Presenter: KezbanYagci Sokat | Assistant Professor | San Jose State University

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Speaker Biography

Kezban Yagci Sokat is an Assistant Professor of Business Analytics at San José State University and a Research Associate at the Mineta Transportation Institute with a passion for using analytics to alleviating human suffering in the areas of public health, humanitarian logistics, and human trafficking.
In collaboration with local, national, and international efforts, Yagci Sokat leads various multi-disciplinary projects to combat human trafficking. Her efforts to combat human trafficking have been supported and recognized by government and organizations such as the United States Department of Transportation, Valley Transportation Authority and San José State University. She was selected as a 2024 Influential Leader for her extensive efforts to society. Yagci Sokat’s work has been used to inform policy and anti-trafficking efforts both nationally and internationally. Her work in transportation was utilized by the U.S. Senate to reach out to the key transportation industry stakeholders. She had the honor to train antitrafficking practitioners about many Turkish Government initiatives on supply chains, such as in Workshop on Draft National Action Plan – Labor Exploitation and Supply Chains and their United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 8.7 Pathway country.
Yagci Sokat has served on various multi-disciplinary committees to aid local and national collaborative efforts as a recognized researcher. She currently serves on United States Department of Transportation Advisory Committee on Human Trafficking Research and Data Subcommittee. She was the chair of the Forced Labor Working Group and a member of the Analytics Working Group for the National Outreach Survey for Transportation. Yagci Sokat has served on the Cook County Human Trafficking Task Force Labor Trafficking Subcommittee, Los Angeles Labor Trafficking Subcommittee, and South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking.
Yagci Sokat received her PhD in Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences from Northwestern University and holds master’s degrees from Georgia Institute of Technology with a Fulbright scholarship.

Presentation Description

Co-presenter(s)

Marisa Auguste, The Connecticut Transportation Institute

Christi Wigle, United Against Slavery

Chris Baglin, United Against Slavery

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