After Six Years, Catherine Chen Decides to Step Down as Polaris’s CEO

After six years in executive leadership, Catherine Chen has announced her intention to step down as CEO. The Polaris Board of Directors has appointed Jen Jinks and Taskeen Hamidullah-Bahl as interim co-CEOs to lead the organization while it undertakes a search for the next leader of Polaris.  

Catherine joined Polaris as a Chief Program Officer in 2018. In 2020, the Polaris Board of Directors appointed her CEO after a nationwide search. As a long time leader in the fight against human trafficking and an early advocate of centering survivors in the work, Catherine brought her deep expertise in innovative anti-trafficking programs to the organization, leading the way on new programs and projects like the National Survivor Study, the Polaris Resilience Fund, the Financial Intelligence Unit, and Polaris’s migrant worker communication platform, Nonechka. 

“This has been a difficult decision. After six life-changing years at Polaris and twenty-five years in the anti-trafficking movement, it is time for me to rest and make room for new and different ways to take up our collective fight for justice and equity. Polaris is in excellent hands with Jen and Taskeen. I have worked alongside them every day, and they are very skilled leaders with integrity, commitment, and passion,” said Chen.

She added, “I am forever grateful for our incredibly talented and dedicated team. I have always believed in the work of Polaris to advance real solutions to what victims and survivors need and I am so proud of the work we have done together. Thank you also to the members of the Polaris Board of Directors, our many partners across the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and around the world, and our many supporters and allies. Most importantly, thank you to the many survivor leaders I was privileged to work with who continued to teach me and challenge me every day.”

Starting in January, Polaris will start a nationwide search for a new CEO.