Jenny Williamson
Founder & CE, Courage Worldwide
Jenny Williamson is the Founder and CEO of Courage Worldwide, an international, non-profit organization that builds safe houses for children rescued from child sex trafficking.
Through personal passion and professional leadership, Jenny and a team of committed volunteers worked to open two residential treatment homes in 2011 for recovered female victims of this crime; one in Northern California and one in Tanzania, Africa. With this first-hand knowledge and experience of these victim’s unique needs, Jenny has had the opportunity to be a voice for these vulnerable ones, influencing local and national policy.
With Jenny’s business background, the non-profit organization she founded also created a café concept to provide incremental funding for the residential treatment homes. These cafes are called Courage Café. In addition, Courage Worldwide distributes their own coffee under the brand name Courage Coffee.
Jenny and the team at Courage Worldwide have spearheaded hundreds of community anti-trafficking campaigns/training across the globe - speaking to tens of thousands of individuals, faith based organizations, as well as business and government leaders - ensuring this crime and the needs of the victims it impacts become a community priority.
Jenny is a much sought after speaker on the issue of child sex trafficking and has testified at a Congressional Hearing about the organization’s work in victim restoration. She has appeared on numerous news and radio shows as well as in various print media to highlight her work. Courage Worldwide and Jenny were also featured in documentary on sex trafficking here in the U.S. titled “In Plain Sight”.
For her leadership, impact and efforts in the community, Jenny has been recognized nationally, receiving awards which include, the prestigious FBI Director's Community Leadership Award, and the prestigious L’Oréal of Paris, Women of Worth Award. Because of her leadership and expertise in the field of human trafficking, Jenny was invited to be part of the California Attorney General's Working Group as well as Shared Hope International's Practitioners Working Group as well as being recognized by Former President George H.W. Bush as a Point of Light Honoree. The issue of child sex trafficking is not just professional to Jenny, as her family adopted two young women who have had a history of trafficking as well as being “mom” to over a hundred children who are now thriving young women. Jenny and her husband also became certified as foster parents.
Jenny is married to Michael and Mom to Austin, Michael-Dean and Ben and most recently became a grandmother to Bodhi.