Humorous inspirational speaker and human trafficking survivor leader Marti MacGibbon delivered the closing keynote at the 10th Annual Human Trafficking Conference, “A Trauma-Informed Response to Human Trafficking Victims,” at California State University, Sacramento. The conference, attended by more than 530 participants, included survivors, law enforcement, attorneys, service providers, advocates and community members. The conference organizer, My Sister’s House, an organization dedicated to ending sexual assault, domestic violence, and human trafficking in the Sacramento area. Their website cites their mission statement, “To serve Asian and Pacific Islander and other underserved women and children impacted by domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking by providing a culturally appropriate and responsive safe haven, job training, and community services.”
Marti’s presentation followed a day of intensive panels and discussions surrounding human trafficking. The conference event planners wanted to end the day on a lighter note with a focus on techniques for trauma-informed self-care. Since Marti tailors each presentation to meet the specific needs of each event planner, her talk provided the audience with humor, inspiration, and evidence-based strategies for trauma-informed self-care. Nilda Valmores, Executive Director at My Sister’s House, says, “Marti did a great job at using her humorous approach to share a piece of her story and provide the audience with different techniques for self-care. Working with Marti was very seamless. She was always responsive with email and phone calls and made sure there were no gaps following up the conference. The best recommendation we can give a speaker is that we hope to use her services again. This is especially true regarding Marti.”
In addition to entertaining and inspiring the audience with her humorous speech, Marti signed copies of her two nationally award-winning memoirs, Never Give in to Fear and Fierce, Funny, and Female.