Three trustees reflect on ten years of Arise Foundation, the power of local leadership and why prevention matters more than ever.
Ten years ago, Arise Foundation began with an idea that ran against much of the conventional wisdom of international development. What if the people best placed to prevent exploitation were not those arriving with outside solutions, but those who were already there?
In communities where poverty, inequality and limited opportunity leave people vulnerable to trafficking, religious sisters and other frontline organisations had been quietly doing the work for years. They knew the families, understood the pressures and, crucially, were trusted. What many lacked was not commitment or knowledge, but the networks, resources and institutional support that could allow their work to endure.
Arise was created to stand alongside them. Rather than building a large operational charity, it set out to strengthen the organisations already closest to vulnerable communities, helping them develop the skills, connections and resilience needed to prevent exploitation before it happens. It was an approach based less on prescription than partnership, and less on control than trust.
A decade later, that founding instinct still shapes the organisation. Arise now works alongside organisations across India, Nigeria, Albania, the Philippines and beyond, supporting local leaders to strengthen safeguarding, governance, prevention programmes and community resilience. It has also brought frontline experience into national and international policy conversations, amplified local voices at the United Nations and celebrated exceptional leadership through initiatives including the Sisters’ Anti-Trafficking Awards.
As Arise marks its tenth anniversary, three of its trustees, Wendy Strauss, Sister Lynda Dearlove RSM MBE and Sister Deirdre Mullen RSM have been looking back at how that journey began, what has changed and why they believe the organisation’s original philosophy remains so important…
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