NSN Publishes 2023 Annual Report

March 13, 2024   |   Category: News and Updates

Focusing on a Sustainable Foundation: The 2023 Report of the National Survivor Network

What was the NSN up to in 2023? A lot! In our 2023 Annual Report, Focusing on a Sustainable Foundation, you’ll learn more about the infrastructure we’ve developed to ensure our work is done with integrity and an intention to repair harm. You’ll also learn primary areas of our work, which include:

In 2023, the NSN paid survivors: $68,715 in emergency microgrants; $28,613.27 in education, professional development, and business microgrants; and $104,861 in contract payments. That's $202,179 directly into survivors' pockets. Survivor leaders are highly vulnerable to re-exploitation by organizations. Cash in survivors' pockets helps them rebuild their lives and grow in leadership.

A big part of the NSN’s work throughout the pandemic has been investing in survivor leaders’ development, growth, and economic security. To that end, in 2023 we paid out over $200,000 directly to survivors. $104,861 of that was contract payments to NSN members for work done to support our network and its initiatives. The remaining $97,000 went out in either emergency microgrants to support survivors in avoiding evictions, securing housing, feeding their families, keeping the heat on during winter, and more; OR it went into professional development, educational, and business microgrants to help survivors launch their dreams.

Our Equity Matrix ensures that the direct cash aid we offer is focused on those with the least access to privilege, who face multiple intersections of oppression outside of their trafficking survivorship. Who got our emergency microgrant and professional/ educational microgrants in 2022-2023? 71% identified as Black, Indigenous, Asian, or Latine; 87% identified as LGBTQ with 23% identifying as transgender; 74% indicated having a physical disability or being blind, deaf, or hard of hearing; 58% have experienced labor trafficking outside of commercial sex; 71% have been unsheltered homeless in the past 5 years.

Who got that money? While our contracts are primarily for NSN members, membership is NOT required to receive microgrant support for emergency expenses or business/educational microgrants. These are primarily distributed through periodic open calls. How are recipients decided? For emergency microgrants, applications are given an initial score based on the level of urgency. For business/educational, applications are scored based on the impact of the funding on both the survivor and their community. Then, once the initial score is established, the scores are multiplied by an equity multiplier in accordance with our equity matrix to ensure that funding is prioritized for those experiencing multiple forms of marginalization, who are less likely to have access to other resources.

What else is in the annual report? Partnerships!

In 2023 we collaborated with:

  • Global Fund to End Modern Slavery
  • OVC Survivor Engagement Training and Technical Assistance (SETTA, ICF)
  • Humanity United
  • Project Roadmap (ICF)
  • Futures Without Violence
  • Polaris
  • Freedom Network USA
  • Survivors Agenda
  • White House Gender Policy Council
  • And we coordinated a Human Trafficking 101 Congressional Briefing.

Learn more about our 2023 work in our annual report: Focusing on a Sustainable Foundation

Tagged: annual report, direct cash assistance, human trafficking, meaningful engagement, mutual aid, policy, public health, public health prevention, storytelling, survivor leadership, survivor storytelling, Values, Values-based, values-based network