Laura Lederer

senior advisor, US Department of State

BA, magna cum laude, University of Michigan; J.D., DePaul. Professor Lederer is senior advisor on human trafficking for the US Department of State. Professor Lederer is the founder and former director of the Protection Project at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. As director of the project, she oversaw research on the trafficking of women and children, including foreign and national laws on trafficking and surrounding activities, country-by-country human rights reports on trafficking, and survivor stories. Professor Lederer originally founded the Projection Project as a Research Fellow for the University of Minnesota Law School. She then directed the Project from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government before going to Johns Hopkins. Professor Lederer has written several articles regarding the trafficking of women and children and is a frequent speaker on the issue as well.