Global Leader in Human Trafficking Prevention | Trauma Resiliency Advocate | Visionary Artist | International Speaker
Kendall Alaimo is an award-winning human rights activist, internationally recognized artist, and one of the world’s foremost voices in human trafficking prevention. A survivor of child trafficking, Kendall endured unthinkable trauma and spent years in recovery—emerging not only as an overcomer but as a global force for change. Today, she is a trusted expert to government leaders, international institutions, and security personnel, shaping policy and practice to ensure that children who survive trafficking are not only rescued but truly restored.
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After surviving trafficking and navigating a broken recovery system, Kendall became alarmed by the lack of clinical care available for child survivors of modern slavery in the United States. As time went on, she saw that the gap in clinical care extended beyond survivors of slavery to include other trauma-impacted populations—especially veterans. She went on to train the U.S. military in post-trauma resiliency and now advocates for the innovation of care for all those who have lived through trauma. Her story and expertise are scaled to the global population. Kendall understands that adversity is part of the human experience and believes it takes a courageous witness to be seen—and to adapt from a place of destitution after trauma to living a purposeful life rooted in the lessons learned from it.
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Kendall’s work has been featured on CNN International, Amazon News, BBC Radio London, and BBC Woman’s Hour, among other international outlets. In 2021, she was invited to address the United Nations General Assembly’s High-Level Meeting on the Appraisal of Trafficking in Persons, speaking not just as a survivor, but as a strategist and visionary on prevention, recovery, and systemic change. She has also spoken at embassies and diplomatic events around the world, continuing to influence global conversations on human rights and freedom.
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Kendall has held consultancy roles with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)—the world’s largest intergovernmental security organization—advancing strategies to protect vulnerable populations and contributed to The National Referral Mechanism Handbook for governments to aid in supporting survivors of modern day slavery inside of their countries borders. Kendall is a stakeholder member of The Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, partnered with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and fellow international experts driving policy to prevent organized crime across borders.
In addition, Kendall also serves as a consultant to corporations and institutions on strategies to mitigate modern-day slavery within their supply chains and operational frameworks. She is a sought-after voice for motivational talks, wellness training, and trauma-informed leadership workshops—offering tools for transformation, resilience, and culture change.
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Kendall’s art serves as a portal to freedom—for herself and for others. She believes that her own adversity was the catalyst for unlocking a high level of unmatched creativity, and she now uses that creative force to liberate, elevate, and ignite change. Her paintings are filled with hope, solutions, and the unapologetic presence of someone who refuses to be erased. They draw the curiosity of the art world into urgent conversations—juxtaposing vivid expression with the dark realities her work exists to transform.
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Her visual work is not just art—it is testimony. It serves as a global call to action—an invitation to confront, disrupt, and transform the world’s most pressing problems. When people bear witness to her paintings, they bear witness to her. Through art, Kendall asserts her human right to exist. And in being seen, the story of the 50 million people currently enslaved around the world is also acknowledged—while they are still awaiting a path to the liberation Kendall seeks to create for them.
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Kendall is also known for her iconic red “Seats for Survivors”—symbols of social inclusion for survivors of slavery in need of resources to obtain full healing and sustainable freedom. She gifts these seats to leaders, ships them globally, and embeds them into her paintings. She often checks them onto planes and brings them to meetings with high-level decision makers—leaving behind a permanent reminder that survivors must never again be left without a place at the table.
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Her work has been displayed globally and is held in permanent collections at the United Nations Headquarters, Amazon corporate, and the OSCE offices located inside the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. Notable figures such as Gloria Steinem also own her work, which continues to resonate across both cultural and political spaces.
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Her art is seen daily by global decision-makers. Kendall’s reframing her narrative of being sold by selling her art. She believes people should never be traded as currency—but that art can be. The ending of her story is this: she was no longer for sale, but her art was—and it was used to scale freedom.
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As a survivor of profound adversity, Kendall views her continued existence as a living artwork. She refers to herself as The Living Slave—a provocative follow-up to Michelangelo’s The Dying Slave in the Louvre. Her embodiment challenges the historic narrative of silence, death, and defeat. She asserts that those who have been enslaved can live—and that life itself can be documented and revered as art. For Kendall, living is a performance. Movement is testimony. Breath is resistance. Living, in action, is her art.
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Her talks are described as raw, radiant, and unforgettable. She doesn’t just advocate for survivors of trafficking—she advocates for survivors of life. Kendall calls people to recognize the potential inside their own pain and teaches audiences to view setbacks not as the end, but as the birthplace of something new. “You can take your adversities,” she says, “and turn them into gifts to give to the world.” Her message is one of hope, action, and profound transformation.
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Kendall is currently developing a new body of artwork while conducting research into the biological impacts of complex trauma on the human brain and body. As an artist and researcher, she has currently undergone advanced brain imaging as part of her studio practice. She has built out a brain lab in her home to rehabilitate her brain from the impacts of slavery on her neurobiology, has consulted with brain experts at MIT and other leading research institutions, and is currently vested in dialogues on preserving “brain capital” in the context of increasing trauma in our world. Her work also bridges science, art, and advocacy in groundbreaking ways—using her own biology as a canvas for both experimentation and healing.
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She consults internationally on the links between trauma, disability, war, migration, and climate displacement—offering trauma-informed insight at the intersection of global crises.
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A global citizen based in Chicago, Kendall's mission is simple, yet profound: to create freedom for all.