{{short description|American social entrepreneur|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{Infobox person | name = Derek Ellerman | image = ellermanCongress.jpg | image_size = 220px | alt = | caption = Derek Ellerman testifying before Congress | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | body_discovered = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | nationality = | citizenship = | other_names = | known_for = Co-founder of [[Polaris Project]] | education = {{nowrap|[[Cognitive Neuroscience]], Sc.B.}} | alma_mater = [[Brown University]] | employer = | notable works = | occupation = | years_active = | height = | title = Member of the Board | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | opponents = | boards = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relations = | callsign = | awards = Ashoka Fellow; John Hope Award for Community Service | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Derek Ellerman''' (born June 27, 1978) is an [[Americans|American]] social entrepreneur. He was a co-founder of [[Polaris Project]], a [[Washington, D.C.]]-based nonprofit organization that combats [[human trafficking]] and [[modern slavery]]. In 2004, he was selected as a Fellow by [[Ashoka (non-profit organization)|Ashoka]].<ref name="ashoka.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.ashoka.org/node/3148 |title=Derek Ellerman | Ashoka - Innovators for the Public |publisher=Ashoka |accessdate=2012-11-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206222335/http://www.ashoka.org/node/3148 |archive-date=2012-02-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Ellerman is the co-publisher of the intersectional feminist website Everyday Feminism.<ref>{{cite web|title=About Derek Ellerman|url=http://everydayfeminism.com/about-ef/about-derek-ellerman/|website=everydayfeminism.com|publisher=Everyday Feminism|accessdate=19 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219091445/http://everydayfeminism.com/about-ef/about-derek-ellerman/|archive-date=19 December 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Educational background == Derek Ellerman attended [[Brown University]], graduating in 2002, with a [[Bachelor of Science]] in [[Cognitive Neuroscience]].<ref name="ReferenceA" />
== Professional background == While an undergraduate student at Brown University, Ellerman established the Center for Police and Community (CPAC), an organization that addressed issues of [[police misconduct]] in [[Providence, Rhode Island]]. At CPAC, Ellerman served as the Executive Director and worked to support individual victims of police abuse. He assisted in successfully advocating for the creation of the first civilian review board for law enforcement in the state of Rhode Island.<ref name="ashoka.org" /><ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web |url=http://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/january/february-2006/against-their-will.html |title=''Brown Alumni Magazine'': "Against Their Will" |accessdate=2007-07-24 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927201624/http://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/january/february-2006/against-their-will.html |archivedate=September 27, 2007 }}</ref>
In 2002, during his senior year at Brown, Ellerman co-founded [[Polaris Project]] with [[Katherine Chon]] after reading an article in a local paper about a fake massage business, the conditions of which were close to slavery.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/this_just_in/documents/02537755.htm |title=This Just In | SLAVE LABOR |publisher=Bostonphoenix.com |accessdate=2012-11-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120124028/http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/this_just_in/documents/02537755.htm |archive-date=2012-11-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Located in the United States, Polaris Project works to address and combat all forms of [[human trafficking]], while providing programs and services to help all victims throughout the country.
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927192432/http://www.ellerman.info/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=29 Congressional Testimony, 2004] * [https://washingtonian.com/2005/11/01/x-rated-dcs-underground-sex-industry/ Article in the Washingtonian Magazine]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellerman, Derek}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:1978 births]] [[Category:Anti–human trafficking activists]] [[Category:American social entrepreneurs]] [[Category:Brown University alumni|Ellerman, Derek]]