John Nehme

President & CEO

Allies Against Slavery

After leading Allies as a volunteer for three years, John managed the organization’s transition from a grassroots movement to a nonprofit in 2014. Under his leadership, Allies has supported thousands of trafficking survivors, successfully petitioned the Austin City Council to unanimously pass a slave-free city resolution, tripled the size of the Central Texas Coalition Against Human Trafficking, and launched Lighthouse, an innovative software platform to identify victims and visualize data. John also forged a research partnership between Allies and the University of Texas, funded by the Texas Governor’s Office, and co-authored the groundbreaking study “Human Trafficking by the Numbers: The Initial Benchmark of Prevalence and Economic Impact for Texas”. He also serves as an expert witness in sex trafficking cases across Texas. John has a degree in Human and Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University, where he studied as an Ingram Scholar. He earned a Master of Political Economy from the University of Sydney in Australia as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. His cross-sector experience serving marginalized communities informs his work building solutions that protect the most vulnerable while also addressing the root-cause, systemic causes of their vulnerability. Outside of work, John is a backyard chicken farmer. He and his wife Rachel enjoy spending time outdoors with their four children and are active in Austin’s faith community.