Lives Will Be Saved Because Of This

I think it was about 8 years ago that Mark Haney went on his first trip with RetailROI.  The goal was to install a Chromebook computer labs among other objectives in Dominican Republic.  Not long after that trip Mark decided there was a better way to do these labs and soon he created a non-profit called CtrlAltDelPoverty with Greg Wilborn.  They have created an amazing mobile computing lab that is essentially “internet in a box” that can be placed anywhere in the world and provide 1st world educational tools even where there is no power.  Along the way, they met Gabrielle Thompson and the team from Free for Life International.  Free for Life had always wanted to create a Human Trafficking Prevention Curriculum and were working towards that.  Enter in MacLaren Group who met FFL and CtrlAltDelPoverty at our SuperSaturday event who helped with talent and funding and soon not only was there a prevention curriculum, but it was now included as part of every one of the mobile computing labs that are now installed in schools and orphan homes in over 20 counties around the world.  Pretty cool, right? 

But it doesn’t end there.  Mark works for Tenstreet, LLC that provides many apps and training for the trucking industry.  One product is an app that allows truckers to reserve spots for the night at truck stops.  What might not be immediately obvious (but is unfortunately true), a considerable amount of human trafficking incidents have occurred at truck stops.  It is pervasive in many different types of environments, sadly, but has been a rising problem at truck stops around the country.  Last year Tenstreet agreed to include the National Human Trafficking Hotline (888-373-788 – you might want to put that in your phone or text 233733 “help”) as an option in the app.  So, truckers that see something suspicious, they can alert the hotline and the location would be taken by GPS so authorities could be notified and respond.  Another really cool thing, right?

But then this week, Tenstreet took things one step forward. Truckers get higher paying jobs generally by the levels of certifications that they have.  For instance, hazardous materials or safety ratings, etc.  As of this week, there is the ability to earn a “Truckers Against Trafficking Certificate” in their Pulse app. How cool would it be to have this certification be a differentiator in hiring?  Maybe retailers and restaurants can include similar education in their training?  So thankful for Mark and Tenstreet’s leadership on this.

We firmly believe that lives will be saved as a result of all these efforts.  Mark, Greg, Gabrielle, MacLaren Group, Tenstreet, and others: thank you so much for pushing this through and the diligence it takes to do so…you are making a HUGE difference.