Great Big Thank You to the SMF Young Professionals of NYC!!!

The 4th Cocktails for a Cause fundraiser that you held for the Somaly Mam Foundation last night was an extraordinary event and an incredible show of support for the cause.

A shout out to Samira, Molly, Alanna, Joe, Gene, Lucas, and Katie for all their hard work organizing the event and all our hard working volunteers – Bory, Christine, Natalie, Joy, Mei-li, Sarah, April, and Chelsea!

A special thanks to our performers and artists!

• Adam Ezra Group for the rooftop show
• Michael Angelo for exhibiting The Lipstick Portraits
• DJ Cassie Stevens and
• The Nago capoeira performers

Our sponsors also went over and above to support us!

Thanks go out to:

• David Comfort and Cape Advisors
• The Swarovski Crystallized store in Soho
• La Esquina
• Baked by Melissa
• Kevin Felker of Tribecca Grand & Soho Grand Hotels
• DonQ
• Flowers by Floresta
• DVF, Alanna Bess Jewelry, Tiffany’s, Renzo Gracie, Bergdorf Goodman, and Cara Landy

New York, NY, May 20, 2010 — The Somaly Mam Foundation, a leader in the global fight against human trafficking, is partnering with the Office of the Mayor of New York to launch a bold new public awareness campaign called “Let’s Call An End To Human Trafficking.”

He lied about the Job, and then he took my passport and my wages.
Let’s call an end to human trafficking.

The campaign features print advertisements in both English and Spanish that draw attention to the realities of human trafficking while urging New Yorkers to report suspected activity and victims to seek help. The ads, created by Grey Worldwide in partnership with the Somaly Mam Foundation and the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, will appear in subway stations and bus shelters in all five boroughs beginning on May 20.

The City has also launched a new anti-trafficking website, www.nyc.gov/humantrafficking, which provides information on ways to recognize human trafficking, how to report it, and what to do if you are a trafficking victim. In addition, the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs will work with the media and community organizations serving immigrants to spread awareness and provide critical trafficking resources to New York’s most vulnerable communities.

The City’s Family Justice Centers, run by the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence and borough district attorneys, are available to provide trafficking victims with the support and resources they need under one roof. The centers, listed on the new campaign website, allow victims to meet with a prosecutor, speak with a trained counselor, and apply for housing and financial assistance in one location and in one visit.

Human trafficking is the second-fastest growing crime in the world, second only to the drug trade. As a major city and transportation hub, New York is a prime destination and transit location for victims of trafficking, both foreign and American-born. “Many people don’t realize that modern day slavery exists in America and could be affecting the person next door,” said Bill Livermore, Executive Director of the Somaly Mam Foundation and Member of the NYC Human Trafficking Task Force. “Human trafficking is often hard to identify unless you know what to look for. This campaign helps New Yorkers recognize the signs of trafficking, and lets victims know that help is just a phone call away. The Somaly Mam Foundation is thrilled to be working with the Office of the Mayor of New York to build critical public awareness around the crimes of human trafficking. Educating the public is vital if we want to eradicate modern day slavery.”

If you are a victim of human trafficking or suspect that you have witnessed human trafficking activities, call 911. If you would like more information about human trafficking or would like to learn more about how you can help, call 311 or visit www.nyc.gov/humantrafficking.

About the Somaly Mam Foundation
The Somaly Mam Foundation is a nonprofit charity committed to ending modern day slavery in North America and around the world. Founded by sexual slavery survivor Somaly Mam, the foundation works to eradicate human trafficking, liberate its victims, and empower survivors so they can create and sustain lives of dignity. The foundation supports survivor rescue, shelter and rehabilitation programs globally with a special focus on Southeast Asia, where the trafficking of women and girls, some as young as five, is a widespread practice. The Somaly Mam Foundation also runs awareness and advocacy campaigns in North America and around the world that shed light on the crime of human trafficking and focus on getting the public and governments involved in the fight to abolish modern day slavery.

About Grey New York
Grey New York is the advertising network of Grey Group. Grey Group ranks among the largest global communications companies. Its parent company is WPP. Grey Famously Effective Since 1917 serves a blue-chip client roster of many of the world’s best known companies: Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, Diageo, Darden Restaurants, Pfizer, Canon, 3M, Eli Lilly, E*TRADE, NFL, Boehringer Ingelheim J.M. Smucker and T.J. Maxx. FAST COMPANY named Grey to “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies” list in 2010.

Purchase your ticket online!

Time to support the fight against sexual slavery
and human trafficking.

The Somaly Mam Foundation and its partners have helped save over
6,000 women and girls from brothels in Southeast Asia,
and we need your help to continue our battle!

The Somaly Mam Foundation is a nonprofit charity committed to ending modern day slavery in North America and around the world. Founded by sexual slavery survivor Somaly Mam, the foundation works to eradicate human trafficking, liberate its victims, and empower survivors so they can create and sustain lives of dignity. The foundation supports survivor rescue, shelter and rehabilitation programs globally with a special focus on Southeast Asia, where the trafficking of women and girls, some as young as five, is a widespread practice. The Somaly Mam Foundation also runs awareness and advocacy campaigns in North American and around the world that shed light on the crime of human trafficking and focus on getting the public and governments involved in the fight to abolish modern day slavery.

We started our First C4C Event at Apotheke with 60 people– Our last event in January set a new record as we turned people away from the doors of The Box as capacity exceeded 300 patrons.

As momentum and awareness spreads around the Somaly Mam Foundation, the SMF Young Professionals are taking our coming event to the next level……the highest level actually…

We are taking the Party to the PENT HOUSE

of Jean Nouvel’s latest Architectural masterpiece.

Approximately 1,650 different windowpanes comprise the most highly engineered
and complex curtain wall ever constructed in New York City.

Open Bar all Night

Catering by La Esquina & Baked by Melissa

Live Music by the acoustic genius Adam Ezra Group

Unbelievable Guest DJ Cassie Stevens

Capoeira Performance by Nago

Gift Bags provided by  the Swarovski Crystallized store in Soho

The Lipstick Portraits by Celebrity Photographer Michael Angelo

Raffled Gifts from DVF, Alanna Bess Jewelry, Tiffany’s, Renzo Gracie, Bergdorf Goodman, Cara Landy, and countless others…

…and the Most SENSATIONAL 360 degree views in the most SPECTACULAR Pent House you have EVER seen…

So come mingle with NYC’s most amazing crowd of Young Professionals and
dance the night away in our Chelsea residential Pent House,
donated graciously for the evening by David Comfort and Cape Advisors.

Purchase your ticket online!

SMF Young Professionals NYC are looking for volunteers in the NYC area to help staff our May 26th Cocktails for a Cause event. Cocktails for a Cause aims to:

1) Raise funding for the Somaly Mam Foundation (SMF), a non-profit which is devoted to ending modern day slavery and rescuing and rehabilitating its victims. More on SMF at www.somaly.org.

2) Create awareness and methods to fight the $4 billion human trafficking industry.

3) Empower Women in the NYC area through Self Defense Courses and Educational Seminars.

Read more about the event here: http://c4c-may2010.eventbrite.com/

If you’re interested in volunteering, please contact csalasky@somaly.org

New York Exhibit Supports the Somaly Mam Foundation – Runs May 8-23

May 8, 2010 — The Somaly Mam Foundation has been named the beneficiary of Michael Angelo’s The Lipstick Portraits, a series of striking and provocative portraits that stand in solidarity with women and children enslaved by the sex trade. Using red lipstick as a unifying motif, the portraits capture the strong and independent spirits of sixty inspiring women and men who have marked themselves with red lipstick as a statement of solidarity, personal freedom, and condemnation of those who destroy countless lives with the shackles and brutality of sexual slavery.

Michael Angelo, a leader in the beauty industry as well as a visual artist, was inspired to create these portraits after reading Mariane Pearl’s article on Cambodian brothels in which she describes red lipstick as the mark of a girl’s enslavement. Angelo later traveled to Cambodia where he met Somaly Mam – a former sex slave turned anti-trafficking advocate – and visited the shelters that she established for the girls being rescued from the brothels.

Deeply troubled by the way that tools of beauty – which Angelo uses in his work to empower his clients and celebrate their individuality – were being used to sell and enslave girls as young as 4, Angelo was moved to fight back. “I’ve used red lipstick as a wonderful decoration to accessorize and everyone says, ‘I love it’ and ‘it makes me feel good…But for these kids in Cambodia who are sex slaves, it’s the complete opposite.” Somaly Mam has also commented on the incredible weight that make-up carries for the girls that she rescues, saying, “When they [survivors first arrive they don’t feel like children. If they were in a brothel they had to have a lot of make-up on. When you take all of the make-up off they smile. They become children again.”

Recruiting some of the most outspoken and extraordinary people that he knew, including Susan Sarandon, burlesque star Dita Von Teese, actor Alan Cumming, Cambodian Parliamentarian Mu Sochua, and Somaly Mam herself, Angelo created these portraits to call attention to the scourge of sexual slavery. In the series, the red lipstick is symbolically transformed from a tool of cruelty and slavery to one of solidarity and empowerment.

Many of the subjects found the experience sobering; the actor, singer, and breast cancer survivor Jennifer Rae Beck said “It’s important to remember that the luxuries we have in our country, be it the right to wear lipstick or the right to choose where we live or state our opinions, are all gifts not to be taken for granted.” Susan Sarandon also commented on the subject of freedom, which in its most fundamental sense – freedom from slavery – is at the very heart of The Lipstick Portraits: “Finding little things that make you feel individual, reinforcing your taste and how you want to be seen is empowering. When you exercise those choices you exercise tremendous freedom.”

100% of the proceeds from the sale of The Lipstick Portraits prints, exhibition catalogues, and t-shirts will benefit the Somaly Mam Foundation, an organization founded by Somaly Mam that funds survivor rescue and recovery efforts in addition to operating advocacy, awareness and survivor empowerment programs.

The Lipstick Portraits will be on view May 8-23 at 401 Projects, at 401 West St. in New York. Visit The Lipstick Portraits on Facebook to learn more, see photos, and join the discussion.