¶ Operation Underground Railroad
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Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) is an American non-governmental organization based in Salt Lake City, Utah, with offices in Cedar City, Utah and Anaheim, California.[1] It is the subject of the 2023 movie, The Sound of Freedom.
¶ History
Operation Underground Railroad was founded in 2013 by Tim Ballard, who had previously worked for the United States Department of Homeland Security for twelve years investigating crimes against children.[2]
In October 2020, Davis County prosecutor Troy Rawlings revealed that his office was investigating Operation Underground Railroad based on complaints that the organization was taking credit for arrests made by the Davis County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.[1:1] Among the potential charges under consideration were "communications fraud, witness tampering and retaliation against a witness, victim or informant." The investigation was officially closed March 28, 2023.[2:1]
¶ Organization
OUR is a sister organization to the Nazarene Fund.[3]
¶ Team
¶ Partners
Organizations partnered with OUR include:
¶ Funding
OUR has received funding from:
¶ External grants
OUR has provided grants and other financial support to, or is a client of:[6:4][20][16:1]
- 31:8 Project
- All God's Children
- America World Adoption Association (AWAA)
- American Relief Centers (ARC)
- Ankura Consulting Group
- Building Arizona Families
- California District Attorney Investigators' Association (CDAIA)
- Callister Broberg & Becker
- Catch the Wave of Hope
- Celebrity Branding Agency (CBA)
- Child Adoption Associates
- Childhelp
- Children of All Nations
- Children's House International
- Chinese Children Adoption International (CCAI)
- Defenders for Children
- Dressember Foundation
- Empowered to Change International
- End Exploitation Montana
- Exodus Cry
- Families Mentoring Families
- Gladney Center for Adoption
- Global Centurion Foundation
- Hand in Hand
- Hands Across the Water
- Holt International Children's Services
- Human Trafficking Training Center (HTTC)
- Joyful World Ministries
- Legacy of Hope International
- Liberandus International
- Lifeline Children's Services
- Love Justice International
- Love Never Fails
- Madison Adoption Associates
- Marshall University Foundation
- Mercury One
- National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children
- Nazarene Fund
- New Hope for Children
- Nomi Network
- Open Door Adoption Agency
- Pathfinders Justice Initiative
- Playing for Change Foundation
- Racing for Orphans with Down Syndrome (RODS)
- Radical Empathy Education Foundation (REEF)
- San Diego County Probation Officers Association
- Sierra Cares Foundation
- Small World Foundation
- Snell & Wilmer
- Social Medicine International
- Switch
- The Third Talk
- This Mission
- Todd Jordan Consulting
- Uncaged
- UNITAS
- University of California, Irvine
- Upper Peninsula Human Trafficking Task Force
- Utah Attorney General ICAC Task Force[21]
- Utah Tech University
- Vanguard University
- Wasatch International
- White Mountain Research
- Wide Horizons for Children
- WillowBend Farms
- World Links Association
- Zoe Ministries
¶ External links
¶ Further reading
- September 17, 2023: "Leading human trafficking NGO has close ties with questionable genetics company" by Liam Sturgess
Herbets, A., & Carlisle, N. (2020, October 8). Anti-human trafficking group Operation Underground Railroad under criminal investigation by Utah prosecutor. KSTU. http://archive.today/2020.10.08-164106/https://www.fox13now.com/news/fox-13-investigates/anti-human-trafficking-group-operation-underground-railroad-under-investigation-by-utah-prosecutor ↩︎ ↩︎
Tomco, B. (2023, May 12). Davis County Attorney’s Office closes investigation into Operation Underground Railroad. Deseret News. http://archive.today/2023.05.30-071321/https://www.deseret.com/utah/2023/5/12/23717081/davis-county-attorneys-office-closes-investigation-into-operation-underground-railroad ↩︎ ↩︎
FAQ’S. The Nazarene Fund. Retrieved August 31, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230831205115/https://thenazarenefund.org/faqs/ ↩︎
Experience | Tim Ballard. LinkedIn. Retrieved September 3, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.09.03-022516/https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-ballard-1a305ab2/details/experience/ ↩︎
Experience | Matt Osborne. LinkedIn. Retrieved September 3, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.09.03-183032/https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-osborne-a411435/details/experience/ ↩︎
Operation Underground Railroad Inc, Full Filing - Nonprofit Explorer. (2022, September 29). ProPublica. https://web.archive.org/web/20230831054532/https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/463614979/202202729349301610/full ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
The Jimmy Rex Show. (2020, January 14). #182 - Dave Lopez - Former Navy Seal & Current Developer of a Resort Island in Haiti Discusses Men, Masculinity, & Finding Meaning. Spreaker. http://archive.today/2023.08.30-050222/https://www.spreaker.com/user/thejimmyrexshow/zoom0004-tr1_5 ↩︎
Experience | Jessica Mass. LinkedIn. Retrieved September 4, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.09.04-051642/https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-mass-a33b5258/details/experience/ ↩︎
Carlos Bauer. LinkedIn. Retrieved September 2, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.09.03-020236/https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlos-bauer-cpa-097b5340/ ↩︎
Bauer, C. (2023, May 15). Operation Underground Railroad Inc, Full Filing - Nonprofit Explorer. ProPublica. http://archive.today/2023.09.01-054050/https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/463614979/202331359349318093/full ↩︎ ↩︎
Biography - Alessandra Serano. University of San Diego. Retrieved September 3, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230903171927/https://www.sandiego.edu/law/faculty/biography.php?profile_id=7781 ↩︎
Jeff Carter. LinkedIn. Retrieved September 3, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.09.03-182049/https://www.linkedin.com/in/carter-jeffrey-layne/ ↩︎
Experience | Taylor Huckstep. LinkedIn. Retrieved September 12, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.09.12-215150/https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorhuckstep/details/experience/ ↩︎
Tauni Frampton. LinkedIn. Retrieved September 14, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.09.14-204625/https://www.linkedin.com/in/tauni-frampton-1389224b/ ↩︎
Experience | Will Oborn. LinkedIn. Retrieved September 14, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.09.14-211510/https://www.linkedin.com/in/willoborn/details/experience/ ↩︎
Bauer, C. (2021, October 4). Operation Underground Railroad Inc, Full Filing - Nonprofit Explorer. ProPublica. http://archive.today/2023.09.03-001257/https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/463614979/202102779349301420/full ↩︎ ↩︎
Volunteering | Richard Ford. LinkedIn. Retrieved November 26, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.11.26-193057/https://www.linkedin.com/in/richbrazil/details/volunteering-experiences/ ↩︎
Our Partners. Aerial Recovery. Retrieved August 31, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230831210006/https://aerialrecovery.org/our-partners/ ↩︎
Together For Them Inc — 2021 990PF. Instrumentl. Retrieved August 31, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.08.31-024247/https://irs-efile-renderer.instrumentl.com/render?object_id=202233189349104433 ↩︎
Bauer, C. (2023, May 15). Operation Underground Railroad Inc, Full Filing - Nonprofit Explorer. ProPublica. http://archive.today/2023.09.01-054050/https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/463614979/202331359349318093/full ↩︎
Hartman, T. (2021, October 22). Claims of Utah group’s involvement in child exploitation investigations under scrutiny. Standard-Examiner. http://archive.today/2023.09.03-170737/https://www.standard.net/police-fire/2021/oct/22/claims-of-utah-groups-involvement-in-child-exploitation-investigations-under-scrutiny/ ↩︎