Create & INSPIRE Last October, Sandy Biback, CMP Emeritus, CMM and founder of Meeting Professionals Against Human Traffi cking (MPAHT), was inducted into the Events Industry Council (EIC) Hall of Leaders at the EIC Global Awards in Las Vegas. But she wasn’t there to receive her award. Instead, she was on a trip to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, “which is where this tiny kernel of an idea was born 10 years ago and has resulted in the work MPAHT does today.” After visiting the storefront of Daughters of Cambodia—an organization that empowers those trapped in the sex industry to start a new life by providing jobs and recovery programs— Biback set about educating herself on human traffi cking and what the hospitality and event industry can do to. Since then, MPAHT has aimed to elevate awareness around the issue and encourage hotels, venues and planners to educate themselves on how to prevent and recognize traffi cking. Biback points to the increasing numbers of hotels, venues and event management companies who have signed on to The Code (The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism), a voluntary set of crite- ria that members commit to, to keep children safe (thecode.org). Here, Biback shares more about her journey since that early trip. An industry icon looks back—and forward—on her mission to tackle human traffi cking by Laura Bickle Taking Action What accomplishments of MPAHT are you most proud of? The awareness we have created within our profession, across Canada and the US and, to a lesser extent, in Europe and Asia. More than that, for me, it is moments like when I received a DM that because of our organization, a person in our industry saw something in a Canadian airport that didn’t look ‘right.’ She contacted the Canadian hotline and they opened a fi le. It is these little and sometimes seemingly inconse- quential things that make us understand the reach MPAHT has. What have you found to be the greatest challenge in raising awareness and how have you addressed that challenge? Though this has changed considerably over the last few years, it is about people realizing that traffi cking/modern slavery/labour traffi cking, etc., are happening before our eyes—in our own communities—not just ‘over there.’ How do we address this? We bring it back home— imagine if it was your child, or a friend’s child, etc. We make it personal. We understand not everyone can get involved. We make a simple request: add the hotline number to your phone (1-833-900-1010). What are your future plans for MPAHT? As a result of COVID, we lost many volunteers and we totally understand that. Right now we are working with a very small and tight group of volunteers. Is it a challenge? Well, as my dear friend Robert Thompson (AV-Canada) once said to me many years ago—there are no problems, only challenges to overcome. And that’s what we are doing—along with the rest of the world. After much conversation with our Board and Advisory Council members, we are returning to our mission: To create awareness and become THE resource for the hospitality, conference and tourism sectors. We are tuning up our ability to reach far and wide and sharing the many resources we have by engaging via social media and industry events. mpaht.com Sandy Biback, second from right, at the Daughters of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 52 | Ignitemag.ca | Spring 2023
