Traveling Research Assistant

Traveling Research & Art Gallery Assistants – Through Their Eyes: Exploitation in the Digital Age

Through a combination of narrative storytelling, data analysis, and educational campaigns, college students will help lead statewide education and prevention efforts focused on exploitation in the digital age and the overlapping realities of human trafficking and domestic violence. This initiative highlights how technology, social platforms, and online economies are increasingly used to groom, control, and exploit individuals — often within relationships that mirror patterns of domestic abuse, coercion, and isolation.

Elevate JABEL initiative will partner with community organizations across California to host traveling art galleries and community forums that examine how digital tools intersect with power, violence, and exploitation. These exhibits center survivor perspectives while engaging students and communities in understanding how trafficking and domestic violence are interconnected, especially for youth and vulnerable populations.

Featured Exhibits

“Gaming as a Gateway.”
This exhibit explores how traffickers and abusers use gaming platforms, live streaming, and chat-based technologies to initiate contact, groom targets, and normalize exploitation. It examines how online spaces designed for entertainment can be manipulated into tools for surveillance, coercion, and recruitment, underscoring the need for digital literacy and prevention education.

“Behind the Screen.”
This exhibit examines how video conferencing, social media, and online pornography intersect with trafficking and intimate partner violence. It highlights how digital technologies can be used to facilitate control, financial exploitation, and abuse, revealing how trafficking often overlaps with domestic violence rather than occurring as a separate crime.

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Program Benefits (Revised Funding Language)

Credit & Authorship:
Students will receive formal credit for their contributions in all materials developed through the program, including reports, exhibits, and educational resources shared with partner organizations and statewide stakeholders.

Mental Health Flexibility:
Because the subject matter can be emotionally demanding, students are encouraged to take mental health days as needed with clear communication and supportive check-ins.

Mentorship & Professional Development:
The Elevate JABEL initiative operates as a flexible, student-centered internship model. We work around academic schedules, support professional portfolio development, and welcome students at all experience levels. The program emphasizes ethical engagement, survivor-centered practice, and long-term career pathways.

Exam & Finals Flexibility:
Students are encouraged to prioritize academic commitments during exam and finals periods with flexible scheduling and recovery time.

Travel Opportunities:
Students may have opportunities to travel throughout California to support gallery installations, community forums, and outreach events, contingent upon program needs and available funding.

Stipend & Funding Availability:
A one-time stipend of up to $1,500 may be offered only if funds are available through grants, sponsorships, or donations. Stipends are not guaranteed and are dependent on program funding. Participation in the program does not create any promise of compensation, and all stipends and travel support will cease if allocated funds are exhausted.

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Recommendations from previous student interns available upon request 

(We are lowkey the favorite internship host amongst many students in various colleges).