County Champions are volunteers who represent Special Operations in their local communities. To contact a specific individual, please email
WE WANT A SOCIETY WHERE ALL CHILDREN ARE SAFE.
WE WANT A SOCIETY WHERE THE COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN IS ERADICTED BECAUSE
Shyla Hendrickson recently joined the Advisory Board of Special Operations. Additionally, Shyla is on the private equity real estate team of Hillspire, LLC. Shyla has over twenty-five years of professional experience in finance, accounting, legal, investments, start-up companies, boards of directors, and management. Prior to joining Hillspire, Shyla spent over fifteen years at Pelican Advisors, LLC a San Francisco based family office where she was the chief investment officer and general counsel. Prior to Pelican Advisors, Shyla was general counsel of Partner Fund Management, LP a long-short public equities hedge fund. Shyla has also held positions with Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP and Ernst & Young LLP. Shyla is admitted to the Bar of the State of California and was licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in the State of California. Shyla received her bachelor’s of business administration from the University of Michigan and her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Shyla is on the Board of Directors of the Plumpjack Foundation and regularly volunteers at her kids’ schools and in the community.
Vic Lacey serves as an Advisor and Special Projects Program Manager for Special Operations. He has extensive law enforcement experience investigating and solving crimes and managing teams of investigators. Over the years he has become a specialist in solving trafficking crimes against children. Vic spent six years with the United State Marine Corps and twenty-two years in law enforcement in California, where he also served as a Special Agent Supervisor with the California Department of Justice leading teams of local, state and federal drug task forces investigating drug trafficking along the border. Vic has also been sworn into the FBI where he conducted police corruption investigations.
In 2008, Vic joined International Justice Mission as the Director of Investigations based in Kolkata, India, where his team led the rescue of 163 trafficked children. During his ten years with IJM, Vic personally assisted with investigations in dozens of countries around the world, including Ghana, El Salvador, Romania and the Dominican Republic. In 2017, Vic and his wife returned to California to be closer to their grandchildren, and to serve once again with state law enforcement. As a detective, he was responsible for conducting domestic human trafficking investigations within the state of California. Vic joined Special Operations in 2021.
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Founder and Executive Director of the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition (BAATC.org) and Airport Initiative bringing human trafficking identification training to thousands, Betty Ann has been a prominent leader and speaker in community-based strategies to fight human trafficking for over 18 years. Starting her career as a Director at International Justice Mission after earning a Masters degree from Stanford University in International Policy Studies/Conflict Resolution, she has focused her career on being an anti-trafficking thought leader, and is known for her collaborative work with over 100 anti-trafficking organizations and government agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area and around the world.
Tony Brass has practiced criminal law in the San Francisco Bay Area for 19 years. He was an Assistant District Attorney in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office for 10 years, most of which he spent prosecuting gang violence and homicide. He was also an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of California, prosecuting organized crime. Today he runs his own criminal defense law practice, representing clients all over the bay area.
Blair Maus is a Special Operations’ Board Member and works as a volunteer on the team, coordinating our aftercare efforts and serving as the co-program manager for our County Champion program. Blair earned her MBA from Kellogg in 1998. In 2021, she graduated from the Colson Fellowship program – an intensive training in Biblical Worldview and became a Colson Fellow. Blair has been involved with foster care for two decades which is where she first learned about sex trafficking in America. She is especially passionate about raising awareness of the sex trafficking of boys and mobilizing the Church to join the front lines of this battle.
Steve Wagstaffe has served as San Mateo County’s District Attorney since 2011. Steve was hired as a Deputy District Attorney in 1977 and has been with the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office for over 40 years. Steve is the immediate past president of the California District Attorneys Association and continues to serve on its Board of Directors.
Steve grew up in Menlo Park and has been a lifelong resident of San Mateo County. He obtained his Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana in 1974 and his Law Degree at the University of California, Hastings College of Law in 1977.
Sharmin Bock is a 30 year veteran prosecutor, and a nationally recognized expert in human trafficking, with a long and successful track record for rescuing commercially sexually exploited children and holding traffickers accountable.
In 2005, Bock helped create the first of its kind in the country Human Exploitation and Trafficking (HEAT) Unit, dedicated to prosecuting traffickers and rescuing victims.
Bock currently serves as HEAT Unit Team Leader, and oversees the HEAT Response for the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. Bock was recognized for her achievement as the 2009 recipient of the prestigious Fay Stender Award, given by the California Women Lawyers, to the woman attorney in the State of California “who has demonstrated her commitment to under-represented or disadvantaged people…serves as a role model for women attorneys and has demonstrated the ability to affect change, using her zest, humanity, personal courage, and forceful presence to serve others.” In March 2010, the California State Legislature honored Bock as Woman of the Year.
Bock has educated and influenced state and federal law enforcement, advocates, policy makers, and funders, across the country, about the crime and impact of child sex trafficking. Legislators in Georgia and Hawaii, as well as in the United States House of Representatives and Senate, have invited Bock to testify to help improve laws nationwide. Most recently, and with far reaching consequence, Bock co-authored Proposition 35, an initiative on California’s November 2012 Ballot, which passed by a landslide margin and gave California the toughest anti-human trafficking law in the country.
Ms. Rick is a Partner in the Palo Alto law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Professional Corporation, where her practice focuses on corporate and securities transactions with particular emphasis on technology companies. In addition, Ms. Rick advices pro bono clients on corporate governance matters and compliance.
She holds a J.D. from Boston University and a B.A. degree in Political Science and Psychology from Calvin College. Ms. Rick helps SOS with its corporate filings, contract negotiation and governance matters on a pro bono basis. As a Board member, Ms. Rick is involved in fundraising and communications efforts for SOS.
Rahsha Williams serves as the Director of Communications and Marketing at Special Operations | Finding Kids. Her extensive experience spans mass communications, strategic planning, education, nonprofit marketing and media consulting, and advocacy for vulnerable populations.
Rahsha earned a Mass Communications degree from Louisiana State University and is decorated with awards in news and education. She has worked in news management, as an assistant news director, executive producer, assignment editor, investigative producer, and marketing coordinator for ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX affiliates.
Rahsha’s commitment to protecting children’s well-being has also been evident as an educator where she established communication channels within school districts that led to recovering children from unsafe situations. Rahsha’s skills as an investigative journalist have helped bring perpetrators of child abuse and exploitation to justice. Through her work in the human services sector, she designed digital communications that made an exponential impact on foster care recruitment and retention.
Every position in Rahsha’s career has one common thread: using her creativity and influence to advocate for and achieve better outcomes for children and families.
Isabelle leads the team behind Special Operations – Finding Kids. In 2011, she left her corporate career to work full-time for organizations focused on child protection, namely International Justice Mission, Geneva Global and Opportunity International. Isabelle has been on the Board of a local pregnancy resource center and has volunteered as a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate).
Isabelle’s twenty-year corporate career began in Africa in 1992 and spanned three continents and multiple industries including Unilever, Credit Suisse and DHL Worldwide Express where she was named in the “Top 10 most High Potential in Management”. Isabelle is a former Chartered Management Accountant with degrees in accounting and finance from the University of Natal, Durban. She has earned certificates in Executive Leadership from INSEAD in Singapore, and in Philanthropy from the Harvard Business School Executive Education program.
Scott Vermeer is an experienced law enforcement officer and public safety executive. His investigative expertise includes crimes against children including recognition for cases including juvenile victims of homicides, kidnapping for ransom and sexual assault and exploitation.
He served as the Police Chief in Menlo Park, CA and later as the Police Chief and Assistant City Manager for Public Safety for the City of Mountain View, CA. The Director of the FBI has recognized him for his work in combatting international terrorism and Scott is also the recipient of the United States Secret Service Director’s Honor Award. He has been deeply committed to issues related to children at risk for many years.
He was the President of the Mountain View Police Activities League. He was awarded the John W. Gardner Building Community award by the Los Altos Community Foundation and the Champion for Youth award by the Mountain View/Los Altos Challenge Team. He and his wife served as an emergency foster care family for the County of Santa Clara. He holds both a bachelors and masters degree from Saint Mary’s College of California and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
Katie is the founder of Special Operations and volunteers her time as
the Director of Marketing. Katie founded a technology company which she sold to
a publicly traded company in 2000. Prior to that, she was part of a start-up
team that developed software for the NeXT Computer and has also worked as a
consultant to Netscape.
Katie has over 25 years experience in building
organizations, marketing, consumer products, and technology. She graduated cum
laude with honors in economics from Vanderbilt University and has an MBA from
the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Susan heads the Finance Committee on the Board of Directors. Susan has over 30 years of experience in management of Accounting and Finance in public corporations. In her retirement she volunteers as Finance leader with a number of non-profit organizations.
Marlene serves as Special Operations’ Marin County Champion, and Special Projects Program Manager.
Marlene also serves on the Board of the Marin County Coalition to End Human Trafficking and is a member of their Law Enforcement Committee. She has served on the Education and Public Awareness Committee, presenting educational programs to local colleges, local transit personnel, hotels and community groups, churches, and other groups on the signs of trafficking.
Marlene is also the Founder and Executive Director of SpeakSAFE: Save Adolescents from Exploitation that aims to fund and implement a collaborative approach to provide preventative education on human trafficking and exploitation of youth in the Bay Area.
As the Marin County PROTECT Liaison and Trained Licensee, Marlene, in partnership with the Marin County Office of Education, trains teachers and all school staff on Human Trafficking and Exploitation prevention education so that they may educate their students on this vital topic.
Marlene’s background as a Court Reporter in San Francisco Superior Court, Criminal Division, working in extremely high-profile cases, is a foundational component of her focus on the rights of victims as well as the prevention of victimization.
Michelle Guymon leads Special Operations Aftercare Coordination Unit, and directs Policy and Advocacy on behalf of the organization. Ms Guymon served 34 years with Los Angeles County where she was most recently the Director of the Child Trafficking Unit with the LA County’s Probation Department and project manager for the County’s Law Enforcement First Responder Protocol for Commercially Sexually Exploited Children. Ms. Guymon also Chair’d LA County’s CSEC Integrated Leadership Team, working with various county and community agencies to create a multi-system response model.
Ms. Guymon is a frequent presenter and trainer nationwide regarding child abuse issues, and child sex trafficking. In 2016 Shared Hope awarded Ms. Guymon with its ‘Pathbreaker Award’, and she was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award by Saving Innocence in 2023. Ms Guymon graduated from California State University, San Bernardino where she received her master’s degree in social work.
Sergeant Jeffrey Walker (ret) is a 35-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, where he held a range of assignments including with the Special Victims Bureau’s Child Abuse Detail and the Major Crimes Bureau. Mr Walker was a founding member of the Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Taskforce (LARHTTF) and served as chair of the law enforcement committee for LA County’s First Responder Protocol – one of the first of its kind in the nation. Mr Walker also served as lead coordinator for ‘Operation Reclaim Rebuild’, an annual statewide enforcement surge operation targeting traffickers and sex buyers. He currently serves on the Board of the California Human Trafficking Investigators and Prosecutors Association. As Director of Investigations for Special Operations | Finding Kids, Mr Walker oversees all investigations and case management.
With 24 years of experience in the tech industry, Sandra has a strong track record of driving strategic initiatives and operational excellence at large, complex companies. Sandra spent 20 years at Google, followed by 2 years at Coinbase, and is currently the Vice President of Strategy and Operations at Zscaler.
Sandra’s expertise lies in helping organizations accelerate their pace, enabling leaders to make informed decisions, and enhancing the delivery of superior services, products, and user experiences. Throughout her career, Sandra has consistently demonstrated the ability to navigate and thrive in dynamic environments, contributing to the growth and success of the companies that she serves.
Liz brings nearly 30 years of entrepreneurial experience, having co-founded and operated a successful skateboarding business with her brother, a professional skateboarder, certified Olympic trainer, and coach. Together, they have secured major sponsorships, including partnerships with brands like Vans, and have expanded their business across the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Mexico. This entrepreneurial spirit complements Liz’s more than 20 years of expertise in executive management, nonprofit development, fundraising, budget forecasting, and board engagement.
Liz is deeply involved with St. Columba Parish in Oakland. She serves as a Eucharistic minister and a member of the health cabinet, contributes to spiritual and wellness initiatives, and founded the parish’s fundraising committee. Her dedication to both her career and her parish underscores her passion for fostering meaningful, lasting change in the lives of those she serves.
Axelle currently serves as Chief Strategy Officer at Rosendin, one of the largest employee-owned electrical contractors in the United States. She brings 25 years of business transformation experience as a strategist and operations leader for some of the nation’s top tech giants, including Palo Alto Networks, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, McAfee, and Bain & Co.
While at McAfee, she served as President of the Board of WISE (Women In Security & Engineering), driving diversity initiatives, both within and outside the organization. She served two terms as a Board Member of Cake4Kids, and supported its expansion from five bay area counties to delivering smiles to youth at risk nationwide.
Axelle was born in Canada, raised in France, and has been calling the Bay Area home since 2000. She is the proud parent of a teenage daughter. In their spare time, you can find them on the mountain, skiing or enjoying the outdoors.
Marta is the CEO of Crescent Bay Capital Management, an investment firm specializing in managed futures. She has successfully raised capital for prominent hedge funds like Muddy Waters Capital and RAYS Capital, demonstrating her expertise in navigating complex financial markets and fostering investor relationships. Marta’s career spans roles as a broker at top-tier investment banks in Hong Kong including Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas, Bear Stearns, and Citigroup.
Marta Obando served as a Board Member and Head of the Funding Committee for Justice Centre Hong Kong (JCHK), a leading NGO dedicated to supporting victims of human trafficking, refugees, and survivors of torture and forced labor. Marta’s contributions played a key role in strengthening JCHK’s ability to empower marginalized communities and drive systemic change.
Marta holds a B.A. from the University of Missouri – Columbia.
Victoire is a passionate advocate for children and education, dedicating her time and resources to projects, schools and initiatives that support young people’s safety, learning and flourishing. She was born in Argentina, had a long career in fashion industry and settled in San Francisco 30 years ago to start a family and raise her three children. As a devoted mother, she brings the same care and dedication that she gives to her home life into communities far and wide, striving to create opportunities for children to thrive. Victoire is dedicated to making a meaningful impact blending her role as a parent with her commitment to building a brighter future for the next generation.
Silvia volunteers as the Events Manager for the Special Operations | Finding Kids team, assisting with organizing high-impact events. She has over a decade of experience in the Events & Hospitality industry. Silvia graduated from Menlo College with a BA in Communications and Media Studies in 2007 and has since honed her skills in event planning and coordination.
Silvia’s journey in advocacy began when she served on the volunteer host committee for the Super Bowl in San Francisco where she first encountered the issue of sex trafficking in the U.S. During this experience, she received training on identifying trafficking victims and distributed toiletry kits containing hidden emergency contact information for victims. This pivotal experience fueled her passion for making a difference in combating human trafficking and exploitation. Since then, Silvia has collaborated with leaders in the hospitality industry and local law enforcement to improve standard operating procedures (SOPs) for staff encountering trafficked individuals within hotels and event venues. She remains committed to raising awareness about sex trafficking and is proud to be part of a team striving to create positive change.
Elizabeth Briese-Ludwig volunteers as Finding Kids’ Internal Auditor to independently review financial activity and processes. She works alongside staff to ensure financial reporting accuracy and assist with process improvements. Ms. Briese-Ludwig’s experience spans more than 30 years, beginning as an accountant at a public accounting firm, auditor at two federal agencies, and internal auditor at a local government and nonprofit organizations. Her background includes accounting and business administration degrees and a Certified Internal Auditor designation. She is passionate about financial integrity and transparency. Ms. Briese-Ludwig also volunteers as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) appointed by a judge to represent a child’s best interests in court to secure a safe and permanent home.
Her internal auditing role allows Ms. Briese-Ludwig to support Finding Kids’ vision of safety for children.
Cari Guittard has served in global cyber security, counterterrorism, and political military roles for the US Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Post 9/11, Guittard worked for advertising legend and Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy, Charlotte Beers, and then Secretary of State Colin Powell.
After leaving the Department of State, Guittard served as Executive Director of Business for Diplomatic Action (BDA), where Guittard built and directed a global initiative to help businesses drive their social impact. Ms Guittard currently serves as the Chief Strategy Officer for purposewerx, a management consultancy focused on scaling social impact, where she leads Corporate Diplomacy, Crisis Management and Tri-Sector Engagement for one of their consultancies, ChangeX.
Guittard currently also serves as a Professor of Practice with Hult International Business School teaching graduate courses in Leadership, Corporate Diplomacy, Crisis Management, and Gender Intelligence. Ms Guittard has appeared in numerous media outlets including the BBC, The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, and Fox News. She has a degree in Government & Political Science and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Grant Clark serves as Finding Kids’ Strategic Partnerships Manager spearheading our private and corporate fundraising efforts. Grant has always worked hard to support those less fortunate (especially children who are the most vulnerable), including the founding of his own non-profit. Grant grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and completed his Bachelor’s degree at Loyola Marymount University, majoring in Urban Studies and double minoring in Business Administration and Psychology. Working with Finding Kids allows Grant to combine his entrepreneurial spirit with his heartfelt desire to make a positive difference in the world.
Erin Harrell has been a volunteer strategic advisor to the CEO of Special Operations since 2021, with a focus on external communications and business development.
With over two decades of experience in global strategy, investor relations, communications, and capital raising for private equity and venture capital, Erin is personally responsible for raising nearly $11 billion for blue-chip alternative assets firms such as GGV Capital, The Blackstone Group, 3i Group, and IK Investment Partners. She has lived in five foreign countries and speaks several foreign languages fluently.
Erin wanted to “live into” her community more. With that, she pursued a long-time interest in law enforcement and graduated from a California police academy at the age of 51. She now has first-hand experience of what it is really like patrolling the streets of the Bay Area.
Erin holds a Bachelor of Arts from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. She also earned a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship for her master’s studies at the Universidad de Belgrano in Argentina. For over 13 years, Erin was a highly competitive figure skater and she attained US as well as Canadian gold test medals in ice dancing.
James Haven, humanitarian, social innovator & founder of SafeHaven, is an anti-human trafficking expert protecting the rights and laws safeguarding children. He is dedicated to youth-related causes around the world, developing comprehensive solutions to this incalculable systemic problem. His mission is to ensure that children are guaranteed their God-given fundamental human rights to a safe childhood.
James has worked behind the scenes with Global Leaders, four Presidential Administrations, lobbied Congress multiple times on children’s rights and sponsored AB3189, which allows youth ages 14-18 to get sexual assault forensic examinations without parental consent. He is a Global Advisor to the Worldview Impact Foundation on their youth projects, such as “Global Youth Service Day,” “International Youth Earth Summit,” “I am Free & Free Forever,” and “360 Degrees Entrepreneurship.” He teamed with Rick Warren to establish the first-ever Youth Summit on AIDS. He is also an Honorary Advisor to Harvard University on Global Issues, including AIDS/HIV, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Child Abuse & Neglect Prevention and Justice Speaks, among others.
James, brother of Angelina Jolie and son of actor Jon Voight, is intimately familiar with the influence media has on culture. He produces compelling content on awareness, transforming dark subject matter laden with insidious overtones into illuminating positive solutions. James plans to produce and direct a narrative “Court of Conscience” as well as a biopic based upon Rachael Denhollander’s book “What Is a Girl Worth?” Rachael is a TIME 100 honoree, gymnast, attorney, and the first plaintiff to publicly accuse Larry Nassar, the former MSU and USA Olympic doctor of sexual assault.
James is the innovator behind the development of “TheHavenAtCollege” which aims to help with mental health on college campuses across the USA. He is also developing his online platform and app SafeHaven, an all-inclusive hub for research, knowledge, guidelines, resources, and inspiration for issues relating to prevention, protection, and preservation of our children’s safety. SafeHaven is collaborating with Alicia Kozakiewicz from “The Alicia Project” & “Alicia’s Law” along with many organizations to strengthen the movement on all aspects of Child Human Rights, including diagnosis, investigation, legislation, prosecution, rehabilitation, and treatment. SafeHaven has an unlimited arsenal of tools and programs, from videos on abuse detection and intervention with support to accredited networks. He founded SafeHaven to educate and uplift humanity as well as help survivors restore their dignity as they heal and thrive prevailing as conquerors, never-again as victims.
Caitlin Weech volunteers as Special Operations’ Human Resource Manager to assist in staff / volunteer recruiting and onboarding, development of policies and guidelines, establishment of corporate culture, and staff professional development. Caitlin has nearly a decade of experience in management and holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management and is delighted to be able to combine her interest in HR with her desire to make a difference in the lives of children.
Tom Rawlings has over 30 years of legal and leadership experience in juvenile justice, child protection, government relations, and capacity-building. As a member of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department at Taylor English Duma LLP in Atlanta, Georgia, Mr. Rawlings concentrates his practice on advising and defending youth-serving organizations. Previously, Mr. Rawlings served as the director of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, and as Director of the Office of the Child Advocate. Mr. Rawlings was the first full-time juvenile court judge in the Middle Judicial Circuit and oversaw juvenile justice cases in five counties. In addition to his work in the US, Mr. Rawlings has also served as the Guatemala country director for International Justice Mission, where he built and led a team of Guatemalan professionals who worked with government prosecutors and courts to protect and treat child sexual abuse victims, prosecute offenders, and train child abuse professionals. He has trained child welfare, justice, and human rights professionals across the US as well as in Armenia, Romania, and Thailand. Mr. Rawlings earned a Masters’ degree in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University (UK), and is certified by the National Association of Counsel for Children as Child Welfare Law Specialist.
Mona Wilson serves as Special Operations’ Director of Development. Mona has lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area since the early ‘90s, working mostly in real estate. Prior to that, Mona spent 20 years based in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, where she served as the Development Director and Corporate Secretary for the Hong Kong Philharmonic. During that time, Mona also owned and operated Sumi Arts, an art gallery with locations in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Mona has been an active member and volunteer with the Connoisseurs Council, Asian Art Museum; the Children’s Theatre Association; San Francisco Symphony Ladies Auxiliary; San Francisco Ballet Ladies Auxiliary; San Francisco Auxiliary of the Fine Arts Museums and the Society for Asian Art.
Mona earned her Bachelor of Arts from Bryn Mawr College and her Masters in International Management from George Washington University.
Susanne leads the Program Management effort for Special Operations. Her background in engineering and architecture gives her a keen perspective on how to develop processes and people to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness. She is passionate about instilling continuous learning and innovative thinking among teams. At her most recent employer Roche, the world’s second largest pharmaceutical company, she led a number of complex strategic programs from initiation through execution, building highly effective global teams and developing processes, governances and tools for increased effectiveness and efficiency. Susanne is the founder of the consulting firm, Program Realization.
Katie James volunteers her time with Special Operations as Chief Writer. She holds an MFA from Columbia University, where she received the Felipe P. De Alba fellowship. Katie’s novel Can You See Anything Now? was longlisted for the Doris Bakwin prize and won Christianity Today’s award for best fiction of 2018. Her work has been published in various journals and anthologies and one of her short stories was a finalist for a Narrative Spring Prize. Katie has taught fiction at Columbia University, Festival of Faith and Writing. Her memoir, A Prayer for Orion, was released in January of 2020.
