POSTPONED – CINA Distinguished Speaker Series- Crysta Price: Human Trafficking

Dear colleagues,

In light of increasing concerns regarding the imminent spread of COVID-19 in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, George Mason University, CINA’s operational home university, is taking a number of precautionary measures to limit exposure and minimize risk. In accordance with CDC and WHO recommendations to limit events and gatherings in order to reduce risk, we are cancelling the CINA Distinguished Speaker Series scheduled for March 26, 2020. We are actively working to reschedule events and move them to online formats where possible, and we will keep you posted as to new dates and connection details.

We regret any inconvenience and disappointment this may cause. The health and safety of our community is, and will always be, our top priority.

Please refer to the CINA website, cina.gmu.edu for updates and further communications regarding CINA operational and research plans and procedures.

Thank you for your continued interest in our shared mission,

Jim Jones

CINA Director

Finding Trafficking Networks in Online Commercial Sex Ads

The Criminal Investigations and Network Analysis Center (CINA) Distinguished Speaker Series features leading experts from fields related to the disruption of criminal activities across the physical and cyber spaces.

Join us on Thursday, March 26th for a discussion about about human trafficking, including a case walkthrough that describes how data analytics, AI, and collaboration with law enforcement agencies led to the dismantling of a large international sex trafficking organization. The session will be led by Crysta Price, CEO of HTI Labs and Director of the Human Trafficking Initiative at Creighton University.

Speaker Biography:

Crysta Price earned the M.A. in Data Science in 2016 and is the Director of the Human Trafficking Initiative at Creighton University, and CEO of HTI Labs, an organization devoted to fighting human trafficking through the use of data-driven research and technology in collaboration with community partners. Her work supports law enforcement, service providers, government agencies, and policymakers in their shared goal of supporting trafficking and sexual assault survivors, and identifying and holding perpetrators accountable. HTI Labs’ work with law enforcement resulted in the 2019 dismantling of the largest international sex trafficking ring. In 2017, Crysta drafted the Nebraska law that allows trafficking victims to clear criminal records for crimes they were forced to commit, a law ranked by the Polaris Project as the best of its type in the country. In 2019, she was recognized by the Greater Omaha Chamber Young Professionals as a Change Maker for her positive and innovative impact in the community. Later that same year, Crysta provided testimony before a committee of the United States Senate on the intersection of human trafficking and the financial sector.