Last March, Secretary Leslie S. Richards was selected among thousands of applicants to speak at the global South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas. During her session, the Secretary shared how our PennDOT Connects initiative is building better, stronger communities in the commonwealth.
The secretary would like to take the national SXSW stage once again in 2020 to discuss how PennDOT is putting the brakes on human trafficking through a cutting-edge training program. To date, PennDOT has trained 564 driver license and welcome center employees, as well as almost 15,000 transit agency employees to recognize the signs of a potential trafficking situation and how to report to the authorities.
Human trafficking affects every city, suburb, and rural area in the U.S. Traffickers claim more than 21 million victims globally and generate $150 billion annually.
PennDOT is one of the first state transportation agencies to tackle this growing threat, and it is Secretary Richards' mission to share these best-in-class programs with other government, business, and nonprofit leaders across the globe.
If you agree this PennDOT program is worth elevating, please vote for the Secretary's session on the
SXSW voting website. Community voting is open now through August 23, 2019. It is easy to vote by registering your email to create an account. When you register, you will also receive the latest updates from SXSW.
Founded in 1987, SXSW is an annual conference and festival that brings together leaders in a myriad of industries from across the globe to share innovative ideas and stimulate change. For example, sessions last year included
a conversation with Malcolm Gladwell, author and host of Revisionist History, and Chris Urmson, CEO of Aurora Innovation, about the future of automated vehicles, a talk about bravery with
Brene Brown, researcher and author, and so much more.
Help us share our important human trafficking prevention program at SXSW by voting and sharing our session, "Putting the Brakes on Human Trafficking." We have included the two easy steps to vote below.
Step 1: Create a SXSW account or log in if you have an account from last year.
Step 2: Visit our session page and up-vote it.
Learn more about our cutting-edge program to stop human trafficking
here.