Sandy Skelaney

Founder and Chief Mastermind of Ignition Fund
Social Entrepreneurship Bootcamp Cohort 1

Reach out to Sandy on LinkedIn

The Leader

Sandy Skelaney is a changemaker, social entrepreneur and anti-trafficking leader who spearheaded Florida's response to sexually trafficked minors with the creation of Project GOLD in Kristi House. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Florida International University teaching Sex Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery. Sandy provides training and technical assistance for organizations such as the National Criminal Justice Training Center, Shared Hope International, National Children's Advocacy Center, Florida Department of Children and Families, Traffick Free, youthSpark, Redefining Refuge and many more. Sandy has an MA from Yale University in International Relations.

Recent Wins

Awarded "Humanitarian of the Year" from National Association of Social Workers - Miami-Dade (2016)
Led the South Florida Women’s Rally Speaker Committee (2017)
Spearheaded the launch of the Florida Coalition to End Child Marriage, successfully changing marriage laws

The Bold Idea

Empowers technology and grassroots initiatives that disrupt human rights abuses and advance freedom throughout the world.

The organization

Ignition Fund is a Miami-based organization that helps launch innovative and technology-based human rights startups through an accelerator program, technical assistance, seed funding and mentoring. Ignition Fund is no longer in operation, however, Sandy continues to advocate against human trafficking and is a powerful voice for human rights in the region.