Thanks to Woodside Bible Church for sending their congregation out to help plant our gardens and do a bit of outside work.
The weather forecast called for rain but God held off so we could get some vegetables planted!
Check out this photo gallery of the gardens:
Michele earned her Executive MBA degree from Michigan State University’s Eli Broad College of Business, elevating her success in the operational and administrative business environment.
With over 25 years experience in procurement, Michele has served multi-national billion dollar organizations such as thyssenkrupp, Autoliv and JLL. She currently serves on the board of MSU EMBA Alumni Association as well as dedicating time to the mission of Hope Against Trafficking.
Michele has a passion for travel and has been on five continents with the ultimate goal of seeing all seven. She and her husband James live in Lake Orion and together enjoy spending time with children and grandchildren.
Barbara Rausch has been engaged as a Board Member of MW-HAT since its founding, helping to set the strategic direction for the organization. Barbara has a BS in Marketing and an MBA in International Business and currently works as Associate Vice President of Cognizant in a Healthcare Market Leader role.
Barbara previously worked as Managing Sales Director for Accenture’s North American Healthcare and has served on several non-profit Boards as well as Boards for two startup companies.
Robert, a retired Auto Production Engineering Designer for 28 years at General Motors and previous has 15 years as an Architectural Engineering Designer. While working full time he also obtains a Residential Builders, Heating, and a Real Estate Licenses he calls his hobbies.
Also elected and serviced on the Troy City Council 1993 – 1997, Elected to the Michigan House of Representatives 1999 – 2006 and Elected to the Oakland County Board of Commissioners 2006 -2016.
Janna Snyder brings years of business and community support to Hope Against Trafficking. Her passion for helping women of all ages maximize their opportunities rises from strong Human Resource and Business Management experience in both the public and private sectors. She has developed position-sharing departments and job posting programs for independent businesses and Fortune 500 companies including Advance Mortgage-Citicorp, Chubb Pacific Indemnity, Kidder Peabody & Co., LTV Aerospace and America Group. Janna’s training seminars for HR departments and Executive Search firms have helped many women move from ‘survive to thrive’ employment while reducing turnover and associated costs.
Snyder has served on Boards and Committees including Michigan Professional Women’s Network, Women of the Kirk, Kirk Presbyterian Pre School Board, and the National Association of Personnel Consultants. Her active memberships in Impact 100 Metro Detroit, Assistance League of SE Michigan, Women United, 4Word and 100 Women Who Care keep her connected to community needs.
She has a Bachelor of Science in Integrated Leadership from Central Michigan University. Janna grew up in Detroit and currently resides with her high school sweetheart, Craig, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. They have two grown children, Ross, an application engineer with Sigmetrix and Kellie, an attorney with Lane & Lane.
“I’m excited about collaborating with Hope Against Trafficking and related recovery communities. Coalition of local resources represents the best definition of networking. Seeing local professionals and volunteers providing a full spectrum of health, education and tangible life skills training is amazing. These services empower victims to become productive, fulfilled members of society. By collaborating, we increase long term success rates and reach more victims.”
Lexie Schwarze is the Life Impact Director with Woodside Bible Church. Over the past 10 years, she has been able to take a brand-new mission ministry with a part-time staff of 1, to today a staff of 4 serving 14 campuses, with over 11,000 attendees weekly, 45 international missionaries, 5 global partnerships, 2 orphanages with over 100 children, and 5 local ministries.
Her passion for human trafficking started 6 years ago, during a layover in Bangkok, Thailand. She saw firsthand the red-light district where the very young being sold, she vowed to help stop the injustice of children being sold for sex. Upon returning to the states she became aware of the numbers sold into human trafficking here in the states. With a local focus on mine, she helped start Unshackled – a Voice for the Voiceless.
“Working with survivors of Human Trafficking and bringing awareness to our community on this issue is something that is very important to me,” said Tracey. “I am honored to start as Hope Against Trafficking’s new Executive Director and look forward to making an impact as a servant leader.” Read Tracey’s announcement here.
Hannah received her MA in Rehabilitation Counseling and worked with head trauma survivors providing clinical programming and therapy until she came home to be a stay at home mother of 3 young children. Over the last 7-8 years, she became passionate about forging change in the area of human trafficking.