Gary A. Haugen serves as president and CEO of International Justice Mission, where he leads the organization's multinational staff on the frontlines of today's fight against slavery. Haugen's proposal — that the poor are entitled to the protection of their own countries' laws — is transforming traditional approaches to international human rights work."

Before founding International Justice Mission in 1997, Haugen served as a senior trial attorney with the Police Misconduct Task Force of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. In 1994, Haugen was detailed from the U.S. Department of Justice to the United Nations' Center for Human Rights, where he served as officer-in-charge of the U.N.'s genocide investigation in Rwanda. In this position, he directed an international team of lawyers, criminal prosecutors, law enforcement officers and forensics experts in the gathering of evidence against the perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide. Convicted by the injustice he witnessed and the stories he heard from friends working overseas as missionaries and humanitarian workers, Haugen founded International Justice mission to combat the violence that lies at the root of much of the suffering of the world's poor."

Haugen has authored numerous books and articles, most recently Just Courage: God's Great Expedition for the Restless Christian. Haugen and the work of IJM have been featured by TODAY, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dateline NBC, FOX News, MSNBC, CNN, National Public Radio, Forbes magazine, The Washington Post and The New York Times, among many other outlets."

International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that brings rescue to victims of slavery, trafficking and other forms of violent oppression. IJM's multi-national staff work in 12 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America to ensure that the global poor are protected by their countries' own laws. Through individual casework, IJM confronts aggressive human violence: violence that strips widows and orphans of their property and livelihoods, violence that steals dignity and health from children trafficked into forced prostitution, violence that denies freedom and security to families trapped in slavery. IJM's lawyers, investigators and social workers partner with local officials to respond to violent oppression by ensuring immediate victim relief, pursuing perpetrator prosecution, and providing aftercare for victims as they navigate the process of rebuilding their lives. Learn more about IJM and its work at www.ijm.org.