Alezandra Russell

Alezandra Russell is an award winning Latina activist, author and Founder of Urban Light, a non-profit organization dedicated to actively empowering the lives of boys affected by human trafficking.

Russell was spurred to found Urban Light after a 2009 visit to Thailand where she witnessed firsthand the trafficking, violence, and exploitation of young boys in Chiang Mai. Upon returning home from her two-week trip, Russell sold her engagement and wedding rings to raise capital to launch the first non-profit of its kind in Thailand and much of the world.

To date, Urban Light has provided services to over 9,000 vulnerable young men and boys through an array of health, educational and emergency services via its Urban Light Youth Center in Chiang Mai. By providing desperately needed services that directly address the needs of young men and boys, Urban Light is empowering at-risk young males to live a life outside the grasp of exploitation and trafficking.

Despite the visibility Russell and her team have brought to the trials faced by young men who are victims of trafficking, Urban Light remains one of the only organizations in Thailand working specifically on behalf of boys who are so often overlooked, forgotten, and ignored in the global discussion of trafficking and exploitation.

Russell, who was forced to flee Thailand in June 2018 as a result of her work, continues to advocate from across the globe for the safety of trafficking survivors, migrants, refugees and marginalized populations.