Gary Haugen

There exists an intensity behind the eyes of every great lawyer who knows what it takes to win.  It is that extra force of nature that quietly tells the opposition – “you can beat me or fight me, but you won’t outlast me.”  It was the first thing I noticed in Gary Haugen when we sat down in his DC office.  Gary started International Justice Mission, IJM, in 1997 after returning from his United Nations appointment to head the investigation of the Rwandan Genocide.  There is no question that he brought the credentials and experience to do the job, but he brought something else with him that palpably filled the offices and staff of IJM on the day I was there…

Friday morning at Catalyst West, and Donald Miller is interviewing Gary Haugen, President and CEO of International Justice Mission. IJM is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. I recently interviewed Lauren Johnson at the IJM headquarters in Washington, DC human trafficking.

Anyway, here at Catalyst West, Miller had just said, "What you do dictates the way people live," and then he asked Haugen what motivates him. Here's what he said:

if I don't get up and do what I do, a little girl will be forced into prostitution.