1. February 5, 2013
I am proud to nominate Rose Gundersen for the Jefferson Award for Public Service to honor her
for the extraordinary volunteerism she is involved in to end human trafficking. Ms. Gunderson’s
efforts have truly made extraordinary differences in the lives of women and girls throughout the
state and have an international impact.
I am past Northwestern Region Governor of Soroptimist International of the Americas, and
came to know Rose through her involvement with Washington Engage, the private nonprofit
agency dedicated to developing strategies to end human trafficking in Washington State which
she founded in 2010. Rose has been a speaker at a number of Soroptimist events to raise
awareness and generate action and advocacy by our members on the issue of human trafficking,
and her passion and energy was instrumental in having clubs throughout the state take on
projects, create coalitions and advocate on the topic of human trafficking.
After completing her Executive J.D. Degree at Concord Law School in 2010, Rose co-founded
Washington Engage. This was a natural progression based on successes in building partnerships
and empowering government and grassroots advocates.
Creating this private nonprofit agency was a result of the policy insight and passion for justice
Rose developed from her two-year Human Trafficking Policy Externship at the Washington State
Attorney General’s Office during her law school years. The externship included policy and legal
research which helped the drafting of several critical human trafficking bills passed at the State
Legislature in 2010-11.
As a visionary, Rose saw the need to get support from grassroots groups on her own time in
order to build momentum for anti-trafficking legislation. Soon thereafter, Rose connected with
co-founder Deana Berg and they began working together to build relationships with existing
grassroots anti-trafficking initiatives in the region. Thanks to the collaboration of key
stakeholders and anti-trafficking leaders, they cultivated a constituency base of over 20,000
voters to bring a unified voice to Washington legislators.
In 2010 at the Inaugural Washington Anti-Trafficking Engagement Day in Olympia an expected
audience of 50-60 grew to twice than many. In 2011, the number of attendees again grew to
hear many leaders to address a standing-room-only crowd. In preparation for the 2011 event,
Washington Engage in collaboration with International Justice Mission held a legislative training
day and trained advocates who then filled more than 40 legislative appointments on the
Engagement Day.
While the grassroots supporters drove momentum forward, Rose knew that getting legislation
passed would require her to navigate the political landscape from the inside and keep
momentum high. Rose spent many days in Olympia, working with legislators, testifying, and
drafting key pieces of anti-trafficking legislation. Rose performed the research and was

2. responsible for writing the police investigative tool law under RCW 7.33.230. Soroptimist
International of Olympia wrote letters of support for these bills.
In January 2011, Rose and Deana decided to form Washington Engage into a non-profit to
develop strategies to end human trafficking in Washington State based on their successes in
building partnerships and empowering government and grassroots advocates such as
Soroptimist International of Olympia and Zonta Club of Olympia. Rose continued her study of
relevant research and shared with key legislators to promote anti-trafficking legislation and
policies in our state.
On March 29, 2012 nine of the twelve bills signed into law were from Washington Engage’s
legislation proposal and recommendations presented at that public meeting in the fall of 2011.
Even though the legislation that created criminal liability for website providers, who permit
minors to be advertised for commercial sexual exploitation online, was successfully challenged
in a preliminary injunction law suit, Washington State has been awarded the highest rating for
having strong laws against human trafficking.
This accomplishment has drawn national attention to which the Washington D.C. Polaris Project,
one of the leading organizations in the global fight against human trafficking and modern-day
slavery, invited Rose to share this experience to inspire other states during their Legislative
Circle webinar in the summer of 2012.
Washington Engage intends to move this from a community of collaboration toward creating
collective impact, a new social innovation to solve complex social problem through effective
collaboration of various sectors. Rose was the keynote speaker at the Soroptimist Washington
District 1 meeting where she encouraged and inspired Soroptimist members to continue with
the new abolitionist movement and create a future in which no person in Washington State is
forced into slavery.
Rose Gundersen would be the perfect individual to recognize with the Jefferson Award!
Sincerely,
Sue Riney
Soroptimist International of the Americas
Fundraising Council
2012 - 2014
www.soroptimist.org
www.liveyourdream.org