Alana Curley
Founder
Five years since the founding of We SAVE the World, Alana Curley is currently a freshman at Clemson University. For the past eight years, since she was 10 years old in sixth grade, she has researched and advocated against human trafficking. Alana works diligently to raise awareness of human trafficking and sexual exploitation within her school and family, and across her broader community.
At 10, Alana learned about human trafficking while studying about child labor in India and was moved to action when she discovered that modern slavery also occurs in her own United States and local communities. She proceeded to gain special permission to study human trafficking and sexual exploitation in school and to begin to educate her classmates on this important topic through research, reports, and speeches.
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As part of her work, Alana wrote to Local, State, and National Representatives to change laws, including FOSTA and SESTA, in order to prevent human traffickers from using common sites on the internet to sell people and sex and continues to write to politicians today to protect victims and end sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
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At 11, Alana had the privilege of personally meeting with the Queens Assistant District attorney focused on human trafficking, who helps victims find hope through diversion court instead of prosecuting girls as criminals. There she heard about real cases, laws and outcomes, listened to recordings of calls between victims and sex traffickers, and educated a Judge on the realities of human trafficking in Queens.
At 12, she educated community members, family, and friends on the realities of human trafficking and sexual exploitation by introducing them to the facts, and gaining signatures on the petition to end human trafficking through the World Without Exploitation organization.
At 13, Alana raised awareness of the Girls Educational Mentoring Services (GEMS) within her school through multiple presentations to her classmates, teachers, and administrators, which resulted in her winning a school hallway dedicated to GEMS founder Rachel Lloyd.
At 14, Alana gave a speech to fellow students on abolishing human trafficking in coordination with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This highlighted human trafficking in an international sense.
At 15, Alana was invited to attend the World Without Exploitation Now and Next Convening in Washington DC as a youth advocate, where she spoke about her experience as a youth advocate and starting her own non-profit as a teenager.
Other advocacy activity includes walking in the Women’s March on Washington in January 2017 and participating in the school walkout for gun control laws. Alana also participates in advanced science research to study genes related to breast and ovarian cancer and enjoys dance, gymnastics, cheerleading, and drawing. She also attended the Girl Up Summit in Washington, DC in July where she presented about her club to other girls, also encouraging them to join We SAVE the World or start their own clubs based on their passions.
Talking with so many people and learning about victims’ stories has inspired Alana to work hard to help others. She started this club because she believes that young people should come together to fight for what is right.