In 2000, the U.S. Department of State engaged Shared Hope International to hold Pathbreaking Strategies Conferences in six countries to energize the global conversation about the issue of trafficking and share innovative approaches to combat the problem. The conferences led to significant change in the global landscape of national responses to trafficking in countries that were behind the global community and enabling an environment that was fostering trafficking with no developed response. During this process, the Pathbreaker Award was established to recognize the pioneering efforts of individuals throughout the world who broke the trend of inaction and initiated proactive responses to prevent trafficking
2016
Representative Chris Smith U.S. Representative from New Jersey, Lifetime Pathbreaker Award
Michelle Guymon, Director of Child Trafficking Unit, Los Angeles County Probation Department
Margie Quinn, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
2015
Thomas Dart, Sheriff, Cook County Illinois
Alexandra (Sandi) Pierce, PhD, Founder and President of Othayonih Research
John Cotton Richmond, Special Litigation Counsel with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice
2014
Former Congressman Frank Wolf, Former U.S. Representative from Virginia, Lifetime Pathbreaker Award
Rev. Dr. Marian Hatcher, Project Manager at the Sheriff’s Women’s Justice Programs for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office
Brendan Johnson, U.S. Attorney
2013
Congressman Judge Ted Poe, U.S. Representative from Texas
Cynthia Cordes, Assistant U.S. Attorney
Vednita Carter, Founder and President, Breaking Free
2012
Ernie Allen, Founding Chairman of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and President and CEO, International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC)
Drew Oosterbaan, Chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) of the U.S. Department of Justice
Amy O’Neill Richard, Senior Advisor to the Director in the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
Deborah J. Richardson, Executive Vice President of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights
2011
Greg Abbott, Texas Attorney General
Martha Coakley, Massachusetts Attorney General
Rob McKenna, Washington Attorney General
2010
Sergeant John Chapman, Vancouver, WA Police Department
