Hope Rising Awards
The Hope Rising Awards were created to honor community leaders from government, education, community activism, faith-based organizations, and service agencies who exemplify the collaboration and courage it takes to end human trafficking in our region.
Amy Sharpe
Chair Health Subcommittee, San Diego Human Trafficking & CSEC Advisory Council
Amy Sharpe is a Paralibrarian at Sharp HealthCare in San Diego. She received the 2016 the MLGSCA
Outstanding Health Sciences Library Paraprofessional of the Year Award. She has received a Center of
Recognized Excellence (C.O.R.E.) and a Pillar Award from Sharp healthcare for her work addressing
human trafficking.
Amy started gathering clinicians to discuss human trafficking in March of 2018. In September 2018, this
group became the Health Subcommittee to the San Diego Region Human Trafficking & CSEC Advisory
Council. She is the Chair of this multidisciplinary subcommittee supporting clinicians and healthcare
systems in addressing human trafficking. She plans monthly Health Subcommittee meetings featuring
best practices, resources, and vulnerable populations. She created a welcome packet with best practices
for healthcare systems to establish protocols and education addressing human trafficking. This welcome
packet is among the resources hosted by HEAL Trafficking, making it available to all health care systems.
She advocates for legislation to support victims/patients, and clinicians addressing the challenges of
human trafficking. She completed the Human Trafficking Education and Training Academy hosted by the
experts at HEAL Trafficking and networks with her cohort and other experts to teach and support best
practices. She is using her knowledge to teach in the community equipping current and future clinicians
with best practices to support patients who have been trafficked. She has moderated expert panels on
human trafficking at the 7th Annual SART Summit for the California Clinical Forensic Medical Training
Center and the HT-RADAR 2020 Human Trafficking Research Conference. She co-presented "Myths,
Realities, and the Clinical Scope of Influence: Addressing Human Trafficking in a Clinical Setting" with the
Director of Forensic Health Services for San Diego County at the 2020 International Association of
Forensic Nurses Conference.
She is a foster youth mentor to twin boys who have adopted her as their aunt. She is the Foster Youth
Mentor Program volunteer of the year for 2021.
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Fanny Yu
Fanny Yu has been a prosecutor for 19 years and is currently the Human Trafficking & Internet
Crimes Against Children team leader in the Juvenile Division of the District Attorney's Office.
After graduating from law school and passing the CA bar, Fanny moved in November 2001 to
start her career at the San Diego City Attorney's Office, Criminal Division. She joined the San
Diego County DA's Office in Jan. 2004 where she has handled murder, child molest, rape, SVP
commitments, possession and distribution of child porn, and human trafficking cases. For the
last 8 years Fanny has supervised juvenile justice cases involving child pornography, human
trafficking, and pimping offenses. Fanny was instrumental in developing Juvenile R.I.S.E.
collaborative court and serve as the dedicated DDA. Fanny is an expert on child commercial
sexual exploitation and teaches at the local, state, and national level. She is a member of the
San Diego County Regional Human Trafficking and CSEC Advisory Council, San Diego Human
Trafficking Task Force, San Diego Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, San Diego Police
Foundation's SafetyNet Advisory Council, and Co-Chair of Child Welfare Services CSEC Steering
Committee. She is also a Member-At-Large for San Diego County Bar Association's Juvenile Law
Section and the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion. From 2015 to 2020 she also served as
San Diego Chapter President of the National Asian Pacific Islander Prosecutors Association.
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Keelin Washington
Keelin Washington is currently completing her Social Work and Psychology dual-degree
program. She is currently working at Point Loma Nazarene University as a Program Facilitator on
multiple anti-human trafficking programs. Including support groups and the kNOw More program an
awareness curriculum for middle and high school-aged youth. She has taught at schools all over San
Diego County, talked with thousands of students, and partners with other lived experience experts to
continue the work. Keelin is the Survivor Leader and Mental Health Coach at Generate Hope a safe
house that provides healing and a real way out. She has spoken at conferences, The Washington Times
podcast, and media interviews. Keelin has created training videos and developed a curriculum for
organizations working with survivors. As a lived experience expert God has given her a plan and a
purpose, and she has dedicated her life to bringing awareness and recovery to the community and
survivors she serves.
~
K Thomas
K Thomas has been working with victim/survivors of sexual and relationship violence since 2010. During
this time, they have worked in many capacities including case management, staffing crisis and
emergency response hotlines, victim advocacy, and psychotherapy services. Providing services to
individuals of varied identities, they have worked with victims of domestic violence, sexual assault,
sexual abuse, stalking, and human trafficking. With a background in training and research, K has
facilitated trainings on human trafficking, LGBTQ service provision, vicarious trauma, neurobiology,
culturally responsive services, domestic violence, and trauma-informed care. K is also currently an
adjunct faculty member of Bastyr University in the Counseling Psychology and Naturopathic Medicine
programs.
As Clinical Training Manager for North County Lifeline's Project LIFE, K has provided trauma-
reprocessing, victim advocacy, emergency response, and psychotherapy to survivors of trafficking. K
provides training and development to staff, collaborative partners, community members, and service
providers on human trafficking identification and services, trauma-informed care, cultural
responsiveness, and best practice. K is also a co-founder and co-chair of the California Human Trafficking
Advocates Network for Collaboration and Empowerment (CHANCE). When they aren't advocating for
social justice, K can be found cuddling with their dog, working on house plants, or playing video games
with their partner!
~
Matt Robertson
Matt, class of '92, has served as the National Director for Habitat for Humanity in Uganda and
with World Vision in their US office. He has also served as a Pastor at NorthWood Church in
Texas, and later at Bayside Church in Northern California.
He now serves as the Director of Relational Advancement for AIM (Agape International
Missions). A Christ-centered ministry focused on fighting sex trafficking in Cambodia, Belize and
the US. He oversees a distributed global team that works with individuals, families, churches
and companies to advance AIM's mission. He and his wife, Shela, married 25 years, have two
children Karene, a recent student at Point Loma, and Samuel. Matt loves surfing in the
summer and snowboarding in the winter.