We are happy to announce the first of a long list of experts who will be speaking at the 13th Annual Freedom Network Conference in Washington, DC. Stay tuned for more announcements in the coming weeks!
Suzanne Tomatore, Esq. is the Director of the Immigrant Women and Children Project at the New York City Bar Association’s City Bar Justice Center. Ms. Tomatore represents survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, child abuse and gender-based crimes in immigration matters and trains and mentors other attorneys to do so. She has trained community-based organizations, health-care providers, law enforcement and government officials, including international delegates from the U.S. Department of State International Visitors Program, on human trafficking. She has lectured on this topic across the United States and abroad, including Canada, Venezuela, Mongolia and the Philippines.
Ms. Tomatore has participated in international delegations at the request at the U.S. Department of State to Warsaw and Brussels. She was the co-chair of the Freedom Network, a coalition of thirty-five non-governmental organizations and individuals that provide services to, and advocate for the rights of, trafficking survivors in the United States from 2011-2013. She currently sits on the Freedom Network’s Steering Committee. She is an active participant of multiple anti-trafficking task forces including the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Task Force. She is a founding member of the New York Anti-trafficking Network.
Ms. Tomatore was an instructor in immigration law at the City University of New York Graduate Center School of Professional Studies and she currently is a regular trainer at the New York Immigration Coalition. Prior to joining the City Bar, Ms. Tomatore was a recipient of the Open Society Institute Community Fellowship for implementing and directing the Immigrant Community Domestic Violence Project, hosted by CUNY School of Law Immigrant Initiatives in New York City.
Juhu Thukral is a leading advocate on the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ people in the areas of sexual health and rights, gender-based violence, economic opportunity, and criminal justice. She is a founder of numerous ventures supporting women and LGBTQ people, and has been recognized as one of 21 Leaders for the 21st Century (2012) by Women’s eNews, a 2013 Trailblazer by Re:Gender, and an Everyday Shero by NAPAWF. Juhu was also selected to give the inaugural talk for the Anita Hill Lecture Series.
Juhu is the Director of Law and Advocacy at The Opportunity Agenda, where she is on the senior management team and leads strategic communications and policy initiatives on economic, immigrant, and gender and sexuality concerns. Prior to this, Juhu was the founder and Director of the Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City, where she continues to act as a Senior Advisor. She founded the Sex Workers Project in 2001, after recognizing the strong need for an organization that protects the legal and human rights of sex workers. Juhu is also a founding Steering Committee member of the NY Anti-Trafficking Network. In 2010, she co-founded the NYYC Women’s Salon.
Juhu has spoken widely on issues of gender, sexuality, and human rights; has authored numerous articles on these subjects; and has served as an expert source for a wide range of media outlets.
She obtained her J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law, where she was awarded the Elaine Osborne Jacobson Award for Women in Health Care Law, and her B.A. from Rice University. You can follow her at http://twitter.com/juhuthukral.