The Current

On the Government Relations & Advocacy (GRA) team at IJM, we are always interested in getting to know you and talking about how you can get involved in the fight to end slavery, but we realize that it might be nice for you to get to know our team, too! So, we’ll be doing a little blog series, featuring Q&A with each member of the GRA department. This will be your backstage pass to our legislative and advocacy programs, and an opportunity to learn more about the men and women who make up the team.

How it will work: Clara Campbell, GRA's Online Campaigns Manager, will interview each of the members of the team. There will be a mix of serious and fun questions, and ideally, after reading each post, you'll feel like you have a better idea who we are.

Meet Kate Case, Field Organizer.

Q: What’s your favorite thing about where you’re from?

A: I grew up in Sacramento, California. Besides that it’s California’s capital, it’s not known for much anymore. However, it is about an hour and a half from all of the cool places in California. I grew up being 90 minutes from the beach or snow and it was pretty common for people to begin their mornings at the beach and drive out to the mountains to ski or snowboard during the afternoon and evening. I was 90 minutes from the busy San Francisco life and 90 minutes from escaping into a forest in Lake Tahoe. 

Q: What made you want to work for IJM in the first place?

A: I first found out about trafficking in my undergrad and went a bit crazy researching all the anti-trafficking organizations and researchers that existed so that I could get a better handle on the scope of the problem and what actually needed to be done to end it. IJM immediately pulled me in as the leading anti-trafficking organization that was creating real change in communities around the world. It wasn’t until I applied for an internship and moved to Washington D.C. that I understood the breadth and depth of IJM’s work. My internship with IJM allowed me to grow closer to our work and gain an intimate understanding of how U.S. advocacy can change the lives of the clients we serve around the world. I was thrilled to continue on as an organizer with the organization.  

Q: What do you do, and how does it fit into the broader work of our team and IJM as a whole?

A: As a field organizer out on the West Coast,  I get to work alongside folks who are willing to use their voices as U.S. citizens to transform the lives of the clients we, and other organizations, serve around the world. I work with advocacy teams throughout the western region to connect with their members of Congress who have the power to pass policies that can bring an end to slavery. These policies, which are passed because volunteers and advocacy leaders reaching out to their members, have helped IJM combat trafficking throughout the world.

Q: Share one lesson you’ve learned from organizing.

A: That the key to successful advocacy lies in patience and persistence. New advocates hope that change happens after their first phone call or first meeting, but realize that it takes time and persistence in order to build a relationship with an office. The clients that we serve throughout the world depend on you persistently advocating on their behalf – even when it seems like things are stuck. I have seen how advocates have persuaded the most powerful law makers to fight for the freedom of others.

Q: In your job, you talk to a lot of people. What are three common misconceptions about advocacy?

A: (1) That you have to be a policy expert or have a passion for politics to engage in advocacy. Neither of those are true. What is true is that you must have a passion for people. One of our new volunteers wasn’t aware that she had three members of Congress (two senators and one representative), but she still flew back to D.C. to attend our advocacy training. She met with each one of her members to tell them that she was a constituent who hoped that they represented her on the national scale and used each of their voices to help bring an end to slavery. Before this summit, I think the extent of her political activism was voting on election days. After this summit, she told me how empowered she felt to let her members know that this was an issue that mattered to her. You don’t have to be a professional and you don’t need to be a political junkie to get involved and make a difference.

(2) That Congress doesn’t care what you have to say – they only care about professional lobbyists. Members of Congress are elected to represent you. I have talked to hundreds of people around the U.S. that are shocked by the warm welcome they receive when they meet with a member of one of their staff members in-district or in D.C.  The members or their staffers are shocked that someone would reach out to them on behalf of someone else. We have countless stories of how everyday citizens have built relationships with offices by constituently reaching out to them about what they can do to end human trafficking.

(3) That Christians shouldn’t engage in the political process. Christians have historically been at the forefront of political issues that help bring justice to those who are being oppressed. The political work that IJM engages in has support from all sides of the political spectrum. We work on issues of justice.

Q: What are two skills you don’t yet have but would like to learn?

A: I would love to learn (and successfully) grow a garden. I’ve grown a handful of peppers and herbs, but have successfully killed every other living thing I’ve tried to grow. I’d love to create the space and time to grow foods to incorporate into my meals. I’ve also always wanted to learn how to sculpt ceramics – from the molding process to firing and glazing them.

Q: Given a month, would you rather travel around the world or pick one country and stay?

A: If I had a month, I’d love to spend a week on three different continents. I’d love to visit Morocco for the food and beautiful color, India and Japan (if that’s even possible?) again for the food and variety of cultures, and several countries in Europe for the diversity of art, architecture, and food.

Get to know the other members of our team by reading our other posts in this series!

Meet Erica Boonstra, IJM Government Relations & Advocacy - Senior Advocacy Manager

Meet Seth Wispelwey, IJM Government Relations & Advocacy - Field Organizer

Meet Eileen Campbell, IJM Government Relations & Advocacy - Senior Director of Advocacy

Meet Tim Gehring, IJM Government Relations & Advocacy - Legislative Affairs Manager

Meet Melanie Beilfuss - Melanie is sadly no longer with IJM, but Government Relations & Advocacy Vice President, Holly Burkhalter, has a new Executive Assistant. Her name is Opa Owiye; look out for more about her soon!

Go to the Government Relations & Advocacy Team Page>>