Founding Story

It Started With a Friendship

In 2009, Alezandra Russell traveled to Chiang Mai, Thailand on a fact-finding visit. What she found in the city's red light district exposed a truth the world had refused to look at directly.

Boys as young as 11 were present in sex bars — children experiencing sexual violence in plain sight. They were not recognized as survivors. They had no access to services, no pathway to protection, no place in the systems built to uphold the rights of children. Their suffering was not invisible because it was unclear. It was invisible because the global response to trafficking had been built as though they did not exist.

During outreach, Alezandra met a boy named Oi. Across a language barrier, they found connection — through soccer, through games of Connect Four, through the simple, radical act of showing up for each other. In that friendship, Alezandra recognized what was actually needed: not charity, not rescue, but accompaniment — sustained, dignity-affirming presence that honored Oi's right to be seen, heard, and supported on his own terms.

She returned to Washington, D.C. She left her job. She sold her engagement and wedding rings. She went back to Chiang Mai — not to save anyone, but to build something with the community that had been left out of the conversation entirely.

That was Urban Light.

GROWTH

Built by a Community, Led by Local Expertise

Urban Light was never built from the outside in. From its earliest days, Alezandra developed the organization alongside a Thai national team whose knowledge of local culture, community trust, and frontline realities shaped everything that followed. This was — and remains — a locally-led model, grounded in the belief that those closest to an issue hold the expertise required to address it.

Over the following decade, Urban Light built eight pillars of holistic, trauma-informed care; produced original field research that helped shift global understanding of male survivors; formed partnerships with international networks committed to child protection and gender equity; and earned recognition from funders and advocates around the world.

In 2017, Alezandra was forced to leave Thailand as a direct consequence of her advocacy. Urban Light did not stop. She has directed the organization remotely ever since — a testament not to her individual resilience alone, but to the strength, expertise, and continuity of the local team she helped build.

WHO LEADS TODAY

Locally Led. Globally Connected.

Urban Light's day-to-day leadership rests with in-country Directors P'Paan and P'Tu, whose decades of frontline expertise, deep community relationships, and unwavering commitment to the individuals we serve have kept this organization running without interruption — through political pressure, a pandemic, and constant change. Their leadership is not a workaround. It is the model.

Alezandra Russell continues as Founder and Executive Director, guiding strategy, funding, partnerships, and global advocacy from abroad. A dedicated Thailand Board and International Board provide governance and ensure Urban Light remains accountable to the rights-based, survivor-centered, equity-driven principles at the foundation of its work.