Carol Smolenski

Carol is one of the founders of ECPAT­-USA and has been working in the field of children’s rights for thirty years. She is a longtime nationally recognized leader working to stop the commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking of children. At ECPAT­-USA, Carol oversaw the development of the first research project on child trafficking in New York City and two other research projects about commercial sexual exploitation of children. She was the Project Director for the New York City Community Response to Trafficking Project in New York, a multifaceted groundbreaking project to inform communities at risk for human trafficking about the federal anti-­trafficking law and help obtain better protections for victims. She has developed and managed projects to stop the commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking of children in the United States, the Riviera Maya and Cancun sections of Mexico, and in Belize and is currently overseeing a similar project in three cities in Brazil. She has spoken at numerous conferences and has presented testimony in venues ranging from the New York City Council to the United States Congress to the United Nations. 

Carol has a Bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University, a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning from Hunter College, and an M.Phil from Columbia University.