J.R. Mailey
Senior Expert, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime
Managing Director, Bouché Associates
Dr. Vanessa Bouché is an award-winning thought-leader and scholar who has earned over $1 million in federal research grants. Her published work on human trafficking has taken her all over the world, sharing her expertise through consulting and speaking for dozens of organizations including the U.S. State Department, UN Office on Drugs & Crime, the U.S. Agency for International Development, Polaris, McCain Institute, and Thorn.
Bouché is a social entrepreneur who develops innovative solutions to social problems. The lack of publicly available, valid and reliable data on human trafficking in the U.S. led her to create HumanTraffickingData.org, the largest open-access searchable web application of human trafficking in the U.S. And the barriers that trafficking survivors face to secure sustainable, living-wage employment catalyzed her to found Savhera, a natural wellness company that provides jobs to survivors.
She received her B.A. from Columbia University, her M.P.Aff. from the University of Texas, LBJ School of Public Affairs, and her Ph.D. in political science from The Ohio State University. She has formerly worked as an intelligence analyst, an Associate Professor at Texas Christian University, and currently serves as a Research Fellow at SMU AT&T Center for Virtualization.