In this episode, host Robin Hassler Thompson imagines freedom with Daniela Deas, a trauma-informed professional, survivor leader and social justice advocate with over eight years of experience supporting youth and adults impacted by sex trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation and gender-based violence.

Daniela currently serves as a Survivor Mentor with You Are More Than, Inc., providing group and one-on-one mentorship and supporting economic empowerment through career guidance and small business development. She also works as a Human Trafficking Collaborative Strategic Advisor with the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime, where she supports federally funded anti-trafficking programs nationwide.

Daniela’s background includes direct service, prevention education, and systems-level collaboration with organizations such as Pace Center for Girls, Kristi House, Fair Girls, and the Jewish Community Center. In 2023, she founded Survivors HOPE, a survivor-led nonprofit dedicated to healing and empowerment for commercially sexually exploited youth involved in delinquency systems. A national speaker and panelist, Daniela is known for centering survivor voices, challenging tokenism, and advancing collaborative, equity-driven responses to trafficking. At the Imagine Freedom 2026 Symposium, she brought both lived and professional expertise to the conversation on ending sex trafficking and building survivor-centered systems of care.

• Survivors Hope
• The Thrive Space
• Daniela and Robin discussed this Human Trafficking Symposium
• Here’s Part 1 and Part 2 of Carter’s Story, 2-minute videos that show how a young boy is groomed by a trafficker.
• National Human Trafficking Hotline (24/7) to answer questions, connect to resources and get help: 888-373-7888
• Florida Department of Children and Family Services (DCF) Abuse Hotline: 800-962-2873

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The post Episode 12: Daniela Deas appeared first on Survive and Thrive.

This Imagine Freedom podcast is a little different because we’ve adapted it from a webinar that STAC hosted, where we featured The Thrive Space, a great website created by and for survivors of human trafficking and exploitation.

In this episode, host Robin Hassler Thompson imagines freedom with Jamie Rosseland, an expert and brilliant consultant to STAC who created the Thrive Space website with us. This platform is dedicated to eliminating the noise of other websites and providing clear, empowering information for those impacted by trafficking and other forms of exploitation.

If you want to know more, you can watch the full webinar and actually see them move through pages of the Thrive Space website.

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The post Episode 11: Exploring The Thrive Space Website appeared first on Survive and Thrive.

Katie Papke, LMSW, CAADC, CCHTVSP

In this episode, host Robin Hassler Thompson imagines freedom with Katie Papke, LMSW, CAADC, CCHTVSP. Katie is a human trafficking survivor. She is a Licensed Master Social Worker, Certified Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor and a Clinically Certified Human Trafficking Victims Services Provider. Katie has her own private therapy practice and has a passion for providing trauma treatment to survivors of human trafficking, domestic violence, sexual assault, and other traumas.

Katie has years of experience in community education and consultation. She is a School of Social Work Program Associate Professor at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Mich., teaching classes on human trafficking. She has provided over 120 national and international trainings on human trafficking and is a HEAL Trafficking trainer and subject matter expert. Katie graduated from Florida State University with her Bachelors and Masters of Social Work in 2006.

Katie serves on the Denver Anti-Trafficking Alliance (DATA) Advisory Survivor Board, the Colorado Human Trafficking Council Survivor Leader Advisory Board and the 3Strands Global Foundation Survivor Advisory Board. She is active in her local West Michigan human trafficking task force and serves on the Board of Sacred Beginnings, providing services to those who have experienced human trafficking. Katie has provided expert consultation with the Department of Homeland Security Blue Campaign, Polaris Project, HEAL Trafficking, Freedom Network Training Institute and the Michigan Abolitionist Project.

In 2024, Katie was appointed by the Governor to the state of Michigan’s Human Trafficking Commission as the vice-chair. Katie was recently awarded “40 under 40 Boston Congress of Public Health Catalyst Award” for her achievement at the Department of Veteran Affairs in shaping human trafficking as a public health concern.

Katie lives in Michigan with her two daughters.

Contact Katie at:
Katie Papke, LMSW, CAADC, CCHTVSP
Life Support Counseling and Coaching, LLC
2730 5 Mile Rd NE Suite 101
Grand Rapids, MI 49525
(616) 426-9104
Connect with Katie on LinkedIn

Additional Resources

• You can listen to Katie as she discusses the intersection of Trauma and Human Trafficking in two webinars. They are part of STAC’s “Third Friday Webinar Series.”
• Katie and Robin talked about the excellent Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) Video Series called “Faces of Human Trafficking.” Unfortunately, the webpage for this video series is “temporarily unavailable.” If OVC makes it available in the future, it may be found at the original link here.
• Sex and Labor Trafficking Power and Control Wheel – It is based on the Duluth Power and Control Wheel.

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The post Episode 10: Katie Papke – Part 2 appeared first on Survive and Thrive.