Dr. Xanthe Scharff of The Freedom Fund: Ending Modern Slavery and Supporting Frontline Communities

This week, we welcome Dr. Xanthe Scharff to the show. She is the Managing Director for External Affairs and Editor-at-Large at the Freedom Fund, where she works to strengthen global efforts to end modern slavery by supporting and investing in frontline partners who are closest to the problem and best positioned to drive lasting change within their own communities. With more than 20 years of experience across journalism, research, and nonprofit leadership, Xanthe brings a powerful perspective to this work, one grounded in storytelling, partnership, and systems change. At the Freedom Fund, she plays a critical role in advancing solutions that address the often hidden and disproportionate exploitation of women and girls, ensuring that local leaders have the resources, visibility, and support they need to prevent exploitation and help survivors rebuild their lives. In our conversation, Xanthe helps unpack the reality that modern slavery is not a thing of the past, but a growing global crisis, with an estimated 50 million people affected worldwide. From forced labor and domestic servitude to trafficking within the United States and the complexities of global supply chains, she brings clarity to both the scale of the issue and the pathways toward sustainable change. She also reflects on her earlier work as co-founder of the Fuller Project, where she helped reshape how stories about women are told and understood across the globe. This episode is an invitation to deepen awareness and to take meaningful action by supporting organizations like the Freedom Fund and the courageous frontline leaders working every day to prevent exploitation, protect human dignity, and build safer futures for women and girls around the world. Show Notes: Show Transcript PDF The Freedom Fund 2025–2030 Strategic Plan To Make a Donation Research Library Featured Article ‘Invisible’ children born in the brothels of Bangladesh finally get birth certificates, The Guardian National Human Trafficking Hotline Call: 1-888-373-7888 Text: 233733 Website Learn More U.S. National Human Trafficking Prevention Month 1926 Slavery Convention: 100th Anniversary The Fuller Project - Website Further Reading & Resources Women’s Empowerment and Child Labor in Cocoa: Ghana & Côte d’Ivoire Child Labor is Helping Power the Clean Energy Transition Voice of Change Podcast, “Empowering Change: The Syrian Women’s Political Movement” Bonded by Brick documentary, The Centrum Media