Donna Hubbard

Executive Director, Woman at the Well Transition Center

Donna Hubbard is the firstborn child of Community Arts Activist Nayo Watkins and US Army Veteran Charles “Charlie” Hubbard. She became a wife and a mother the year she turned 16 years old. After being gang raped her life became a series of abandonment, abuse, addiction, organized crime, exploitation, and violence. Donna experienced trafficking firsthand for 7 years. After her release in 1993 she founded Woman at the Well Transition Center: “Our Mission is to assist incarcerated, formerly incarcerated women and women and girls impacted by the criminal justice system and human trafficking, to regain their lives, their families and their dignity. Under her direction WATWTC has provided services and training to 10000+ women and girls. She has served as Director of Human Trafficking Awareness for Airline Ambassadors International since 2015. Bishop Hubbard is a staunch Anti-human trafficking advocate and reentry consultant to county, city, state, national and international government and non-governmental agencies including, City of Atlanta, State of Georgia, Fulton County Community Court, Department of Juvenile Justice, Georgia Department of Corrections, ICAO, IATA and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. She was recently invited to membership in Global Initiatives Network, INTERPOL HTEG and is recognized as a Global Survivor Leader. She has facilitated 200+ Human Trafficking Awareness Trainings to law enforcement, public health professionals, aviation employees, faith and community leaders. Donna has worked for commercial, regional and private aviation companies. In 2022 Ms. Hubbard was invited for the third time to the United Nations General Assembly. January in Salt Lake City, Utah the Attorneys General Alliance recognized Woman At The Well Transition Center, under Donna’s guidance the SWORD AND SHIELD AWARD for outstanding work to combat human trafficking and organized crime.

Bishop Hubbard received her education and certification as a Fire Fighter from the University of West Virginia, her AA in Theater Arts from Santa Monica College and earned her BA in Biblical Studies, an MS in Christian Counseling, and is currently preparing to present for her doctorate in Women’s Studies. Donna is a member of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women and is employed as a Flight Attendant at American Airlines. She is a Certified Human Trafficking Awareness Trainer and has facilitated trainings in the US, Hungary, Romania, Latvia, Iceland, Canada, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Kenya, and Columbia. Donna’s proudest of her role as mother of 7 daughters, one son, 12 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. Bishop Hubbard celebrates 27 years of ministry in 2022.

Human Trafficking

When money is the motivating factor in any conversation, we lose the human and humane perspective. No matter how complex the aircraft or how modern and futuristic, human trafficking is a criminal enterprise that feeds off the presumption people are desensitized to the trauma of others, people are too busy navigating the fog of their own lives to see the storms of others and its easier to look away than to take a second look.

Cabin crew members are trained to be situationally aware in order to respond to critical incidents. But how do we train crew members to address the subliminal messages of those whose foundation is based on a human collective of subversive individuals: they distract to control what others do and what others see. Traffickers are training on how to distort the cognitive processes so crew members become unsure of what we see and how to respond. But the bottom line is that when an individual is being transported by air against their will or under false pretenses a cabin safety issue is created, and traffickers will act and react to protect their investment because money is the motivating factor.

In training we watch videos and documentaries that highlight scenarios to help crew prepare how to respond with the tools and resources available. It is equally important to introduce realistic and authentic examples and experiences of human trafficking survivors to learn how to recognize and report suspected human trafficking and expose criminal enterprise. Only then can we expect cabin crew to feel informed and empowered when identifying suspected trafficking incidents. Only then can we expect to decrease the numbers of victims exploited and increase the numbers of criminal enterprises exposed.