Rod serves as the Chief Accountability Officer & Justice Initiative Director for Grace Farms Foundation. In this role, he is responsible for all programs aligned with the mission to end modern day slavery, gender-based violence, and environmental crimes, through effective policy, training, and advocacy. Rod is also part of the Design for Freedom Working Group, which aims to build awareness of forced labor in the architecture and global construction industry and establish auditing standards in the procurement of construction material. Rod is also responsible for assessing and executing the risk program.
Throughout his career in federal law enforcement, Rod has developed an expertise in investigating and helping to prosecute international organized crimes, including international and domestic human trafficking, child exploitation, export violations, narcotics, terrorism, complex financial crimes, money laundering, international weapons trafficking, intellectual property, export, and immigration.
Rod’s law enforcement background has been essential to his work at Grace Farms, particularly as it pertains to the Foundation’s efforts to provide imperative career education and training to international, federal, state, and local law enforcement. Rod maintains oversight of all elements related to the development and deployment of a range of law enforcement curriculums spanning: trauma-informed policing, crisis intervention, de-escalation, and investigating human trafficking and environmental crimes. This work has included international trainings conducted in Africa, Asia, and Europe to enhance capacity of law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and social service providers, and to strengthen networks for investigative collaboration. Past and current partners include Interpol, UNODC, UNDP, State Department, Department of Homeland Security, Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF), USAID, ENACT, and other non-governmental organizations. Rod has also been successful in establishing agreements between Grace Farms Foundation, intergovernmental agencies, and non-governmental organizations, seeking to foster cross-sector alliances with other organizations committed to disrupting human trafficking, forced labor, and environmental crimes.
Rod’s was previously in charge of the New Haven, Connecticut office with the Department of Homeland Security. In that role, he supervised Special Agents, Task Force Officers, and Research Analysts in pursuing indictments, arrests, and convictions of criminal violators, executions of controlled deliveries of narcotics, smuggled items such as weapons and cultural property enforcement / interdiction of all other criminal violations encompassed by federal statutory authorities. Rod led and supervised a team of federal agents and forensic interviewers to investigate human trafficking and child exploitation offenses in the United States, Haiti, Nicaragua, and South Africa. These international criminal investigations were successfully conducted and permitted the prosecution of offenders in federal court in Florida, New York, and Connecticut. Over his nearly 20 year career as a federal agent, Rod has received numerous awards, including the Medal of Valor for his heroic actions during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. His work at Grace Farms Foundation has also led to a number of recent awards and recognition, including:
- November 2020 | Recognized by Homeland Security Investigations’ Global Trade Investigations Division for contributions to protecting intellectual property and the health and safety of consumers in the global supply chain.
- October 2020 | Selected by the City of Houston to participate as a member of their 2026 Human Rights Impact of the World Cup Bid Committee.
- March 2020 | Recognized by Homeland Security Investigations, New York for invaluable assistance and support for law enforcement training.
