We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kerri Hupp. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kerri below.

Kerri, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I adopted my son from foster care in 2013. Through my foster parent licensing training, and subsequent experiences as a leader with a foster care nonprofit, I became aware of some very disturbing trends. Upwards of eighty percent of sex trafficking victims have been in foster care or group homes. And almost no resources are available for male youth recovered from sex trafficking. When my son asked ‘Who is helping the boys?’, I knew that the call was mine. As a result, the mission of Building 22 is to turn the tide for at-risk and commercially sexually exploited male youth.

Kerri, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Building 22 is a soon-to-be-formed nonprofit providing housing and rehabilitation to male youths recovered from sex trafficking. The impetus to establish Building 22 comes from a very personal attachment to the link between foster care and sex trafficking. Unfortunately, the trauma that lands children in foster care or group homes leaves them extremely vulnerable to sex traffickers. Upwards of 80% of individuals recovered from sex trafficking were in foster care or group homes during their lives. Having adopted a son from foster care and serving with a foster care nonprofit, this did not sit well with me. Very few resources are available to youth under 18, and even fewer for male youth. Our goal is to give these boys a chance to safely recover from their trauma, and live the fullest version of their lives possible.

Can you share a story of a time you’ve had to pivot (in business, career or life)?

It seems my life has been in a constant state of ‘pivot’ for the last 10 years, which is nothing short of excruciating for a chronic type-A girl! Most recently, I very suddenly and abruptly found myself without a team member I’d expected to have join me with Building 22. So, the picture of starting this venture with my friend of almost 20 years now looked VERY different. I was at a crossroads and had to ask myself a hard question. ‘Are you in, or are you out?’. The heart behind the project didn’t change, but logistics certainly had. This is only the first of probably hundreds of times I’ll need to ask myself this question about Building 22, but I’m all in, so we march on!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Lesson: Plan your work and work your plan. Okay, I’m not throwing out this notion entirely, but as a chronic over-planner, there does come a point that you simply must make the leap. This has not come easily for me. In 2018, I left my job with no safety net to join a nonprofit (for no pay), after a 20-year corporate career. In 2019, I sold my house and moved myself and my son in with a friend while I figured out the next steps. In 2020, I moved us to a new city where I started a new business. In 2022, I find myself again relocating to start my own nonprofit, which I truly believe to be my life’s work. In the absence of these leaps, I would not be here; I would not have garnered the necessary technical skills and frankly, the risk tolerance. My overplanning tendencies never would have allowed for any of this.