Megan Lundstrom is a nationally recognized expert on human trafficking, data-driven systems reform, and survivor-led policy and program design. As Chief Executive Officer of Polaris, she leads national strategy, operations, and partnerships that integrate advocacy, research, and technology to prevent and disrupt trafficking. Her leadership has reinforced Polaris’s role as a collaborative, survivor-led thought partner advancing intelligence, coordination, and field stewardship.
Grounded in lived experience, Ms. Lundstrom has shaped how industries understand and address trafficking across the U.S. economy. She first came to national attention in Boom: Exploring the Social Impact on Oil Boom Communities (iEmpathize, 2015), where she detailed her experience being trafficked in North Dakota’s oil fields and exposed the intersection of resource extraction, transportation, and exploitation. Her later contribution to projects such as Polaris’s On-Ramps, Intersections, and Exit Routes (2018) expanded these insights into a survivor-informed framework that now guides prevention strategies across corporate, transportation, and financial sectors.
Her work bridges survivor advocacy with systems-level reform. She has led federally supported research with the National Institute of Justice, is an alum of the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance leadership academy, has served as a governor-appointed councilmember for Colorado’s anti-trafficking efforts, and serves as a Network Consultant to the U.S. Department of State. She has collaborated on projects across government agencies, the private sector, and nongovernmental organizations to develop tools and guidance that help professionals identify and respond to trafficking.
Ms. Lundstrom’s testimony, analysis, and publications have informed criminal and civil prosecutions, congressional hearings, legislation, operational practice, and national partnerships addressing labor and sex trafficking. Her academic background includes an M.A. in Applied Sociology and a B.S. in Business Finance from the University of Northern Colorado, where she was selected for the competitive Student and Foundation Fund (SAFF) program managing a $30 million endowment. She integrates research, policy, and lived experience to translate complex data and survivor insight into actionable recommendations for government, industry, and the broader anti-trafficking field.