Meet Andrea Powell.

Meet Andrea Powell, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the local anti-trafficking non-profit, FAIR Girls, and 2012 nominee for the Diane Von Furstenberg (DVF) People’s Voice Award. Cast your vote NOW at www.dvfawards.com through February 15th to help FAIR Girls win $50,000 and continue to prevent the commercial sexual exploitation of young girls in D.C. and abroad. Plus, you can enter to win a trip to NYC and a DVF outfit!

To learn more, visit Fair Girls’ website, Twitter and Facebook pages.

1. Tell us about FAIR Girls.

FAIR Girls (formerly FAIR Fund) prevents the exploitation of girls worldwide with empowerment and education. Through prevention education, compassionate care, and survivor inclusive advocacy, FAIR Girls creates opportunities for girls to become confident, happy, healthy young women. FAIR Girls currently operates programs in Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia, Russia, Uganda, and the United States. The FAIR Girls home office in Washington, D.C. offers compassionate care to prevent the exploitation of all girls, with a special emphasis on girls who have experienced homelessness, life inside the foster care system, sexual abuse, and trafficking.

2. Fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg has just nominated you for a DVF award for inspiring women. Congrats! Who inspired you?

I think different women inspired me at different stages of my life. FAIR Girls seeks to empower girls between ages 11-21, and when I was a young girl, I was inspired by an aunt of mine who died when I was thirteen and always believed in living life to the fullest. She taught me to stand up for myself and to always give back to the community.

3. You work tirelessly. Between testifying on Capitol Hill for anti-trafficking legislation, teaching jewelry-making during FAIR Girls’ economic empowerment and therapeutic art program JewelGirls, and constantly keeping in touch with teen girls over text, what keeps you going?

What keeps me going is knowing that the work we do at FAIR Girls really makes an deep impact on the lives of the young women and girls who we serve. I’m constantly inspired by seeing their achievements, which keeps me focused and lets me know that what we’re doing is right.

4. Michelle Obama wants to kick it with you for an evening, what are y’all doing?

We would be using some of the organic vegetables from the White House Garden to create a meal together for all the girls in our D.C. JewelGirls program! I believe that Michelle Obama has a passion for not only healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle, but also for transforming the way young women and girls are looking at their bodies. This emphasis on girls’ value in their communities and focus on healthy eating and healthy relationships, all comes together under the framework of nutritious food, which we try to provide for our girls during JewelGirls workshops. And of course Ms. Obama would be rocking jewelry handmade by our JewelGirls!

5. Favorite thing about DC?

I really like the diversity and despite what are some very big challenges for local girls in the community, I think there are amazing opportunities that exist. That is what FAIR Girls focuses on: not only girls’ pasts, but the opportunities ahead for them. DC offers amazing schools and art museums, and our goal is to empower girls and young women to gain the skills they need to be able to access such opportunities.