Advancing Justice and healing  for survivors

By Survivors ; For Survivors

About us

Survivors of human trafficking and gender-based violence continue to be treated like criminals.

At Karana Rising we prevent the wrongful arrest and incarceration of survivors of human trafficking and gender-based violence through our justice focused network of survivors and members of our Survivor Justice Intiative and our virtual healing programs for survivors. 

INNOVATION LABS

Survivors of human trafficking,exploitation and sexual assault are experts in healing, creative ways to thrive, advocacy and prevention. They have the lived-experience of surviving what many simply cannot imagine.Our innovation labs are survivor-led and survivor-designed.
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ISSUES WE ADDRESS

Human trafficking and sexual exploitation are rooted in the vulnerabilities of those who experience it and those who use that vulnerability to exploit them. To date, our survivor-led team has collectively uplifted more than 4,000 survivors of human trafficking,exploitation and sexual assault throughout the District of Columbia and beyond.
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MADE BY SURVIVORS

At Karana Rising, our team members and survivor members create locally sourced, ethical and sustainable fashion jewelry and (soon) self-care products.
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WORKSHOP

Our journey has taught us that not only do survivors need holistic and transforming support, they can also create it for emerging survivors. In 2021, we are creating and leading a line of workshops for survivors, by survivors.  

 

Our survivor-designed and survivor-led workshops give participants sustainable income and professional experience while offering a transformative and healing environment for the women who join our community. Workshop topics tackle the most common challenges survivors navigate that present barriers to their health and reintegration, ranging from communication and self-regulation to self-advocacy and self-acceptance.



SURVIVOR JUSTICE  INITIATIVE

Survivors of human trafficking and exploitation who are arrested as a result of their trafficking face a system injustice.The very child welfare and justice system designed to protect them instead used their. power to further hold back from their freedom.We address this by advocating directly with individual survivors, advancing policies and laws to stop the arrest  of survivors and restore their legal identity and work with innovative court models to support child survivors of exploitation involved in the juvenile and child welfare systems.

Media FootPrint

Fecha Talaso

Fecha Talaso is the co-founder and director of partnerships at Karana Rising. Fecha  is a certified victim advocate using her eight  years of advocacy and direct service work to cultivate staff growth and development to advance the mission of Karana Rising and the individual goals of the survivors on our team.

Fecha works alongside the executive director to develop and advance policies and programs supporting survivor justice and and healing, including external earned media and owned media consumption. Fecha is responsible for creating and managing Karana Rising’s communications, website, virtual survivor mentoring and workshop portal and social media channels. She is responsible for the development and management of programmatic and development partnerships. 

Prior to joining Karana Rising, Fecha was the prevention education specialist at FAIR Girls, a nonprofit that serves young women survivors of human trafficking, and residential counselor for FAIR Girls’ Vida Home. 
 
Longing for a day when justice is perfect with a deeper international lens from which to view the health and humanitarian challenges facing people around the globe,wealth of experience and practical experience in development and a deep belief in the power of partnership and collaboration and transformation of vulnerable populations and communities at large has continually reenergized the urge to change the world in her own little ways. She dares to dream and passionately to fight criminal and social injustices, as well as retrogressive practices that marginalize vulnerable populations like women and children. She can be reached at fecha@karanarising.org

Andrea Powell

Andrea Powell is the co-founder and executive director at Karana Rising. Ms. Powell is Karana Rising’s chief liaison to the D.C. Human Trafficking Task Force where she co-chairs the training and outreach committee.

 Prior to founding Karana Rising, Andrea was the founding executive director of FAIR Girls, a nonprofit that serves young women survivors of human trafficking. Ms. Powell is also the Director of Survivor and Youth Engagement at Unitas. In 2014, Andrea led the FAIR Girls’ team to create and open the only safe home for young survivors of human trafficking in the nation’s capital area. Andrea has led crisis response teams where she assisted law enforcement and other front-line responders in finding and recovering survivors of human trafficking who were later offered safety and supportive services. She received her Masters of European Union Law at the Center for European Integration Studies from the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Germany and Bachelor of Arts and Science in International Relations from Texas State University. Andrea’s writing has been published in the New York Times, CNN, PBS, Huffington Post, Marie Claire, MSNBC, NBC THINX, Thompson Reuters, FAIR Observer, and the Washington Post. She also sits a private consultant for Freedom Fwd and Project Explorer. She can be reached at andrea@karanarising.com