Winstead attorney Ryan Valenza presented John Nehme, President and CEO of Allies Against Slavery, with Winstead’s Corporate Sponsorship Award at the 2017 Austin Philanthropitch™ Competition.

Philanthropitch is a social impact fast-pitch competition that provides high-potential nonprofits and social enterprises with access to human and financial capital.  After presentations by the seven finalist organizations, Winstead attorneys and guests voted on which program would receive the firm’s donation. Ryan, along with Winstead attorneys Jordan Ware, Lauren Damen, Liz Monteleone, Scott Courtney, and Jenn Chance hosted guests from JP Morgan Chase, Austin Eastciders, New Conscious Capital, and Keep Austin Beautiful.

Allies Against Slavery builds Slave-Free Cities by empowering survivors, connecting partners and building tools that help professionals overcome human trafficking. They will solve the problem of victim identification by using a screening tool that  helps frontline agencies rapidly and effectively identify sex trafficking victims. The online tool, called the Tier 1 Screener, helps users see, understand, and report the data they collect to improve the delivery of services to victims. By finding victims more quickly and reducing the length of their exploitation, they can also reduce the severity of victims’ complex trauma and increase their chances of a successful recovery. Already piloted with two organizations, this tool has substantially  increased agencies ability to identify potential victims of trafficking. To learn more, visit http://www.alliesagainstslavery.org/

Ryan, Liz, and Jenn work in Winstead’s Corporate, Securities/Mergers & Acquisitions Practice Group. Jordan works in the Wealth Preservation Practice Group, Lauren in the Public, Regulatory & Environmental Practice Group, and Scott in the Commercial Litigation Practice Group.