The startup nonprofit using a tech-based marketplace model reaches major milestone in unlocking a fresh start for human trafficking survivors with free legal help in Colorado and beyond.
ALIGHT (Alliance to Lead Impact in Global Human Trafficking), a Colorado-based nonprofit that matches human trafficking survivors with legal problems to attorneys with the desire and capability to help, reached a major milestone: 100 legal matters. ALIGHT provides a unique solution that blends law, technology, and human trafficking-specific considerations, to create a marketplace where survivors with limited opportunities can seek help and connect with specialized, high-quality attorneys.
According to ALIGHT Founder and Executive Director Marianna Kosharovsky, “It is an honor to support brave survivors to achieve a fresh start. For many individuals escaping human trafficking, free legal help opens doors to them pursuing education, securing jobs, and rebuilding lives for themselves and their families. The magic is in the networks and resources that make the survivor-attorney connections possible. We started with the first legal matter being identity theft and now the 100th matter is taking down revenge porn. We are getting that done with the help of attorneys from Hughes Hubbard & Reed in New York.”
In a few short years, ALIGHT has designed and implemented an innovative model to create a needed marketplace of solutions. To date, ALIGHT has helped 66 individual survivors, many of whom are single mothers with one child or more, for an average of $5,000 in legal services per survivor. Working with 29 attorneys across diverse areas of law and on legal issues that span different jurisdictions, ALIGHT has seen impact beyond Colorado, assisting survivors with issues in California, Florida, North Dakota, and other states.
Recht Kornfeld PC, a leading criminal defense firm, has four attorneys participating in the ALIGHT mobilized legal network. Rick Kornfeld, a founding shareholder, has been involved since the beginning:
“I joined ALIGHT because I was concerned that trafficking survivors were being re-victimized in our legal system. The opportunity to use my skills to support just outcomes and impact the lives of these individuals has been eye-opening and a privilege. ALIGHT’s model is smart, fast, and I believe the way of the future.”
Looking forward, ALIGHT plans to continue expansion for full-service in Colorado and to scale operations to other locations in the U.S. that are also hubs for human trafficking.
About ALIGHT
Founded in 2014, ALIGHT is a Colorado-based, female-founded 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a mission to unlock a fresh start for human trafficking survivors. ALIGHT connects survivors’ diverse legal needs to untapped expertise in the legal community with a tech-based model. Survivors’ requests for legal services are posted on a real-time needs matching app by the community-based organizations that partner with ALIGHT, or by the ALIGHT Intake Advocate, whom any survivor can reach by calling the ALIGHT number 720-608-6039. In 2017, ALIGHT was invited to present its innovative work at the 61st United Nations Commission on the Status of Women human trafficking event and the Princeton Center for Information Technology Policy workshop on technology design, ethics, and gender-based violence.
Learn more about ALIGHT on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
