Melanie Heitkamp, LICSW

Melanie Heitkamp has been employed at Youthworks, a private, non-profit agency serving at-risk youth, since 1987. She has served as the Executive Director of the agency, with offices in Fargo and Bismarck, since 1997. She has a Master’s of Social Work degree from the University of North Dakota and is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker in the State of North Dakota. She has extensive experience in training, program development, fundraising, policy development, grant writing, board governance, and clinical supervision. She worked with the State Supreme Court to develop and implement the first Native American diversion program in the State, the “Youth Cultural Achievement Program.” This program was identified by Chief Justice VandeWalle as a model program in his State of the Judiciary address to the 2015 North Dakota legislature. She completed the Impact Institutes, “Leadership Advanced North Dakota” training. She currently serves on the Federal Runaway Homeless Youth Training and Technical Assistance Center Advisory Board.

Amy Boyd, LDSW

Amy Boyd is a Licensed Social Worker and Mediator/Facilitator who has worked with individuals experiencing homelessness and runaway issues for the past fourteen years. Prior to working at Youthworks of North Dakota, she was a facilitator with Family Group Decision Making, a crisis response to individuals at risk of or experiencing abuse or neglect. As a Human Trafficking Navigator, Amy coordinates a multi-disciplinary response process to identified or suspected cases of human trafficking and provides case management services to domestic and international clients. She is a member of the North Dakota Human Trafficking Task Force, where she works extensively with the US Department of Homeland Security and the ND Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Amy is a GEMS-certified trainer in CSEC curriculum.

Darla Bardine, Executive Director

Darla Bardine has dedicated her career to young people and families who experience homelessness, poverty, violence and exploitation. As Executive Director of the National Network for Youth (NN4Y) her work leverages her skills as a leader and a public interest attorney to create an organization that truly reflects its values.

Since joining NN4Y in 2013, Darla created an unprecedented coalition of service providers, advocates and homeless youth, that ensures that youth homelessness is addressed in all relevant policy discussions. Darla has raised the profile of NN4Y and the voice of youth with lived experience by launching NN4Y’s National Youth Advisory Council, the Policy Advisory Committee, and the annual National Summit on Youth Homelessness.

Darla established her reputation as an exceptional leader, policy advocate and grassroots organizer early in her career. Before joining NN4Y, Darla created and launched the Fight Child Exploitation in Tourism Initiative in South Africa and worked to reform foster care in Washington, DC. As a federal policy advocate, she fought to secure assistance for families navigating the complex criminal justice and child welfare systems and fought to end the practice of shackling incarcerated pregnant mothers.

Ms. Bardine holds a B.S. in Criminal Justice from Pennsylvania State University, an M.A. in Nonprofit Management from the University of Roehampton and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Kristen Leanderson Abrams

Kristen Leanderson Abrams is the senior director of combatting human trafficking at the McCain Institute. In this capacity, she provides strategic leadership and operational management for the Institute’s program to combat all forms of human trafficking.

Abrams has extensive experience managing programs and advocating for solutions to prevent and end human trafficking and modern slavery around the world. Prior to joining the McCain Institute, she ran a consulting practice providing advice to non-profits working to end exploitation and promote human rights. She also served as the acting director of the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST).

Earlier in her career, Abrams led international pro bono programs at DLA Piper. In that capacity, she developed and implemented interdisciplinary anti-human trafficking, rule of law, economic development, access to justice, and women’s rights projects in under-resourced regions in the United States and throughout Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. While at DLA Piper, Abrams also provided counsel on matters of public international law, political law and corporate social responsibility.

Abrams began her career as a legislative aide in the U.S. House of Representatives. She holds a juris doctor degree from The George Washington University Law School and a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University.

Kelsey Syms

Kelsey Syms serves as the program manager for the Combatting Human Trafficking program at the McCain Institute for International Leadership. In this role, she oversees the development and implementation of programmatic work, as well as advances the Institute’s convening power and external relations.

Prior to joining the McCain Institute, Kelsey interned for the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section assisting attorney staff in performing legal and factual research in support of the investigation and prosecution of complex criminal matters, including human trafficking.

Originally from Sun Valley, Idaho, Kelsey holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Colorado – Boulder and a master’s degree in Global Leadership and Management from Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management.