Katia Dantas is a leading international expert on child protection in organizations targeting children and adolescents. With more than 20 years of academic and professional experience in preventing and responding to violence against vulnerable populations, Katia currently provides consultancy to working with children and adolescents interested in preventing and adequately responding to child abuse and exploitation.

For more than 12 years, Katia has worked for the International Center for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), where she has led global and regional efforts to prevent and respond to the disappearance of children and adolescents, and child abuse and exploitation, both online and offline. Katia has served as Director of the Global Educator Center for Excellence, where she has equipped youth service organizations with tools, resources and training to strengthen child protection, as well as Executive Director of Program Monitoring and Evaluation, and Director of Programs and Policies for Latin America. and the Caribbean, managing the articulation and implementation of ICMEC’s multidisciplinary program throughout the region. Before working for ICMEC,

Coming from a family of educators and fluent in three languages, Katia has also trained response teams in schools on the protection and rights of children and adolescents, and has presented at global events on the disappearance of children and adolescents, on human trafficking and on abuse and exploitation (online and offline). Katia earned her master’s degree in International Development Policy from Duke University with funding from a highly sought-after Rotary Foundation Master’s Fellowship, the Rotary World Peace Fellowship.

With an extensive network of contacts in different areas relevant to child protection, Katia brings a multidisciplinary perspective and empirical knowledge to her projects.