Annie Sovcik, Senior Director of Programs and Strategic Initiatives with Truckers Against Trafficking, will give a keynote address at GPA Midstream’s 2025 Technical Conference about how the energy industry can help combat human trafficking.

The big picture: Human trafficking is a global problem in which people are illegally bought and sold for forced labor or commercial sex.

• Traffickers use violence, manipulation, false promises of work opportunities, or romance to lure, control, and exploit their victims.
• The UN’s International Organization for Migration estimates there are 50 million victims of modern-day slavery worldwide, including tens of thousands in the U.S. and Canada.

During her presentation, Sovcik will provide information about human trafficking, describe ways members of the energy industry may encounter human trafficking, and outline steps participants can take in their companies, communities, and networks to make a difference. She will also share ways to access free resources TAT offers to support those efforts.

About Sovcik: As senior director of Programs & Strategic Initiatives, Sovcik oversees multiple TAT programs to equip members of the transportation and energy industries to help combat human trafficking.

• Sovcik joined TAT in 2018 after more than a decade as a human rights lawyer working on anti-human trafficking, anti-torture, and refugee protection policies at a national and international level.
• Before joining TAT, Sovcik was director of the Washington D.C. office of the Center for Victims of Torture.
• She was a lawyer with Human Rights First and Global Refuge and a consultant to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

What’s next: Register now for the 2025 GPA Midstream Technical Conference, April 7-10 in Plano, Texas.

What we're doing: The Monday night reception at the Technical Conference will be the second annual GPA Gives Back event, with all donations going to a human trafficking survivors non-profit.