First came college, then came engagement, then came a nonprofit start-up to end a world injustice before marriage. That’s 2010 for Maple Grove resident Andrew Hanson, and here’s to 2011.
Hanson, 32, is the CEO and founder of Men Against The Trafficking Of Others (MATTOO), an organization that educates men and leads an anti-trafficking movement across the globe. “The idea was born when I was on bed rest,” says Hanson, who had two life-threatening blood clots in his left broken ankle last spring. “That’s when I asked, ‘If I had only one year left, what would I want to do?’”
The answer was simple for Hanson, who had been trying to help existing anti-trafficking groups since 1998. But because he was a man, and many trafficking victims had only known men for their terrible deeds, Hanson says, “It was door closing [after] door closing [after] door closing.”
The stories and statistics are gut-wrenching, which is why Hanson’s national Demand Change Project at the Minnesota State Capitol this month also has a positive outlook: There are men who want human trafficking to end, and plenty of them. On May 13–14, an estimated 1,000 men will sign their names on a 20-foot-long banner, and walk to St. Paul’s Fitzgerald Theatre. Donations to MATTOO can be made at the May 14 rally, which starts at 4 p.m. and concludes with a 7 p.m. concert by Nicole C. Mullen.
