Alameda County launched the Sexually Exploited Minors Network (SEM)

  • The county-wide Sexually Exploited Minors (SEM) Network was formed, committed to establishing a continuum of CSEC specific services and system responses focused on addressing the complex needs of children and teens victimized through sexual exploitation.
  • SEM Network member organization George P. Scotlan Youth & Family Center began to develop services specifically for sexually exploited girls. Working in the heart of West Oakland, Scotland Center staff Nola Brantley, Adela Hernandez Rodarte, Sarai T. Smith-Mazariegos, and Emily Hamman experienced firsthand the devastating impact of the local sex trafficking trade on the girls who passed through Scotlan’s doors, witnessing with heartbreaking consistency the dangerous circumstances and dire crises faced by many of the girls.
  • Determined to address the needs and plight of CSEC, these four pioneers applied for and were awarded a grant through the San Francisco Foundation to pilot the very first Sexually Exploited Minor program in Alameda County.

Today

MISSSEY continues to be devoted to young people, a safe space where youth impacted by commercial sexual exploitation are accepted and embraced; where their victim status is acknowledged, but does not define them; where they are understood and never judged; where they are supported in both their healing and in the development of their aspirational selves; where the past may inform, but does not determine their future; where cycles of abuse are broken and where life-affirming experiences are holistically nurtured as stepping stones towards establishing fully enriched and empowered lives.


MISSSEY co-leads GBV campaign

MISSSEY co-leads GBV Campaign with Young Women’s Freedom Center, Family Violence Law Center, DreamCatchers, and Alliance for Girls to secure increased funding for gender-based violence survivors, prevention, and response services in Oakland.


MISSSEY becomes a nationally recognized leader in the CSEC field and movement

  • Approximately 10,000 professionals in law enforcement, employees of the judicial system, social services personnel, and educators have been trained to identify and help CSEC since MISSSEY’s inception as the county’s premiere anti-trafficking organization.
  • MISSSEY begins providing technical assistance to counties, communities, and individual agencies in setting up CSEC-focused programs, integrating CSEC victim support into existing services, creating CSEC task forces, and bringing first responders up to speed.

Nola Brantley becomes MISSSEY’s first executive director

MISSSEY informs and inspires a new generation of advocates, service providers and policy makers in the developing field of addressing the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). Between 2010 and 2014 alone, MISSSEY served about 1,000 girls.


MISSSEY officially launches

Nola, Adela, Sarai and Emily launched MISSSEY -- the first survivor-led, survivor-informed nonprofit organization in Oakland devoted to “motivating, inspiring, supporting and serving sexually exploited youth.”  The co-founders divided organizational responsibilities amongst themselves.


The first CSEC engagement, advocacy, and community-based service model in the county created - the precursor to MISSSEY

  • Scotlan Center partnered with the Interagency Children’s Policy Council and other SEM Network members to apply for the first round of City of Oakland Measure Y violence prevention funding in order to establish outreach, advocacy, and case management services for CSEC.
  • With funding in place, Nola, Adela, Sarai, and Emily worked tirelessly to create the first CSEC engagement, advocacy, and community-based service model in the county, in partnership with the Oakland Police Department, Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, Alameda County Probation Department, and Alameda County Social Services Agency.
  • MISSSEY was a division of Be A Mentor until 501(c)(3) status was awarded in December 2006.