Simone Monasebian - Impactful Efforts for Trafficking Survivors
Simone Monasebian, a socially committed advocate and attorney, serves on the Executive Team of Sanctuary for Families in New York City. Simone is responsible for leading 240 programmatic staff members who assisted more than 8,000 survivors of gender-based violence across diverse age groups. Providing a combination of legal services, counseling, shelter, advocacy, education, and training, the organization addresses sex trafficking and domestic violence and empowers survivors and members of the broader community to take action.
From 2005 to 2019, Ms. Monasebian was served as New York Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Her efforts were vital in the organization’s budget adoption by the UN General Assembly and in forming a compliant structure. She led the establishment of the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children, as well as the UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons.
Ms. Monasebian brought noteworthy advocates and Goodwill Ambassadors, including 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad to UNODC's work. She spearheaded major social impact fundraising initiatives, such as one focused on abducted girls and child soldiers highlighted in a 2009 New York Times Arts Section cover story. During her tenure at UNODC she also served as an Adjunct Law Professor at Seton Hall Law School where she developed and led a course on human trafficking and the law in Zanzibar. Ms. Monasebian holds an appointed role as the Association of the Bar of the City of New York’s at-large member of the Council on International Affairs.
