The Blessings of Building Hope: A Year-End Reflection on 2024–2025
The Blessings of Building Hope: A Year-End Reflection on 2024–2025
By Dr. Sandie Morgan, Executive Director, Global Center for Women and Justice
At the Global Center for Women and Justice (GCWJ), we often say, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” This year, we chose to go together—and what a journey it was. As I reflect on the 2024–2025 academic year, I am overwhelmed by the many blessings we’ve experienced, even as we navigated hard questions, heavy topics, and systems slow to change. Still, we pressed on. And hope met us every step of the way.
We believe that real, enduring change in the fight against human trafficking requires more than awareness—it takes Research, Education, Advocacy, and Collaboration. And through those four pillars, we are building HOPE in very real ways.
Let me show you what that looked like this year.
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Students at the Heart of the Mission
Every chart, every event, every grant has a heartbeat behind it—and often, it’s a student. Our students are not spectators. They are peer educators, researchers, storytellers, advocates, and world changers in the making.
34 students enrolled in our Anti-Human Trafficking Certificate
8 Women and Justice minors engaged in coursework and community work
10 Live2Free peer educators led outreach from classrooms to community centers
6 student interns supported program operations, research, and event planning
4 Survivor GAP Scholarship students, all survivors, brought insight, courage, and leadership to our learning spaces
We cheered our students on as they presented at events, led prayer gatherings, and traveled across the world. Five students joined our Spain Study Abroad trip—an unforgettable experience that married cultural immersion with anti-trafficking fieldwork, trauma informed education with art therapy, and mentoring with future leadership aspirations.
Thanks to our generous partners, we were able to award over $8,500 in Summer Tuition Scholarships. That’s more than money, it’s momentum. It’s saying, “We believe in you. Keep going.”
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RESEARCH: Rooting Our Work in What Works
We are committed to building strategies that are data-informed and survivor-informed. This year, that commitment bore fruit through major research efforts:
A $400,000 California Department of Child Services grant to study Olive Crest examining effective prevention in vulnerable youth communities
Completed Year one of the three-year Safe Communities Safe Kids $1.3 million Samueli Foundation grant, strengthening collaborative prevention interventions in Orange County middle and high schools
Participation in Bridgespan’s Strategic Clarity program, sharpening our vision and internal capacity, made possible by a $13,000 scholarship
Launching a Templeton grant collaboration with UK University of Nottingham to do case studies on faith-based responses to human trafficking.
Whether it’s contributing to national task forces or guiding policy conversations at roundtables, our research arm continues to challenge assumptions and guide better solutions.
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EDUCATION: Creating Justice-Ready Leaders
Education is the engine of long-term change. And this year, we reached thousands with content designed to inform and inspire.
Over 4,299 individuals attended external education events
499 students and faculty participated in campus-based programs
Know More, Do Better drew 700 attendees, in partnership with 35 organizations
Murrieta’s “Justice Matters” Conference reached 1,200 community members.
HT 101 & Internet Safety, Women in Leadership, and Study Abroad workshops expanded our reach across generations
What I cherish most is seeing our students not just attend events but lead them. They’re creating ripples of change—on campus, in their churches, in their families. That’s education in action.
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ADVOCACY: Showing Up with Courage and Credibility
Our advocacy this year wasn’t just on stage, it was in boardrooms, on podcasts, and in quiet moments of equipping and encouragement.
We were invited to speak in Ghana before global leaders representing 151 countries at the World Assemblies of God Fellowship on sexual exploitation.
The Ending Human Trafficking Podcast passed 433,000 plays across 172 countries—with 93% of listeners staying through 75% or more
We sat at local tables too—OC Department of Education, Yorba Linda Mayor Janice Lim’s Human Trafficking Summit, Soroptimist, Mesa Church, the Lincoln Club, OC Child Welfare, and the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking, just to name a few
We advocate from a place of listening, of learning. Because true justice isn’t about talking louder, it’s about showing up in integrity, again and again.
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COLLABORATION: Together, We Go Further
One of the clearest blessings this year has been the joy of collaboration. We co-hosted and supported efforts across schools, ministries, and agencies. From Pray for Freedom to OCDE Parent Nights, from Barnabas gatherings to SoCal Women’s Network in Spanish and English, we practiced radical hospitality. We made space. We went slow, together.
And we celebrated along the way. Whether it was Donuts and Dogs during finals week, honoring our WJST graduates, or simply sharing a prayer circle before a big event—we remembered why this work matters.
Financially, we were blessed through collaboration as well:
$206,000 raised at Amplify
$9,500 on Giving Day
Grants as mentioned above
We don’t take these partnerships for granted. Every gift is a story of trust. Every dollar helps us take one more step and keep the lights on to shine more brightly.
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Building Hope, Together
As I look back on this year, the word that best captures it is hope. Not fluffy optimism, but persistent, practiced, battle-tested hope.
Hope when a survivor walks into class and feels seen.
Hope when a student uses their voice in front of hundreds.
Hope when partners link arms and say, “We’re not giving up.”
There’s still work ahead. But this year has shown us what’s possible when we walk together.
To our students—thank you for your courage.
To our partners—thank you for your faithfulness.
To our donors—thank you for your belief in the mission.
To our community—thank you for going far with us.
Let’s keep building hope.
With gratitude and expectation,
Dr. Sandie Morgan
Executive Director, Global Center for Women and Justice
Vanguard University of Southern California