Partnership 101

Questions to ask and resources to consider
Partnership 101 provides an outline of questions to ask and Colorado resources to consider reviewing when you begin a new partnership.
Anti-trafficking partnerships can take many forms and typically involve bringing together different groups and organizations that can effectively represent a city, county, or region’s work on this issue. Initiating a formal partnership is hard work that involves answering key questions about the purpose of the partnership, the terms of membership, and the envisioned joint actions.
Define your partnership
How do you define your partnership?
Partnership measures acknowledge that combating human trafficking requires a comprehensive response through the cooperation of multiple sectors. Partnerships bring together diverse experiences, amplify messages, and leverage resources. For the purpose of this survey, an anti-human trafficking partnership refers to a … [e.g., a cooperative relationship between two or more organizations established for the purpose of jointly combating human trafficking in some way.]
Here are some examples of anti-trafficking partnerships around the world:
The functions of your partnership
What would you like your partnership to do?
- Provide strategic coordination for human trafficking work in your area.
- Provide operational coordination for human trafficking work in your area.
- Share information and resources.
- Increase awareness of the extent of human trafficking in your area.
- Involve businesses and community members in anti-human trafficking work.
- Prioritize engagement of survivors directly in the anti-human trafficking movement.
The membership of your partnership
How will you determine membership within your partnership?
Are there existing partnerships/networks in your area or region that you should link with? e.g. Multidisciplinary Teams (MDTs), Sexual Assault Response Teams (SART). Consider creating a memorandum of understanding (MOU).
Consider inviting the following types of organizations, agencies, and private companies and create a leadership structure. Here is guidance on adding members and who should be included:
- Child Welfare (CDHS)
- Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE)
- Community-Based Advocates
- County-level human services and public health departments
- Direct Victim Services – providers may offer intervention, risk reduction, and prevention services to both direct and indirect victims and survivors of crime:
- Child abuse and neglect
- Domestic Violence
- Faith-based Organizations
- Homelessness
- Immigrant resources/rights
- Sexual assault
- First responders (Fire, EMS)
- Healthcare Providers
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement/ICE
- Law Enforcement
- Legal Assistance
- Local legislators
- Local LGBTQ+ Resources
- Local NGOs working in anti-trafficking
- Asian Pacific Development Center
- Avery Center for Research
- Covered Colorado
- Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance (COVA)
- Colorado Legal Services (CLS)
- Extended Hands of Hope
- Free Our Girls
- Hispanic Affairs Project
- Hope Academy
- Human Trafficking Center
- Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking
- Open Heart Advocates
- Restore Innocence
- Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN)
- Sarah’s Home
- SARA House
- Street’s Hope / Voluntas
- TESSA
- The Exodus Road
- National NGOs with local representation
- Native & Indigenous Organizations and Resources
- Parallel Movements – human rights and social justice movements that often intersect or run parallel to protecting and serving specific groups of individuals
- Child welfare
- Crime Victims’ Rights
- Immigrant rights
- Labor rights
- LGBTQ+ Rights
- Refugee and asylum rights
- Sex worker rights
- Probation Services
- Survivor advocates
- Survivor-led organizations
- Survivors with diverse backgrounds, identities and lived experiences
- Systems-Based Advocates
- Unions/trade groups
- Agriculture
- Construction
- Hospitality
- Manufacturing
- Ranching
- U.S. Department of Labor and Employment
How will you set up a leadership structure?
- Colorado’s Human Trafficking Council (CHTC)
- The Denver Anti-trafficking Alliance (DATA)
- The Human Trafficking Task Force of Southern Colorado
Consider the following key roles in your parntership’s leadership structure:
- Coordinator
- Facilitator
- Chairperson
- Fiscal Agent
- Subject Matter Expert(s)
- Member Agency Leadership
- Subgroups to focus on specific vulnerable populations or communities
Key partnership 101 resources
Collaborating for Freedom: Anti-Slavery Partnerships in the UK (University of Nottingham)
Community-Based Partnerships (Office for Victims of Crime)
Guiding Principles on Memoranda of Understanding (UN Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking)
Human Trafficking Capacity Building Center (Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs)
Partnership Checklist (University of Nottingham)
Partnership Function (University of Nottingham)
Partnerships to Address Labor Trafficking (Community Oriented Policing Services – USDOJ)
School and Community Partnership Toolkit (Youth Development Executives of King County)
Sexual Assault Response Team Toolkit (NSVRC)
The Colorado Project to Comprehensively Combat Human Trafficking 2019 (LCHT)
Working Definition and Mission Statement (Office for Victims of Crime)
Explore other sections of the Partnership Toolkit
Partnership Management
Has your partnership set up specific goals and strategies?
Funding Your Partnership
How will you fund your partnerships’ work? What funding sources are available to you?
Trust and Sustainability
How will you maintain trust and resolve conflict?
Survivor Engagement
How will you make your partnership survivor-centered?