Ima Matul, Randall Roca,
and Christopher Heuertz
Founders, Mentari Human Trafficking Empowerment Program Inc.
A former New York Police Department homicide detective, an Indonesian survivor of domestic labor trafficking to the United States, and a born-and-raised Midwestern career activist were among the advocates connected to the launch of Mentari Human Trafficking Survivor Empowerment Program Inc., now MENTARI USA, a survivor- and advocate-led nonprofit offering prevention, mentorship, empowerment, support, art-for-healing, career and job-readiness, and related services for survivors of gender-based violence, exploitation, and human trafficking. Randall Roca now serves as Vice President and Ima Matul as Treasurer and Survivor Leader of MENTARI, and Christopher Heuertz is a former collaborator and anti-trafficking activist.
“Through our work in Mentari, we have come across a lot of people who want to give themselves for the fight for freedom—but we know that if you want to join this cause then fighting for freedom will inevitably cost some of your own freedoms. There is a price and in the world we live, sadly freedom isn’t free. But we press into hope, allowing that to fuel our imagination for a better world for all.”