For 20 years, Maria Clara Harrington has been serving young survivors of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation and sex trafficking through counseling, advocacy and outreach. As the Training and Outreach Coordinator for the Citrus Health Network Chance Program, she is in a role that enables her to combine her experience working directly with survivors for many years, her understanding and compassion for survivors, with her skills as an educator, to train, raise awareness and understanding of child sexual exploitation. As a lead trainer, she has helped several other local, state, national and international communities launch a trauma-informed response, bringing together agencies involved in these complex cases.

Ms. Harrington continues to collaborate with other organizations in the development of a community-based, survivor and trauma-informed approach to commercial sexual exploitation of children that holds the promise of healing and restoring the life of exploited youth. Additionally, she currently serves as Chair of the Services Committee of the South Florida Human Trafficking Task Force, is also a fellow of the National Human Trafficking Leadership Academy and serves as a consultant for the National Human Trafficking Technical Assistance Center.

Ms. Harrington started her career in this field in 2001 at Kristi House and it was there, where she started working directly with survivors of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation in 2008 within Kristi House’s Program Project GOLD, founded by Sandy Skelaney. Maria Clara was in the trenches for many years, from responding to the 24-hour crisis hotline, leading teams of volunteers and going out at night from midnight to 4 a.m. looking for missing children and others who were on the streets, to advocating for the youth and providing supportive services. She also went into at-risk schools working with girls through a 16-week prevention and empowerment program. In 2013, Ms. Harrington had the opportunity to lead the launch of the first specialized Project GOLD drop-in center in the state of Florida for young female survivors of sexual exploitation. For five years she oversaw the day-to-day operations of the drop-in center and led a dedicated team of professionals working around the clock to provide support, mental health, educational, mentoring and enrichment services to child survivors of sexual exploitation and sex trafficking.

Maria Clara holds a master’s degree in School Counseling from NOVA Southeastern University. Maria Clara was the recipient of Florida’s Attorney General Pam Bondi’s 2015 Distinguished Victim Services Award, the Global Initiative Consulting Network’s 2019 Outstanding Leadership Award, and the Junior League of Miami Women Who Make a Difference 2020 award.