Survivor Educators

MICHELLE FURGIUELE

Ms. Furgiuele is a Canadian survivor, Senior speaker and Consultant, Course Content Director with Timea’s Cause Inc., as well as our Head of National Survivor consulting team.

She was trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation by Canadian sex traffickers. Ms. Furgiuele began her healing journey and was put in touch with the survivor-led organization Timea’s Cause, formerly known as Walk With Me Canada. Through her work with the organization, Ms. Furgiuele has been presenting for high schools, elementary schools, Police Agencies, Service Providers, Financial Institutions, the Hotel and Hospitality industry, and more.

Ms. Furgiuele has co-written several manuals on how to detect Human Trafficking and has assisted victims in crisis. Some of the agencies she has assisted are the Ontario Provincial Police, Waterloo Regional Police, Lindsay Police, American Express, DeliverFund United

States, and Houston Police Department, just to name a few. Ms. Furgiuele was also the co-

founder of Timea’s Market, a social enterprise that employed and supported victims of sex trafficking in Canada.

Director of National Training

TC Online Institute

KAITLIN

BICK

Kaitlin Bick is a survivor of domestic sex trafficking. She is a former substance user who uses both her lived and professional experience to support and advocate for others. Kaitlin recently completed her Advanced Counselling Certificate at George Brown College.

For the past four years, Kaitlin has worked on the frontline with survivors of human trafficking and precariously-housed individuals, ensuring that all their basic needs are being met. She uses her enthusiasm, positivity, and resilience to deliver a message of hope to other survivors and those who are struggling.

Kaitlin facilitates workshops and training to service providers and is dedicated to bringing awareness to domestic human trafficking and ending homelessness.

RACHEL
FISCHER

A native from Detroit, Michigan, Rachel Fischer is a survivor leader with a B.S. in Nursing specializing in ER and Forensics. Rachel’s forensic expertise includes but is not limited to: Domestic Violence, Strangulation, Child and Elder Abuse, Sexual Assault, Forensic Evaluation of Gunshot Wounds and Human Trafficking. Rachel began her speaking career in 2013 when she published her autobiography, Taking Back the Pen. She has been to several countries doing research and undercover mission work collecting intelligence from pimps and trafficked victims and has undertaken rescue operations in retrieval of missing children. She testifies in state and federal court as an expert and does legal nurse consulting for both the prosecution and the defence as well as civil attorneys. Rachel trains legal and judicial staff on trafficking.

Rachel consults with governmental and non-governmental agencies statewide and international formulating action plans to fight trafficking’s supply and demand. She trains officers on insider investigation tips and trains healthcare professionals on identification of victims using verbal and non-verbal cues. She gives tips on rapport building and post discharge recommendations with a medical mindset to address the “what’s next” question after identification. Rachel also trains school administrations, teachers, parents and students on social media trends and how to keep kids safe in the digital age. Her knowledge will awaken and broaden your current knowledge base to highlight the difference you can make in the phenomena of trafficking in your community. She will discuss how you can be a part of multidisciplinary team approaches helping to meet the needs of these victims and other victims of violence that are not being cared for properly in order to bring justice to families and hold predators and offenders accountable.

TAMAS

MIKO

Tamas Miko is a human trafficking survivor, social advocate, and speaker who immigrated to Canada in 2009 from Hungary. As a Consultant at TC Online Institute by Timea’s Cause Inc., he looks forward to widening and sharing his knowledge and lived experience about the importance of ending human trafficking. He was kept locked up in a basement with six other men while being monitored 24/7, and forced to work in the construction industry 14 to 16 hours a day for no pay. Thankfully, he managed to escape with the help of the R.C.M.P. in 2010.

After 10 years, he has learned a new language, studied journalism, and won an award for news photography. He has been involved in public speaking over the past few years and wishes to educate the public on the seriousness of human trafficking. He has been educating service providers and law enforcement in Canada since 2016.

He looks forward to working towards a brighter and safer future; he wants to help as many victims as possible, and guide survivors in their journey of healing their trauma.

EMILY

O'BRIEN

Emily O’Brien is the founder of Comeback Snacks Popcorn Company. It all started when she went to prison. Before, Emily was an entrepreneur and social media professional, having created her own firm at a young age which enjoyed great success. Regrettably, addiction caused her to make some poor choices that culminated in a four-year jail term. As her sentence began, Emily made it her mission to transform herself, get clean, and make a positive difference during her term. “I didn’t know how I’d make a difference at the time, but I knew I would find something I cared about that would benefit from a purpose-driven facelift.”

Thus, Comeback Snacks (formerly known as Cons and Kernels) was born. Upon her release, Emily made the decision to start a popcorn company that used high quality, health-conscious ingredients to create unique flavours inspired by the ones she found in prison; a fun, self-deprecating brand that would also help to remove the stigma around people who had prior convictions and provide newly-released offenders with the chance at a fresh start through training, empowerment, and education.

ELIZABETH
QUIROZ

Elizabeth Quiroz is an author and graduate of Arizona State University, with a Master of Arts degree in Social Justice and Human Rights. Her goal is to become a Human Rights Activist where she can help make a positive impact on the lives of those transitioning through the justice system. As Elizabeth pursues this goal, she also serves as an Social Worker who assists adults and children through the Child Welfare System at Dependency Legal Services in Santa Rosa, California, and she serves as a human trafficking victim advocate.

Elizabeth's passion for helping victims of human sex trafficking has led her to start a nonprofit organization that will open a safe-house for human trafficking victims here in Sonoma County called Redemption House of The Bay Area. Elizabeth does all of this while working with her husband, José "Mico" Quiroz to raise their children, and working to raise awareness about human trafficking and its long-term impact on the lives of girls and women in communities across the country.

Elizabeth's passion and determination were fueled by a desire to atone for what she describes as mistakes of her past. These mistakes include past drug use, multiple arrests, and incarcerations. But, she has come to realize that these mistakes were a product of her childhood years surrounded by alcoholism, addiction, and being the victim of abuse. Elizabeth was the victim of a broken foster-care system that focused on her negative behavior while missing signs of abuse and trauma. Elizabeth soon found herself trapped in an abusive relationship, the victim of human trafficking, moving from the foster care system to the juvenile justice system, and on to the jail and prison systems.

Elizabeth's service to the community began upon her enrollment at SRJC, volunteering for the Bear Cub Scholar Program for foster youth. She soon became President of the Second Chance Club, an onsite support program for formerly incarcerated students. On Christmas Eve 2018, Elizabeth received an Unconditional Governor's Pardon from Governor Jerry Brown through the support of numerous community leaders.In 2021, Elizabeth graduated from Sonoma State University with Distinction, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology.

Motivating Others, Raising Awareness and Emerging Leader

Elizabeth is a sought after speaker and presents on various topics, including Criminal Records Expungement, Addiction/Recovery, and Human Trafficking. Among her audiences are; Sonoma County Jail GED graduates, female inmates at Folsom State Prison, the California Violence Prevention Network annual conference, the Placerville Summit Child and Family Services, Lake County Tribal Health, the San Mateo women's correctional facility, SRJC Latinx graduation, the Santa Rosa Junior College President's Address to the Community, and more recently, San Mateo Sheriff Corpus Inauguration into Office. She also presents at the SRJC Human Trafficking Awareness and Women's History Month events. As a mentor, Elizabeth works with at-risk youth from multiple organizations including, Seneca, Valley of the Moon, and Juvenile Probation.

Elizabeth's new memoir, Purified in the Flame, is about her testimony and how she was able to break from and overcome the effects of human trafficking, addiction, incarceration and a broken foster care system. She is now using her pain for purpose, and showing other survivors that they, too, can use their voice to make a difference.

A Strong Advocate and Emerging Leader

Elizabeth is evolving as a strong community leader and advocate. She currently serves as a member of the Sonoma County Human Trafficking Task Force, and founded and co-facilitates Sonoma County's first Peer-Led Human Trafficking support group for victims and survivors. Elizabeth coordinates a monthly street outreach program for human trafficking victims, working to provide them a path to exit the control of their perpetrators safely. To support these efforts, Elizabeth is the Co-founder of Redemption House of The Bay Area and is working towards building a nonprofit organization to help human trafficking victims by providing them a safe place to live while recovering and healing from their traumatic past. We are here to help victims of human trafficking reclaim their lives and return to a functioning, productive, and healthy way of life.

Recognition for Service

Elizabeth is a recipient of several recognitions including, the 2019 American Red Cross Humanitarian Hero Award, the 2019 Achievement and Community Service Award from the Sonoma County Lowrider Council, the 2021 inaugural Spirit of Sonoma County Award from Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women, the 2022 Sonoma County Woman of The Year Award from Congressman Mike Thompson, the 2022 Alumni Changemaker Award from 10,000 Degrees, and was selected as one of the 2019 Faces of SSU, a project at Sonoma State University recognizing students for sharing their unique story and their on-campus leadership and contributions to the campus community. Elizabeth recently received the inaugural SFF’s Phyllis K Friedman – Retha Smith Robinson Community Leadership Award, and was recognized as an emerging woman-of-color leader under 40 in San Mateo County.

SHARMILA
WIJEYAKUMAR

Sri Lankan by ethnic origin, British by birth, Sharmila Wijeyakumar has lived between North America and Europe for the last 21 years. As a Survivor of human trafficking, part of her journey to healing from this atrocity was acquiring faith in Jesus Christ and a passion to do something about this issue.

She first fought human trafficking with Pro Nino where they reduced the rate of child trafficking by 49% in 13 Spanish speaking countries in the early 2000s. This led Sharmila to establish Rahab's Daughters, a non-profit that fights to prevent human trafficking, but also to rescue, and rehabilitate survivors of trafficking.

She serves alongside her husband of 21 years and daughter to prevent trafficking; as well as rescue and rehabilitation. Sharmila leads over 200 volunteers and employees across six states. Today, as well as leading her non-profit, Sharmila works in the high tech world of digital transformation, data science, business intelligence and digital marketing for Veriday, a software and professional services company. She serves enterprise organizations with the help of an amazing team. Sharmila is blessed to have the support and freedom to balance her faith, family, vocation, and passion.