Martina E. Vandenberg (born c. 1968 [1]) is an American lawyer, activist, [2] and nonprofit executive. [3] She is the founder and president of the Human Trafficking Legal Center, [4] [5] [6] a nonprofit that trains pro bono lawyers to seek restitution for human trafficking victims. [7]
Vandenberg grew up in Gilroy, California. [1] She attended Pomona College, where she studied international relations and was president of the student body. [1] After graduating in 1990, she earned a masters degree in Russian/East European studies [2] from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. [4] In 1992, at the age of 24, she moved to Russia and founded the country's first rape crisis center. [2] She became a Truman Scholar in 1998, [8] and earned a J.D. from Columbia Law School. [4]
Vandenberg was a researcher for Human Rights Watch, for which she authored two reports, "Hopes Betrayed: Trafficking of Women and Girls to Post-Conflict Bosnia & Herzegovina for Forced Prostitution" and "Kosovo: Rape as a Weapon of 'Ethnic Cleansing.'"
She was also a partner at Jenner & Block LLP, where she focused on commercial litigation and investigations of companies that illegally bribed foreign governments to advance their business interests. [4]
In 2012, she founded the Human Trafficking Legal Center with support from the Open Society Foundations. [4] The center is a nonprofit that trains pro bono lawyers to seek restitution for victims of human trafficking. As of 2021 [update], she has trained more than 4000 attorneys. [4]
In 2020, she was the commencement speaker at Pomona, [8] and was awarded an honorary doctorate. [9]