Shelia Simpkins is the Director of Residential Services at Thistle Farms, a nonprofit social enterprise dedicated to helping women survivors recover and heal from trafficking, prostitution, and addiction. Her past trafficking experiences are the driving force behind her desire to help others who have experienced trafficking. She sits on the Human Trafficking Advisory Council for the State of Tennessee, and she is a survivor advocate for Grace Empowered, a court-ordered prostitution intervention program operated by the Nashville-Davidson County Office of the District Attorney General. In addition, Shelia completed the Human Trafficking Leadership Academy fellowship program in 2018. She has an MSW from the University of Tennessee–Knoxville with a concentration in Organizational Leadership.