Rachel Lloyd earned her BA in psychology from Marymount Manhattan College and her MA in applied urban anthropology from the City College of New York. She is the founder and executive director of GEMS, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, and has received numerous awards, including the prestigious Reebok Human Rights Award. Lloyd is an Ashoka Fellow and a Prime Mover Fellow, and she was a leading advocate for the Safe Harbor for Exploited Youth Act, which made New York the first state to protect, not prosecute, sexually exploited children. She lives in New York City.