DEREK P. ELLERMAN

Derek Ellerman is a leading innovator in the next generation of social entrepreneurs.  He co-founded, co-directed, and currently serves as Board Chairperson of Polaris Project, an international non-profit organization combating human trafficking and modern-day slavery.  At age 26, Mr. Ellerman was elected as an Ashoka Fellow, joining the prestigious global association of social entrepreneurs and becoming the youngest U.S. Fellow at the time.  

Mr. Ellerman co-founded Polaris Project with Katherine Chon in 2002, when they were both in their senior year at Brown University.  They packed up a U-Haul the day after graduating and drove down to Washington, DC to set-up the first Polaris Project office - the living room of their cramped rented apartment - and started operations with a budget of $2,500 they had won in business plan competition at Brown.  

From these humble beginnings, Polaris Project grew in the next eight years to become one of the leading international anti-trafficking organizations with offices in the U.S. and Japan and over 40 staff. Polaris Project uses a holistic approach to combating human trafficking, including providing local social services and transitional housing for trafficking survivors, operating the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) which serves as the central 24 hour national hotline for human trafficking, conducting federal and state policy advocacy, providing national training and technical assistance, and engaging in national media outreach to raise public awareness of the issue.

Mr. Ellerman has presented to diverse audiences on social entrepreneurship and on the issue of human trafficking.  He has been a featured speaker at over two dozen conferences and trainings in cities across the U.S., including Washington DC, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, New Orleans, and Honolulu, and was a keynote speaker at the 2008 National Youth Venture Summit, the premiere conference for the next generation of social entrepreneurs.

Mr. Ellerman has been interviewed as a social entrepreneur and leader in the anti-trafficking movement in numerous media outlets including the Washington Post, National Public Radio, and FOX News, and was featured with his co-founder Katherine Chon as a cover story for Brown Alumni Magazine. He has taught at the graduate-level as an Adjunct Professor at Trinity University on international criminal network operations and counter-trafficking strategies. In 2004, Mr. Ellerman testified before the U.S. Congress on strategies to combat human trafficking in the United States.  

Mr. Ellerman has received a number of awards for his work as a social entrepreneur, including the Ashoka Fellowship from Ashoka Innovators for the Public and the John Hope Award for Public Service from Brown University.  Under his co-leadership, Polaris Project has received multiple awards and honors, including the Do Something BRICK Award, the Washington Area Womens Foundation Leadership Award (in 2004 and 2009), the Justice for Victims of Crime Award from the U.S. Department of Justice (in 2005 and 2008), the Redbook Strength and Spirit Award, and the Champions of Change Award from Lifetime Television and The Body Shop.  

During his sophmore year at Brown University, Mr. Ellerman founded his first non-profit organization, the Center for Police and Community (CPAC), focusing on addressing endemic issues of police misconduct in the Providence Police Department and bettering the relations between law enforcement and the community.  He has also served as President of the Rhode Island Committee for Non-Violence Initiatives.  Mr. Ellerman has a Sc.B. in Cognitive Neuroscience from Brown University.  He lives in Washington, DC.