About CCLP

Guided by Ambassador Walter Annenberg’s belief that communication impacts all aspects of society and should be used in the public interest, the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy (CCLP) unites visionary ideals with impactful scholarship and practical applications that promote innovative solutions to policy and social concerns.

Based at the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism at the University of Southern California, CCLP is a policy center that conducts and disseminates research, organizes courses and fosters dialogue through programs, seminars and symposia for scholars, students, policymakers and working professionals.

CCLP focuses its activities on issues covering The Role of Media in a Democracy, Communication Leadership, and Communication Technology and Social Change, which includes the Technology and Trafficking Initiative.

About the Authors

Mark Latonero

Mark Latonero is the Research Director at the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy.

His research focuses on emerging communication technology and social change. Mark’s recent work examines technology and human rights and the use of social media during crises and emergencies.

He has published in such academic journals as Information, Communication & Society, Journal of Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, and Communication Research. His research has been covered by the Los Angeles Times, Congressional Quarterly, and CNN International.

Mark received his Ph.D. from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and was a postdoctoral research scholar at the London School of Economics. He is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy.

Email: latonero@usc.edu

Jennifer Musto is an external faculty fellow at Rice University Humanities Research Center’s Seminar on Human Trafficking. Recently, Musto was a postdoctoral research fellow at the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy and was awarded a Microsoft Research grant for technology and human trafficking research. Musto has held joint institutional appointments as visiting lecturer in women’s and gender studies at Wellesley College and visiting scholar in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at Northeastern University. Dr. Musto completed her Ph.D. at UCLA’s Department of Gender Studies.
Email: jennifer.l.musto@rice.edu

Zhaleh Boyd was Technology & Trafficking in Persons research fellow at the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy while earning her master’s in public diplomacy at USC. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the Wiberforce Institute for the study of slavery and emancipation at the University of Hull in the United Kingdom.

Ev Boyle is a global research fellow at the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy. He holds a B.A. in communications from the University of Pennsylvania and an MSc in Global Media and Communications from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Amber Bissell is a student at Loyola Law School and also works for the Los Angeles City Attorney as a research assistant on juvenile justice issues. Amber received her MSc in Gender and Social Policy from the London School of Economics where she focused on trafficking as well as healthcare, immigration, and other social issues.

Joanne Kim is a third-year law student at the University of Washington. She received her B.A. in Communication from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Kari Gibson is a third-year student at USC’s Gould School of Law. She received her B.A. from the USC School of Cinematic Arts and her M.A. in applied linguistics from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.