Founded in 2007, Not for Sale is an international 501 non-profit organization based out of San Francisco, California. Not For Sale’s founding purpose is to protect people and communities around the world from human trafficking and modern-day slavery. The organization provides shelter, healthcare, legal services, education, job, and life-skills training to trafficking survivors and at risk individuals. Not For Sale also partners with companies and organizations to create long-term employment opportunities for survivors and at-risk communities.
Founders
Not For Sale was co-founded by David Batstone, Mark Wexler, and Kique Bazan. After discovering that one of his favorite restaurants was the center of a human trafficking ring, Batstone, a business professor at the University of San Francisco, began to research the issue of global human trafficking and wrote the book Not For Sale in 2007. Batstone has authored five books, is the recipient of two national journalist awards, was named National Endowment for the Humanities Chair at the University of San Francisco for his work in technology and ethics, and was awarded the “Peace Award” from the United Nations in 2017. After working with street children in South Africa, Wexler currently serves as Not For Sale’s executive director where he manages Not For Sale’s senior staff, operationalizes strategic relationships with partner institutions, and along with Batstone provides overall organizational direction. Bazan is no longer working with Not For Sale.
Not For Sale was originally founded to raise enough capital to fund the construction of a children’s center in northern Thailand. Led by director Kru Nam, the children’s center now supports more than 150 children, many of whom are stateless and highly vulnerable to trafficking. The center provides children with long-term housing, healthcare, food and education.
Vietnam
In Vietnam, Not For Sale has partnered with Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation to create the first housing in Vietnam for young boys who have been sexually or otherwise exploited. Blue Dragon provides support for street children in Hanoi, offering crisis care that includes emergency shelter, long-term care, healthcare, job training, food and clothing.
Rwanda
Not For Sale Rwanda focuses on children disappearing from Rwanda to exploitation in the Middle East. Not For Sale Rwanda provides educational opportunities, human trafficking awareness training, and healthcare for children that have been trafficked or are at high risk for exploitation.
Founded in 2012, Not For Sale Netherlands originally sought to offer culinary job training to women who had been exploited and were living in a shelter in Amsterdam by teaching them how to cook nutritious soup. Under the leadership of Toos Heemskerk-Shep, the project eventually grew into the creation of a restaurant, Dignita, which offers professional culinary training, internships, and jobs to exploited women.
Not For Sale Uganda/Democratic Republic of the Congo partners with CIYOTA, a non-profit established by refugee youth, to provide education and housing for nearly 500 children and young adults near the Kyangwali refugee camp in Uganda. The camp houses approximately 40,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, many who are vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation. With support from Not For Sale, CIYOTA has educated more than 1,700 elementary and secondary students, and sent more than 40 students on to university studies.
South Africa and Mozambique
Not For Sale projects in South Africa and Mozambique focus on outreach to homeless children in Durban and Tofo. Partnering with Surfers Not Street Children, Not For Sale’s project fuses surfing with mentorship to ensure that children have the opportunity to leave the street life behind.
Romania
Not For Sale’s Romania project serves women and children who have been trafficked from dozens of countries, including women returning to Romania after being enslaved in Western Europe. The project provides housing, medical care, counseling, and legal support to trafficking victims. A children’s home also exists to prevent children from poor, marginalized communities from being trafficked.
Peru
Not For Sale Peru has developed a scholarship program to provide housing, education, and emotional support for vulnerable children living in rural Peru. Not For Sale Peru also created community gardens to educate students, teachers, and family members about proper nutrition while creating self-sufficiency. Additionally, Not For Sale Peru provides artisan training for hundreds of women in the Peruvian Amazon. Launched in 2014, Not For Sale’s Reinvent program is designed to prepare youth affected by trafficking and related traumas for work, providing a second chance for formerly victimized individuals. The students attend four weeks of work-readiness training and life-skills coaching. Graduates are then placed in three-month paid traineeships with Not For Sale’s network of Bay Area businesses. Not for Sale created an Underground Church Network for people of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith. This network was created with the intention of bringing people of many different faiths together to abolish slavery.
