The Anti-Trafficking World’s "Leverage Man"

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include ending modern slavery and human trafficking by 2030. It’s a daunting challenge, but Tom Hall, Head of Global Philanthropy for the financial institution UBS, has some compelling ideas on how to achieve it.

Tom Hall, Head of Global Philanthropy for the financial institution UBS

Because of Hall’s ideas, and because he advises more than 2000 philanthropist clients on how to have the best impact, he’s earned the nickname, “Leverage Man.” And by the way, included among these clients are dozens of billionaires.

When you read Leverage Man’s ideas, you’ll see why people pay attention to him. But before we get to his insights, let’s take a quick look at the dimensions of what the world is up against in trying to achieve the UN goals. Human trafficking is:

• A $150 billion dollars year industry.

• The second-largest source of revenue for organized crime. (Illegal drugs are the first.)

• The world’s fastest-growing criminal activity.

• A kind of modern-day slavery for its more than 45 million victims.

Hall’s approach to attacking human trafficking involves three interlocking parts. Solutions need to be evidence-based, they need catalytic capital, and they need a collective effort.  

Evidence-Based  

“Any solution needs to be evidence-based,” Hall begins. “Put simply, we need to ask, ‘Does it work?’”

He’s seen that being well-intentioned isn’t enough. He gives the example of a girl who’s been rescued from trafficking. “We have to think systemically. It may be great for that girl, but it’s not for the next girl who gets trafficked in her place.” In other words, rescue alone isn’t a solution. In isolation and in the long term, it’s not a lasting solution.

For him, being evidence-based means measuring not only the amount of money that went into an effort but crucially important, is measuring the outcome. In the above example questions for outcomes might include: “Are there fewer people trafficked?”  “How many prosecutions were there?” or “How many traffickers were put in jail?”

Catalytic Capital

“Ending human trafficking is a multi-billion-dollar problem,” he emphasizes. “Since no individual and no foundation alone has the funds to stop trafficking, then the funds they dedicate to stopping human trafficking need to be ‘catalytic.’”

As with a chemical catalyst during a chemical reaction, catalytic funds need to be deployed in ways that cause things to happen faster than they otherwise would.  Alternatively, the funds need to cause things to happen that might never happen without a catalyst. 

How can we find ways to invest capital for anti-trafficking efforts, so these funds become catalytic capital?  

“Pouring money into existing efforts isn’t going to move the dial,” Hall states. “Instead, we need to invest in innovation. Then we need to test the innovation across a whole range of organizations. In evaluating it, we need data, data, data. And crucially important, we need to test that the innovation will scale.”

Collective Effort

In Hall’s world, combatting human trafficking involves a collective effort, working with best-in-class organizations that are working to end trafficking.  “It’s important that we work together,” he insists. “Collective efforts can result in far, far greater success than what any organization can achieve on its own.”

“When the collective effort results in success,” Hall adds, “then governments come on board, other major foundations will start to fund your model, and you start to create sustainable systems.”

Spot and Stop in San Diego

Hall and UBS are working in many countries.  In the US, they’re working on a project in San Diego and a major part of this effort is prevention. He’s seen that “If you can spot and stop instead of treating symptoms, you can rapidly make progress.”

Chris Marsh, his colleague in San Diego, says, “The San Diego Trafficking Prevention Collective has already trained over 1000 educators. We aim to reach over 345,000 San Diego students in the next three years. And we see this expanding to include more schools, after-school programs, interactive drama, workshops, and public outreach. All with a mindset of creating measurable impact at three levels – student, school, and community-wide.”

Tom Hall earns his nickname of “Leverage Man.” He understands that we need to do more than simply pouring money into existing programs. Instead, he and the clients he serves have become force multipliers. Through evidence-based philanthropy, using capital as a catalyst, and maximum collaboration with existing anti-trafficking organizations, Leverage Man and his clients are playing an outsize role in working to eradicate human trafficking.