Purpose Prize

Marc Freedman Portrait

The Latest from CoGenerate

Got a Digital Illustration that Shows Generations Working Together?

Got a Digital Illustration that Shows Generations Working Together?

CoGenerate recently teamed up with Fine Acts, a global creative studio for social impact, to launch an open call for illustrations showing generations working together for change.  We’re looking for illustrations that show older and younger people coming together to...

A New Conversation About Service That Crosses Generations

A New Conversation About Service That Crosses Generations

Can a single meal begin to bridge divides? Back in January, two major partners in CoGenerate’s work teamed up to find out. On the MLK Day of Service, Generations Over Dinner and AmeriCorps joined with senior living communities across the country to host more than 100...

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Nola Theiss

Human Trafficking Awareness Partnerships
Purpose Prize Fellow 2008

Fighting human trafficking at home and abroad through community organizing

Nola Theiss spent several years as council member and Mayor of Sanibel, FL. Volunteering later with an international women’s organization (Zonta International) to combat human trafficking, she was shocked to learn such trafficking had occurred right in her own community. In 2004, at age 56, she spearheaded a county-wide coalition to learn to recognize and fight this issue. Theiss saw that individuals know their communities best and could become modern-day abolitionists once they knew that trafficking existed. She holds events with service clubs, faith organizations, law enforcement, ordinary citizens, and human service providers, training them on how to work together. She teaches them to see the problem, figure out their role, and assume responsibility to do something about it. With her county’s task force on human trafficking as the model, Theiss has reached more than 8,000 people in communities around the country. Many trafficking victims have been helped and task forces have formed in several states to draft legislation to address this issue. “I have no plans to retire. I already live in paradise, my adult children and grandchildren live nearby, I do not need a large salary, and I have a passion to do this work.”