Nadia Lucchin's path to heading the anti-domestic violence organization in town started some 4,000 miles away, on the other side of the Atlantic. It was 2004. Lucchin was teaching English in Rome when she became curious about the young, foreign-looking women she saw walking the streets in secluded parts of the city at night.

She learned that the women had gotten ensnared in human trafficking. When Lucchin returned to the United States and did her master's in Italian Studies, she decided to do her research project on the social issue. This academic inquiry led her to realizing that human trafficking was also a problem in the U.S., including in her home state of Ohio. She began volunteering at local organizations that assisted trafficking victims.