Dear Friends

Good morning, and thank you for being here.

Roca’s work is to stay close. To show up, again and again, when it would be easier to step back.

That is what this morning is about.

Leaning In reflects both the moment we are in and the choice we are making. We are living in a time when isolation is deepening and the young people at the highest risk are often the easiest to overlook. At Roca, we move toward that reality, not away from it.

Today, we will focus on one of the most urgent challenges we are seeing: the rising rates of human trafficking affecting our young women. This is not abstract — it is present in the lives of the young people we work with every day.

Many of the young people we serve have cycled through foster care, detention, probation, shelters, and emergency rooms — often labeled “high-risk,” “non-compliant” or “hard to serve.” We meet them where they are — not where we wish they’d be — and we stay.

Trauma trains the brain for survival, not pause. And yet, the change we’re asking young people for often lives in a moment as small — and as hard — as an 8 to 12 second pause. The space between impulse and action. The moment to choose something different.

That is where our work lives.

We combine relentless outreach with Rewire cognitive behavioral therapy, delivered wherever young people are, to help build that capacity to pause. And we invest deeply in practice — so staff are ready for those moments when they come. You’ll hear how we are strengthening that discipline, including through new, carefully designed AI tools that support that practice.

You will also hear directly from young people. Their stories are complex and sometimes heartbreaking. But they show what becomes possible when you lean in.

We are grateful you are here. Your presence — and your support — makes this work possible.

Thank you.

Molly Baldwin
Founder & CEO

Program

Opening Remarks
Molly Baldwin, Founder & CEO of Roca

James E. Mahoney Award Presentation
Molly Baldwin

Presented to
Peter Kochansky, on behalf of Goulston & Storrs PC

Vichey Phoung Award Presentations

Adrian Major, Employment and Safety Manager of Roca Boston

Presented to
Edwin Rosario, Roca Boston Participant

Sara Roper, Director of Roca Hartford

Presented to
Shanielia “Moya” Lindsay, Roca Hartford Participant

The Case for Leaning In
Susan Ulrich, Partner at Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel

Special Remarks
Aaron Michlewitz, MA State Representative, Chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means

Demo: AI for Good
Abreka Hawkins, Roca Hartford Program Manager

Leaning In: New Technology
Nic McKinley, Founder of Ten Point Data and DeliverFund

Special Remarks
Kim Driscoll, Lieutenant Governor

Closing Remarks
Molly Baldwin

Youth violence takes many forms. For a significant share of the young women Roca serves, it includes exploitation through human trafficking.

A recent partnership with Tufts Interdisciplinary Evaluation Research (TIER) found that more than one-third of participants in Roca’s Young Women’s Program have experienced some form of trafficking — most often sex trafficking, and increasingly labor trafficking.

This matters because it changes how we understand behavior. What can look like defiance, disengagement, or volatility is often shaped by coercion, control, and unresolved trauma. Without that context, responses can miss the mark — or make things worse.

Recognizing the prevalence of trafficking among these young women is essential to responding effectively. It informs how Roca engages, builds trust, and supports change over time through trauma-informed, gender-responsive programming grounded in harm reduction.

Roca is leaning into ethical, human-centered AI tools designed to support the people delivering life-changing Rewire CBT.

Rewire CBT is human work: it’s relational, repetitive, and relentless. Our cutting edge AI tools are increasing the quantity and depth of training we can provide to Roca Youth Workers and other frontline professionals nationwide who engage in that work with high-risk young people. It helps Rewire CBT coaches reflect, prepare, and practice scenarios, so they can stay present with a young person when it matters most.

We have a responsibility to shape powerful new technologies in service of the people most in need — putting human dignity, equity, and care at the center of what comes next. Roca’s AI-powered CBT coaching simulator will help us meet our ambitious goal of bringing Rewire CBT to more than 200,000 young people by 2030 — each one given a new chance to imagine a life beyond violence.

Speakers

Susan Ulrich

Partner at Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel

Susan Ulrich is a Partner at Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel, where she aggressively litigates on behalf of survivors of devastating wildfires and sexual abuse. Her practice also focuses on personal injury, products liability, and toxic torts, with particular expertise representing victims of childhood sexual abuse in schools, churches, and other settings.

Ulrich has extensive experience working with high-risk populations, focusing on issues of poverty and youth violence. She also has a deep history with Roca beginning as a participant, then serving as a liaison between our team and the Chelsea District Court, and finally as a member of Roca’s Board of Directors.

Susan will speak to the critical need for urgency in addressing youth violence, particularly in a climate of increasing uncertainty.

Aaron Michlewitz

MA State Representative, Chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means

First elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 2009, Aaron Michlewitz represents the Third Suffolk District, which comprises the Boston neighborhoods of the North End, Waterfront, Chinatown, Downtown, Leather District, Bay Village, and portions of the South End, West End, and the Back Bay.

Michlewitz has served as the Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee since February of 2019. In his second term as Chair, Michlewitz has worked on four budgets and has taken the lead in enacting a number of key legislative accomplishments such as the Student Opportunity Act, the ROE Act, and numerous economic development packages. Michlewitz also was a stabilizing voice in the House throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and helped guide the Legislature’s response to the virus.

Michlewitz has previously served as Chairman of the Joint Committees on Financial Services, Public Service, and Election Laws, where he took a lead in crafting comprehensive legislation dealing with new emerging technologies such as Transportation Network Companies like Uber and Lyft and short-term rental platforms like Airbnb and Expedia. He was also instrumental in the passage of the ACCESS bill for guaranteed contraception care, the PATCH act, and gender equity in disability insurance.

Michlewitz earned an MBA from Suffolk University in 2013 and a BA in Journalism from Northeastern University in 2001. He resides in the North End with his wife, Maria.

Nic McKinley

Founder of Ten Point Data and DeliverFund

Nic McKinley, often dubbed “The Real-Life Jack Ryan” for his high-stakes operational experience, served 11 years as a U.S. Air Force Pararescueman in Special Operations before being recruited by the CIA. During his CIA career he specialized in intelligence operations, where he witnessed the devastating scale of child trafficking. Driven by a conviction that sophisticated intelligence techniques could combat this crime, he left the CIA in 2014 to establish his non-profit, DeliverFund. McKinley brings unique expertise at the intersection of technology, intelligence, and anti-trafficking efforts through his leadership of two organizations: DeliverFund and Ten Point Data.

McKinley’s DeliverFund is a non-profit that equips law enforcement with training and technology to fight human trafficking at scale. The organization disrupts global trafficking markets by combining uniquely qualified personnel with the best technologies, leveraging counterterrorism experience to transform this fight. DeliverFund deploys the same tactics used to track terrorists to take down human traffickers, supporting law enforcement partners around the world who are on the frontlines of this fight.

Roca is also working in partnership with Ten Point Data—an AI company that simplifies data through a combination of dynamic data collection, agentic AI, and data transformation—to create AI shaped for good. Ten Point Data shares Roca’s commitment to using technology with intention to deepen human connection and strengthen the work of those on the front lines of change.

McKinley will share remarks highlighting the importance of addressing the pervasive human trafficking crisis, and he will emphasize the efficacy of harnessing AI in the service of justice.

Kim Driscoll

Lieutenant Governor

Kim Driscoll is the 73rd Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She was sworn in on January 5, 2023, joining Governor Maura Healey in a historic series of firsts: Governor Healey is the first woman and first openly LGBTQ person elected Governor of Massachusetts, and together, Healey and Driscoll are the first all-women executive team to lead Massachusetts.

Since taking office, Lieutenant Governor Driscoll has spearheaded several administration priorities and initiatives. Exemplified by her extensive and successful career in local government, Driscoll has served as a notable proponent for the economic development of Massachusetts cities and towns, and serves as a liaison for municipalities across the state. This commitment also includes leadership on tackling the state’s housing crisis and improving the state’s public education policy. Driscoll also chairs the Governor’s Council, the Governor’s Council to Address Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, and Human Trafficking, the Seaport Economic Council, and co-chairs the STEM Advisory Council.

Prior to taking office as Lieutenant Governor, Driscoll served as the City of Salem’s first woman Mayor. Elected in 2005, she turned deficits into record surpluses and saved taxpayers’ money by strengthening city services, revitalizing Salem’s downtown, leading a vast improvement in Salem’s k-12 schools, reforming city pensions and health insurance programs to protect employee benefits, bidding public contracts, and bringing transparency to City Hall. Under her leadership, Salem became one of the first communities in Massachusetts to adopt the expansion of free, high-quality early education opportunities starting at age four.

The daughter of a Navy chef from Lynn and an accountant’s assistant from Trinidad, Driscoll spent her childhood in a number of states, before attending Salem State University where she studied government and became a stand-out athlete on the women’s basketball team. Like so many Salem State students, she fell in love with Salem and made it her home after graduation, pursuing a career in municipal government, and married her college sweetheart, a second-generation union bricklayer.

After college, as the City of Beverly’s Community Development Director, Driscoll embarked on her long career of service to municipalities and eventually, went on to earn her law degree from the Massachusetts School of Law. Before becoming the Mayor of Salem, Driscoll served as the City of Chelsea’s Chief Legal Counsel and Deputy City Manager, and also served on the Salem City Council.

Lieutenant Governor Driscoll is focused on working with Governor Healey to create a forward-looking Commonwealth and communities that work for, empower, and include all who call Massachusetts home, as well as those who aspire to do so.

James  E.  Mahoney Award

In Memory of James  E.  Mahoney
1952–2020 

James (Jim) E. Mahoney, former Global Corporate Strategy and Public Policy Executive, was a trusted advisor, colleague, and friend at Bank of America for 25 years. Jim was skilled at turning policy ideas into business results, and his impact within the company was felt in fundamental ways, including its commitment to sustainable finance. He worked passionately to help advance second chances for the formerly incarcerated and believed strongly in Roca’s mission to disrupt incarceration, poverty and racism. He engaged with Roca in numerous ways as he continued to advocate for systemic change and believed in the power of cross-sector partnerships to achieve progress.  

Jim was a board member of the National Urban League, served on the Board of Directors of the New England Council, was a member of the management committee for Stanford University’s Global Climate & Energy Project, and served on the board of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce Center for Capital Markets. He was a devoted husband to his wife Margaret “Peggy” McLoughlin and loving father to Caitria, Jake, and Gracia. 

Roca’s James E. Mahoney Award recognizes an individual or organization who has demonstrated innovative leadership, humility, and commitment to systemic change on behalf of young people, and is an engaged partner in Roca’s systemic reform efforts.

2026 James E. Mahoney Award Recipient

Vichey Phoung Award

In Memory of Vichey Phoung
1981–2004

Vichey Phoung was born in a Thai Refugee camp while his family was fleeing from the Cambodian Killing Fields, and came to the U.S. as a baby. In early adolescence, he joined a gang with his three older brothers and spent many years in and out of the streets.

Over time and after a particularly challenging several months in jail, Vichey came to accept responsibility for causing harm and made remarkable and long-lasting changes in his life. He worked and volunteered as a street worker, seeking out his peers and helping young people leave gangs. He led peacemaking circles for gang peace efforts, helped launch the Via Project, and became a well-known young leader in the area. At age 23, Vichey was tragically killed in an industrial accident; he is survived by his mother, brothers, and son, Allen.

Despite his young age, Vichey had become a wise person that everyone at Roca loved and admired. To this day, Vichey’s impact on Roca can be felt strongly. He would have been inspired by Roca’s transitional employment programming, and he, more than any of us, would be able to recognize and appreciate those awarded the Vichey Phoung Peace Award.

Roca’s Vichey Phoung Peace Award recognizes Roca participants who, through their hard work and determination, have achieved substantial positive change in their lives, exemplifying the transformation which Roca seeks to bring about in all of the young people it serves.  

We believe that all young people, regardless of their challenges, are able to change, grow and lead and that peace is something we learn, practice and promote.  

With this award, Roca also expresses its gratitude to outstanding community leaders for their invaluable support of our work. 

2026 Vichey Phuong Award Recipients

Edwin Rosario
Roca Boston Participant 

Police raids, shootings, and robberies were a normal part of life for Edwin as he grew up and watched his brothers get involved in the streets. By the time Edwin started getting into fights and was kicked out of school, Roca was already working with his older brother Enrique, who called us in to intervene before Edwin could go too far down the wrong path.

Edwin spent months dodging Youth Workers before Roca’s relentless outreach finally wore him down. Once he agreed to come check out the program, his relationship with his Youth Worker Rahmel became a turning point — they bonded over a shared love of music, and Rahmel used that connection to build trust.

Once he started taking the program more seriously, Edwin began to slow down, reflect, and take responsibility — skills that don’t come easy, especially when you’re used to surviving off impulse and pride. He deeply engaged with Rewire CBT — thinking through the concepts, challenging himself, and using the skills even when it was hard — and became someone who others look to for help.

Edwin has shown remarkable resilience in a high-risk environment where growth is hard and setbacks are common, and continues to show progress where it matters most: consistency, responsibility, and follow-through. He has maintained steady employment, obtained his driver’s permit, and most importantly, he’s on track to graduate high school this summer.

Shanielia “Moya” Lindsay
Roca Hartford Participant

Originally from Jamaica, Moya emigrated to Hartford with her mother, who allowed her to be trafficked from a young age to feed a drug habit. She came to Roca soon after the Young Women’s Program expanded to Hartford in October 2021. At 17 years old, she and her baby had just been removed from her mother’s home, separated, and placed into DCF custody. At risk of disengaging from school and determined not to stay in the group home she was placed in, Moya was fearful, angry, and mistrusting. She came around when we were able to arrange with DCF for her to have supervised visits at Roca. We held on tighter when she bravely navigated having her parental rights terminated, knowing it was best for her son. Unfortunately, she got trapped in a coercive relationship, which altered her path. But Roca kept reaching out, and eventually Moya was able to grab on.

Moya became one of the first Roca Young women to participate in transitional employment at Auerfarm, an idyllic farm in Bloomfield, CT, where she learned how to operate heavy machinery and even helped lay the foundation for a new barn wall. Beyond that, she learned to be responsible to the job and to her teammates, to manage and save her new earnings, and, underpinning all of this, to use the seven life-saving Rewire CBT skills. Since enrolling at Roca, Moya completed her high school diploma, become a US citizen, and obtained her first apartment.