Alison Kiehl Friedman
Alison Kiehl Friedman is a single mom with a proven record on issues of human trafficking, security, and civil rights. After graduating from Stanford, she joined People For the American Way, where she defended voting rights, an independent judiciary, and high quality public education. Friedman went on to work for Congresswoman Jane Harman, managing complex security, infrastructure, and transportation challenges surrounding major ports and LAX.
Friedman co-founded ASSET, a non-profit addressing issues of human trafficking in global supply chains, where she helped author the California Transparency in Supply Chains law, which served as a model for international legislation. Her expertise in the anti-slavery field led Friedman to be recruited by the State Department at the beginning of the Obama Administration, where she served as Deputy Director in the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. In that role, she managed over $50 million in federal grants and U.S. interagency processes to combat human trafficking. Friedman was instrumental in launching slaveryfootprint.com, a website that enables consumers to better understand how the products they buy impact people’s lives and how to use that power for good, crafting the executive order that ensured taxpayer dollars didn’t further incentivize exploitation, and conducting frontline diplomacy with critical allies to promote freedom around the world. She has received numerous awards for her work, including her contribution to successful resolution of a hostage crisis in Pakistan. Friedman lives in Virginia with her daughter, Olivia and recently ran for Congress in Virginia’s 10th District.