Mary Francis Bowley

Mary Francis Bowley

Mary Frances Bowley is the founder and president of Wellspring Living, the largest resident treatment and advocacy organization for Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) survivors.

A former kindergarten teacher, Mary connected with teachers, housewives and community advocates to rescue, renew and restore survivors of sexual exploitation. Collectively, they were catalysts for change by recognizing the need to address the issue, and to assist survivors in getting a fresh start in life.

Wellspring Living was founded in 2001 with the mission of confronting “the issues of childhood sexual abuse and exploitation through awareness training and treatment programs for women and girls.” They offer four restoration programs serving girls and women between the ages of 12 to 40.

In addition, Wellspring Living has opened four retail stores in Atlanta, Peachtree City and Duluth as a source of revenue to keep the programs running and engaging the community to play a role in making a difference.

Atlanta is one of the top 14 cities for sex trafficking in 2005 according to the FBI. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation Human Trafficking Unit reported that approximately 300 to 500 girls as young as 12 are commercially sexually exploited in the state, and more than 7,000 men pay for sex each month with adolescent females.

“Atlanta is the economic capital of the south,” Mary said. “There are so many great things going on that we’ve gone from being the city that is too busy to hate to the city too busy to notice.”

“Just like you would talk about a movie or your favorite college football team, we should bring this issue up in conversation. It could be as simple as a tweet or anecdotal conversation at work,” she hopes awareness will bring more attention to the topic. Mary believes her opportunity to speak at TEDxPeachtree is a great way to catalyze these conversations.

When she first met a trafficking survivor, Mary’s reality changed. “I had thought the world was one way and I learned that was not the reality for this girl.” Knowing that she couldn’t stay idle, she had to do something about it. Her passion in life and work carved her path to being a storyteller for these voiceless survivors.

Her motto in life is “let’s make it happen.” With determination, compassion and selfless devotion, Mary and the Wellspring Living staff and volunteers have been able to help more than 150 women in the women’s program and more than 72 girls in the girls’ program.

Wellspring Living has consulted with the United Nations regarding the duplication of the Wellspring Living Model internationally and Mary hopes to see it happen one day. Five cities are engaged in the Organizational Mentorship program and 15 cities are trained about CSEC.

Purchase your tickets to TEDxPeachtree today to hear more about Mary’s work at addressing issues of childhood sexual abuse and exploitation.

Emily Yang is the communications coordinator for Leadership DeKalb and is looking forward to her first TEDxPeachtree event on November 8.

One response to “2013 Speaker Spotlight: Mary Frances Bowley”

  1. […] Living founder Mary Frances Bowley’s emotionally charged talked brought to light the serious issue of sex trafficking in the U.S. […]

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