Marian Hatcher

Marian Hatcher has been with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office for 10 years. Recently promoted to Project Manager for the Sheriff’s Women’s Justice Programs, she is also the Human Trafficking Coordinator and member of the Human Trafficking Response Team. She coordinates several of CCSO’s anti-trafficking efforts, such as the “National Day of Johns Arrests,” a nationwide effort with more than 59 participating law enforcement agencies (including the FBI) targeting the buyers of sex as the driving force of sex trafficking and prostitution.

As a national expert on combating the demand for commercial sex, she has testified before the Illinois and Colorado legislatures, was featured in the OWN documentary Prostitution: Leaving the Life (which focused on her work as a survivor advocate), and most recently was in the Ink 180 Documentary. She has spoken at several conferences nationwide and consulted on training projects for Demand Abolition and Shared Hope International’s Gang TRAP series. Marian is also a member of national, survivor-led organizations, including the Survivor Leadership institute and Survivors of Prostitution-Abuse Calling for Enlightenment (SPACE) International, an International forum for survivor advocacy.

In December 2013, the FBI awarded her for outstanding assistance with their investigative efforts. In April 2014, DePaul University awarded her the Helen F. McGillicuddy Award for her work in the Advancement of Women and Gender Rights. Most recently she is a 2014 recipient of Shared Hope International’s Path Breaker Award, presented to individuals who have dedicated themselves to tackling the demand that drives domestic minor sex trafficking. Recipients represent the multi-pronged approach required to combat demand: prevention, restoration, and justice. In July 2014, her article “Ten Years and Counting” was published in Police Chief Magazine as a companion article to a piece written by her employer, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart; both pieces focused on human trafficking. Marian received her bachelor of science in finance from Loyola University in 1985. Her previous experience includes working at three major corporations.

Stephanie Zugschwert

Stephanie Zugschwert is an Assistant General Counsel for Policy for Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart’s office, working primarily on sex trafficking issues.  Stephanie received her undergraduate degree in economics from St. Olaf College and her law degree from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, MN.  Stephanie began her career as a judicial clerk for a judge in Hennepin County, MN and from there moved on to pursue her interest in public policy.  She was a Legislative Analyst in the Minnesota Senate for the Criminal Justice and Judiciary Committees.  Stephanie was then appointed Assistant Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety where she was in charge of the legislative issues for the department and the criminal justice initiatives under Governor Arne Carlson.  Most previously, before moving to Chicago three years ago, Stephanie was the Executive Director for a nonprofit statewide coalition of crime victim service providers