Indian-American Minal Patel Davis has been honoured with a Presidential award by US secretary of state Mike Pompeo for her work toward preventing human trafficking in Houston.
Davis is a special advisor on human trafficking to Houston mayor Sylvester Turner and she received the honour in the White House last week at a ceremony that was attended by President Donald Trump.
"It was unbelievable," said Davis after winning the award, the country's highest honour in the field, reported Press Trust of India. "My parents came here from India. I was the first one in my family born in the United States, so to end up in the Mayor's office a few years ago, and then to now end up in the White House, it was unbelievable," she said.
Davis was appointed as a special advisor on human trafficking in July 2015 and she has helped combat human trafficking from a policy-level perspective and by helping in advancing systems change.
She is currently implementing Turner's Anti-Human Trafficking Strategic Plan, which is the first comprehensive municipal response to human trafficking by a US city.
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