Meet Kerry Brodie, Founder of Emma’s Torch, a growing social enterprise that empowers refugees through culinary education. Inspired by the Holocaust survivors and immigrants in her own family, and concerned by the growing refugee crisis, Kerry set off to culinary school with the idea that food could be a tool to enable people who have experienced forced migration to thrive in their new communities. Kerry now lives in Potomac, MD, having recently expanded Emma’s Torch from NY to DC.

As faith communities, we engage in so many essential social service efforts in our communities. It is sacred work to be present to people marginalized by the systems of our societies. It is also sacred work to change those systems. As we serve, we have the opportunity to learn, collect data, spot patterns that can help point to systemic solutions.

With deep roots in economic migration patterns and organized crime, not to mention the manipulation of basic human needs and aspirations, human trafficking is a complex issue both very global and very local in its scope. The International Labour Organization estimates that 40.3 million people globally were in what they call “modern slavery” at any given time in 2016, about 60% of whom were in forced labor and the remainder in forced marriage. … While complex operationally, as a moral issue, human trafficking is about as straightforward as they come, which perhaps explains why it has been a galvanizing issue for faith communities. … Additionally, many secular organizations addressing the issue have been founded by faith-rooted social innovators. And there’s one that, unless you’re a trucker, you may not know about.