Collaborating to Fight Human Trafficking; Wes Lyons and Vip Vipperman
Vip Vipperman and Wes Lyons discuss their personal faith journeys and their work in the fight against human trafficking. They share their experiences with the Lion's Den, a faith-driven angel network that invests in companies making a positive impact. They highlight the importance of collaboration between for-profit, nonprofit, and government organizations in addressing human trafficking. They also discuss the need for transparency in supply chains and the importance of providing job opportunities for survivors of trafficking.
Overall, their work aims to bring light into darkness and create a better future for those affected by trafficking.
Wes Lyons
Wes serves the entrepreneurs who are restoring the world. He is a General Partner at Eagle Venture Fund, where he leads Eagle's investment themes of combating human trafficking and economic opportunities for the poor. Wes has previously been a general partner in two private equity funds focused on real estate and venture capital. Wes has been the primary operations and compliance partner for every fund he been partner in. He's been the lead partner for more than a dozen investments before Eagle and more than a dozen at Eagle.
Wes has four sons and loves running with them. Wes's passion to combat trafficking was born as a naval aviator fighting ISIS in the Philippines. Wes witnessed children used in combat and experienced compassion for the Filipino youth who were becoming ISIS fighters. Wes went on to lead the US detachment to the Philippines, assisting the Filipino military in re-taking a city from ISIS
Vip Vipperman
Vip Vipperman is Vice President at Eagle Venture Funds, a family of funds dedicated to helping audacious entrepreneurs battle for causes & places that are desperate for change (with a current focus on tech to combat human trafficking and slavery) . He is cofounder of The Lion’s Den DFW pitch competition & was one of the early team members at Faith Driven Entrepreneur & Investor co-creating projects like Marketplace, Demo Days, and Unmuted. He previously worked for one of the nation’s largest faith based multifamily developers and spent his early career doing missions works alongside underground church planters in China. He has been married for 20 years to Carrie and they have 3 kids and a yellow lab. His spends a lot of time at volleyball games, on Boy Scouts camping trips or at gymnastics meets.
Takeaways
Collaboration between for-profit, nonprofit, and government organizations is crucial in addressing human trafficking.
Transparency in supply chains is essential to ensure ethical sourcing and reduce labor trafficking.
Investing in job training and placement for survivors of trafficking can help prevent recidivism.
The Lion's Den provides a platform for entrepreneurs and investors to make a positive impact.
Impact investing allows individuals to grow their capital on mission and make a difference in social issues.
Sound Bites
"We actually see viable paths to shutting down tens of thousands of brothels in the next few years."
"There's so many businesses that are effectively getting used to traffic people that would like... Most people that work in those businesses would like to stop it."
"We're stepping in as learners. We constantly are reminded that we're trying to learn how to be most helpful and most effective."
https://www.thelionsdendfw.org/
https://www.eagleventurefund.com/
