Katherine Chon is the President of the Board of Directors and Co-Founder of Polaris Project

Polaris Project

Polaris Project is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization that works to combat and prevent modern day slavery and human trafficking. The organization works directly with victims, hosts tip and crisis hotlines and offers solutions to those victimized by human trafficking...

 in the United States. She started the organization immediately upon graduation with fellow Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

 student Derek Ellerman

Derek Ellerman

Derek Ellerman is the Co-Founder, former Co-Executive Director, and current Board Chair of Polaris Project, a Washington DC-based organization that combats human trafficking and modern-day slavery...

 in 2002 after learning about the issue during her undergraduate studies. The creation of Polaris Project marked an important melding of client-based and legislative approaches to combating human trafficking. She has testified before congress concerning the scope of human trafficking and has won numerous awards for her work in the field. She is currently on sabbatical at Harvard's Kennedy School

Kennedy School

The Kennedy School is a former elementary school that has been converted to a hotel, movie theater and dining establishment in northeast Portland, Oregon. The facility is operated by the McMenamins chain.-External links:*...

.

Founding of Polaris Project

Polaris Project is a leading organization in the United States combating all forms of human trafficking and serving both U.S. citizens and foreign national victims, including men, women, and children. The organization uses a holistic strategy, using experience gained through working with survivors to guide the creation of long-term solutions. Striving for systemic change, the organization supports stronger laws and operates the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline (1.888.3737.888). They provide services to help their clients and all victims of human trafficking

Human trafficking

Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...

.

Educational background

• 2002 Brown University Sc.B. in Psychology
• 2010 Harvard Kennedy School

Awards

• 2005 Do Something Brick Award for Social Entrepreneurship, Presented by President Bill Clinton
  Bill Clinton
  William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
  
  
• 2007 Brown University's John Hope Award for Community Service
• Center for Social Innovation Fellowship from the Stanford Graduate School of Business
  Stanford Graduate School of Business
  The Stanford Graduate School of Business is one of the professional schools of Stanford University, in Stanford, California and is broadly regarded as one of the best business schools in the world.The Stanford GSB offers a general management Master of Business Administration degree, the Sloan...
  
  
• 2009 Harlequin's "More Than Words Award"
• 2007 "Running Start Women to Watch Award" from Lifetime Television
• 2010 Diane von Furstenburg "People's Voice Award"