How The Private Sector Is Protecting Children - A Q&A With Carlson's Natalie Volin Lehr

In recognition of National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, ECPAT-USA is presenting a series of interviews with leaders in the private sector about how they are working to end child sex trafficking and exploitation in their industries. Here, we speak with Natalie Volin Lehr, Senior Director of Corporate Affairs at Carlson.

Natalie Volin Lehr

Can you tell me about when you first became aware of trafficking as an issue in the U.S. and what compelled you to get involved?

I first became involved in trafficking when I worked for Senator Al Franken as his Director of Women’s outreach in Minnesota. We connected with the Executive Director of a local organization focused on empowering Native women, including through the fight against sexual exploitation and trafficking. I’ll never forget the impact she had on us, as she shed light on how Native women are trafficked at a shockingly disproportionate rate. Given that awareness and my boss’ commitment to the issue, one of the first bills I worked on was an amendment to commission a study on the sex trafficking of Native women. One of the primary reasons I joined Carlson was the company and the family’s strong commitment to anti-trafficking efforts, and the opportunity to work on the issue again. 

Carlson has taken a leadership role on this issue for decades. What initiatives are the company most proud to have implemented or been a part of?

We believe our industry has a particularly critical role to play in protecting those vulnerable to trafficking and providing opportunities for survivors. We have been a strong supporter of this work since 1999, when the Carlson Family Foundation became a co-founder of the World Childhood Foundation. As time went on, we developed a more holistic approach to fight trafficking through our core business activities, philanthropy, advocacy, and strategic partnerships. 

As you know, in 2004, we became the first North American travel company to sign ECPAT’s Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct. This was a crucial step towards building a global response to the sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism, and a catalyst for our business to become a leader in this fight.

Carlson Hotels (under Carlson ownership at the time) launched a program to train every employee to identify and report signs of trafficking and developed innovative signage to ask guests to report suspicious activity and provide information to victims on how to reach out for potentially lifesaving services.

CWT has also taken many important actions. For those who don’t know CWT, it’s a leading global travel management company for multinational companies, non-profits, and government agencies. A decade ago, it started putting advisories on e-tickets to destinations identified as high risk for child sexual exploitation, asking travelers to report suspicious activity. CWT’s employees also helped in the development of an anti-trafficking training for travel management and meeting and event companies, and it was offered to all CWT’s employees in 2019.  

In 2018, Carlson played a leadership role in the Anti-Trafficking Committee of Super Bowl LLII, collaborating with public and private entities to develop a comprehensive plan that can be replicated for future large-scale events around the world. Recently, CWT and the Carlson Family Foundation hosted a Hackathon for Thorn, an innovative non-profit that builds technology to defend children from sexual abuse. We brought in technology leaders from other local companies to help bring awareness to the issue. 

Carlson and CWT employees contribute significant time and funds to many organizations working on anti-trafficking issues across the globe. Company leaders serve on the board of anti-trafficking focused grantees including World Childhood USA, Orphaned Starfish, the Global Partnership to End Violence and others, and I’m proud to serve on the board of ECPAT-USA. Carlson strongly believes in the power of a holistic approach to this issue, as we continue to partner with ECPAT, other non-profits, and companies to push work forward in this space. 

Why is it important for others in the travel/tourism industry to get involved with anti-trafficking work?

Companies in the travel and tourism industry are in a unique position to take strong action against human trafficking given the nature of the crime and the means used for it. Thankfully, we’ve seen expanded involvement over the years through employee trainings, customer awareness raising, non-profit engagement, and philanthropy. There is still more to be done, and there are many resources for companies who want to become more engaged and learn how they can help. 

During your time in the private sector, how have you seen it evolve when it comes to raising awareness and preventing sex trafficking?

I’ve only been in the private sector since 2015, but even in that short amount of time, I’ve seen several changes. When Carlson first committed to this issue in the late nineties, the majority of the travel industry still needed to take action.  Now, we see companies across industries committing to the issue and supporting efforts around it in various ways. I’ve also seen increased collaboration and coalition building. For example, the 2018 Super Bowl Anti-Trafficking Committee was composed of members from the private sector, non-profits, elected officials, and law enforcement. That type of collaboration continues to increase, and in particular, I’ve been impressed with how well technology companies and tech-based non-profits have partnered with law enforcement to support their work.

Based on your experience thus far, what gives you hope in terms of future work on this issue? 

There are many things that give me hope around future work on this issue. First, the awareness around this issue has grown exponentially and continues to do so. And when people hear about it, they want to take action. Also, there are more organizations now focused on prevention and providing job opportunities for survivors and those at high risk of being trafficked. That has a significant long-term impact.  Instead of technology being primarily a means for trafficking, it’s now a means for prevention and the prosecution of perpetrators. Lastly, legislators are working in a bipartisan fashion to help in the fight during a time when any political collaboration is scarce. There is still a lot of work to do, but this all demonstrates a strong commitment to fighting and preventing trafficking in all of its forms. 

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