this Jubilee Year of Hope and a short seven weeks following the Alliance’s annual conference, I feel an even greater sense of purpose for the role of young people in movements of justice and dignity, including in anti-trafficking work.
In his January ‘25 “State of the World” Address, Pope Francis asserted that the Jubilee Year “is meant to help us step back from the increasingly frenzied pace of daily life in order to be refreshed and nourished by what is truly essential.” The AEHT conference was indeed an opportunity to take a step back, learn from others working to end human trafficking, and better understand and listen to the diverse perspectives of survivors. I was nourished by a new community, one from which I can constantly learn.
As a St. Joseph Worker in the anti-trafficking movement, I have learned much! Assumptions I had about the world have been challenged, and countless times I have been shown the power and necessity of humility—both in this work and in life. But our faith is not one that asks us to learn and then sit in such knowledge; rather, faith and Jubilee Hope are calls to action, calls to press forward with Pope Francis “as pilgrims of hope, individuals and communities on the move, committed to building a future of peace.”
While I discover my place in the world, I continue to realize the role every person can and must play in eradicating human trafficking. How perfect a time, then, was the conference to meet Cheyanne Neuenschwander, a former St. Joseph Worker and the creator of the new Next Gen Ambassadors – an AEHT program for young people across the United States, to engage in education, awareness, and advocacy with their communities and with the global Talitha Kum network. In Cheyanne’s words, the program aims to foster “a network of informed and proactive youth advocates and ensure that the fight against human trafficking in the U.S. is not just reactive but led by the next generation of changemakers.”
Current global and national challenges make the need for all people to be such changemakers abundantly clear, but I truly believe this call is most profound for young people. Whether you are new to this work like I am or have decades of experience, there is much to learn and much more to do. We must continue lifting up the experiences and voices of all survivors and ceaselessly seek justice with a spirit fueled by the true hope we find in God. May this hope channel our passion into action and the reinvention of systems and economies that cause harm.
To quote Cheyanne again, “the more we invest in educating and empowering young people, the stronger and more sustainable this movement will be. They aren’t just the future of the movement—they’re the ‘right now’ of it.” So to anyone between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five, consider what this year’s call means to you—and perhaps I’ll see you at a Next Gen Ambassadors meeting soon!
Ainsley Hurford
St. Joseph Worker Volunteer
2024 University of Notre Dame graduate