Human trafficking is not something that happens “over there” or “only to certain types of people,” and the perpetrators are usually not who we think they are. What and who we value, and who we believe are “worthy” of our time and resources can have a huge effect on trafficking locally. By expanding our definition of trafficking to a local context instead of a faraway issue, we begin to see how the marginalized and, therefore, vulnerable people in our own communities may be being exploited. Kara Napolitano is a human rights advocate and trainer. She holds an MA in International Development with concentration in International Human Rights Law. Before completing her education, she spent eight years working and volunteering in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, working mostly with education-based NGOs in post-conflict areas. This is where she was introduced to the crime of human trafficking. She was appointed to Governor’s Colorado Human Trafficking Council Prevention Task Force in 2018 and the Equitable Access Task Force in 2022 and she is a commissioner on the Denver Crime Prevention and Control Commission. For the last few years she has led training and education efforts as the Research and Training Manager at the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking (LCHT). She has trained more than 25,000 professionals across rural and urban Colorado on how to recognize and compassionately respond to labor and sex exploitation in their communities. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx