Celebrating a Legacy: Paving a Path to Healing for the Past, Present and Future
By Margie Quin, CEO
This year, State Senator Dawn White sponsored a proclamation honoring the enduring work of End Slavery Tennessee’s (ESTN) founder, Derri Smith. The Governor signed the proclamation, and it was presented to Derri during our Advocacy Edition of the Human Trafficking at Home webinar on April 24. The General Assembly took note of her accomplishments, successes and captured her spirit of service.
Looking back at Derri’s many accomplishments allows reflection. Without Derri’s tenacity and love of service, ESTN would not now flourish and be the single point of contact for human trafficking referrals in Middle Tennessee. Derri founded ESTN on principles of faith and service and to these things she remained committed. To create, to inspire, to sustain will be lasting impacts of Derri’s work in Tennessee. Simply put, she saved lives and changed hearts and minds, and there can be no greater legacy than that.
In 2022, ESTN will celebrate its 10th birthday as a robust agency delivering training, advocacy, aftercare and prevention work across 40 plus counties in Middle Tennessee. Celebrating this major anniversary would not be possible without Derri Smith.
Check out her full story featured on ESTN’s podcast, Someone Like Me, in bonus episode 014 and hear more about her life’s work and incredible legacy she built to make monumental strides again human trafficking in our communities. Thank you, Derri Smith, for paving the way to healing for survivors of the past, present and future.
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 200
By White
A RESOLUTION to recognize Derri Smith on the occasion of her retirement.
WHEREAS, it is appropriate that the members of this General Assembly should honor those citizens who have performed with uncommon devotion and enthusiasm throughout their years of public service ; and
WHEREAS, Derri Smith is one such estimable person who has served with distinction as the founder and chief executive officer of End Slavery Tennessee and recently announced her retirement; and
WHEREAS, a graduate of Abilene Christian College with a bachelor's degree in education, Ms. Smith began her professional career as a classroom teacher in Dayton, Ohio, in the 1970s and 1980s; and
WHEREAS, in 1984, she began a ten-year tenure as an international refugee worker, serving refugees in Austria from communist Eastern Europe with a team of multi-national leaders; and
WHEREAS, Derri Smith served as the director of End Slavery Ministries for two years before founding End Slavery Tennessee, having felt called to establish an agency to provide services to local victims; and
WHEREAS, in her new position as founder and chief executive officer of End Slavery Tennessee, she co-founded the Tennessee Anti-Slavery Alliance; in November 2017, she testified at a U.S. Congressional hearing that essentially led to the shutdown of Backpage.com; and
WHEREAS, no stranger to awards and accolades, Derri Smith was named Most Admired CEO and a Woman of Influence by the Nashville Business Journal in 2018, received the Trafficking in America Service Award in 2012 and the Tennessee Human Rights Commission's Outstanding Service Award in 2016, and was a speaker at TEDx Nashville in 2015; and
WHEREAS, Derri Smith exemplifies the spirit and allegiance to family and community that are characteristic of a true Tennessean; and
WHEREAS, throughout her estimable career, Derri Smith has demonstrated the utmost professionalism, ability, and integrity, winning the unbridled respect and admiration of her colleagues; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING, that we extend to Derri Smith our heartfelt wishes for a happy and fulfilling retirement and every continued success in her future endeavors.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that an appropriate copy of this resolution be prepared for presentation with this final clause omitted from such copy and upon proper request made to the appropriate clerk, the language appearing immediately following the State seal appear without House or Senate designation.