About Us

Rachel Sparks-Graeser

Rachel grew up around film, understanding the impact it has on our culture, through the influence of her father, Jeff Sparks, President of Heartland Truly Moving Pictures. Graduating Magna Cum Laude in Business Administration and Adolescent Ministry from Indiana Wesleyan University in 2006, she moved to New York City to work with children, never imagining film or non-profit work in her future. During that time, her life forever changed when she heard that children were being sold into prostitution all over the world. No longer content to live as she had been, she began wrestling with how to get involved. The result: The SOLD Project.

Rachel Carey

Having grown up in a family passionate about issues of social justice it was no surprise when she dedicated her life to advocating for sexually exploited women and children. Having graduated from Westmont College in 2005 with a Bachelors in Business and Marketing, she worked in youth ministry before heading back to school at Fuller Seminary to pursue a Masters in Intercultural Studies with a concentration in Children at Risk. It was during this time that she heard of the issue of child sex trafficking and knew that something had to be done. Her masters thesis brought her to India and South Africa, where she spent three months hearing the stories of children who had been trafficked, and meeting with organizations doing on the ground work for prevention, rescue and rehabilitation. She came on board with The SOLD Project in 2008 to serve as their executive director. 

Heather Colletto

While working with a non-profit in Eastern Europe, Heather stumbled across the issue of sexual exploitation during some research.  She was determined to find a way to become a part of the solution, but wasn't sure how her English degree and love for writing could help, so she volunteered full-time with several organizations to learn more, including an internship with SOLD in 2009.  She visited Thailand with SOLD's Vision Trip in 2010 and was thrilled to discover that her skills as a writer could be used to fight for at-risk children by being their voice and sharing their stories.  Heather graduated from Rutgers University in 2008 with a BA in English.  She is a native of Omaha, NE but usually tells people she's "from" her home-away-from-home, Philadelphia, so they won't ask her about milking cows and John Deere tractors.

Michael Colletto

Michael is passionate about telling worthy stories well. A graduate of Cedarville University with a BA in Comprehensive Communications and a background as a copywriter and editor, he first became truly aware of the issue of human trafficking and child exploitation while living and working for a nonprofit in Europe. With a desire to become part of the solution but no real idea where his skills could be used, Michael learned of SOLD's work through his wife's research and began sponsoring a child's education through their scholarship program. While on SOLD's Vision Trip to Thailand in January 2010, he quickly realized he'd found a cause and an organization where his skills and passions aligned. After seeing the need and meeting the kids, there was no going back. Michael grew up in the greater Philadelphia area.

Michael Manes

Michael loves people and short sentences.  He loves coffee and the art of storytelling.  He loves verbs.  He loves trees.  He loves writing personal bios in the third person.

Michael graduated from Baylor University in 2000 with a BBA in Marketing.  Upon graduation, Michael began working with a faith based non-profit organization called Young Life.  After a three year journey with Young Life, he took a job with a company in the Dallas area, where he grew up.

Michael first heard about The Sold Project in 2008 through mutual friends and subsequently traveled to Thailand with the Sold Project in 2009, where fell in love with the mission of SOLD and the people of Thailand.  He came on as SOLD's Director of Development in the spring of 2010.

Michael currently offices in Dallas, TX  He is still waiting to use his college degree.

Tawee Donchai

My name is Tawee Donchai. I am 30 years old and currently live in Chiang Mai, Thailand. My bachelor degree is in Chemistry at Mae Jo University, and I completed graduate studies in Biochemistry at Chiang Mai University. Currently, I am working as a scientist in HIV research. My family lives in Chiang Rai, a small farming community in the northern mountains of Thailand. My parents passed away when I was very young, and so I was raised by my grandparents.

I have a dream to start a youth center in my hometown, and have a place for youth to go and become part of a group. I think it is important to give these children a broader view of the world, and know about the opportunities available to them, increasing their knowledge of career choices, education, preventative health practices, etc. I would also like to be able to provide scholarships for poor families to send their children to school.

I met The SOLD Project in 2007 and together we have founded The SOLD Project Scholarship fund that gives the opportunity of education to children at risk.

Nim Yonsuntonrung

In the past I worked with kids in the hostel. Before my husband became a pastor, I tried to start my own project to work with children that are orphaned. I had 12 kids living with me. I only ran that project for one year because we lacked financial support. My husband and I worked for Compassion during that time to earn our living, and we used our salaries to support the 12 children living with us. After that year, we both felt like it was too much so we took the 12 kids to various hostels nearby and worked with the families to continue to care for the children. I continued to work with Compassion while my husband graduated from Bible school to become a pastor full time. In the past, when I was working with the kids, I felt so much joy and happiness. I didn't grow up with a lot of opportunity in my life and I want to provide that to the future children of Thailand. This is why I want to work with children: to offer them opportunity and a good future and a good life. It's so important to have older mentors in young children's lives, and I feel so happy and so proud that I am able to work with SOLD and provide these opportunities to students.

Jade Keller

Having completed a PhD in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2010, Jade moved to Thailand to pursue a passion for writing and a drive to help empower those in need. Because she is half-Thai herself, Thailand and its children rest close to her heart. But it was a women’s issues reading challenge that lead to a book, that led to a conference and then an idea, that caused the stars to align and Jade to find The SOLD Project. She now lives in northern Thailand, where she has joined the SOLD team as the Freedom Project Education Manager, running workshops on various writing and professional skills geared towards giving the children the tools they need to empower themselves and encouraging them to dream big.

Prior to her doctorate, she received a Master’s in International Relations, and a BA in Art and Communication. She has over 4 years experience in teaching at the university level and two years experience in marketing. She blogs regularly at: http://jadekeller.com. When she is not doing the above, she seeks adventures, new sights, interesting people, divine cappuccinos and soft-baked chocolate chip cookies.

Blah Chermui

Having grown up in the northern hills of Chiang Rai, Thailand, Blah has become familiar with many of the issues that force children into prostitution. Blah is Akha (one of the largest hill-tribe people groups in Thailand), and for the past 10 years she has worked for another locally run foundation that provides Akha hill-tribe children with the opportunity to gain an education that they otherwise would not have. Many of these children came from broken homes, were orphaned, or came from villages in locations too remote from any Thai school. One of the biggest issues facing hill-tribe children today is the lack of Thai Citizinship (even though Thailand was their country of birth). Lack of citizinship means lack of fair wages, poverty, and is one of the most common reasons these same children end up working in prostitution as a means to support their families. Blah works with The Sold Project in Chiang Rai, Thailand to find more children in need of scholarships to study, and communicates with their families and schools. She is excited to be working alongside an organization she believes in, and one in which she can help to prevent prostituion in a very tangible way.

Shannon O'Malley

Shannon started as an intern with The SOLD Project in the summer of 2009 after graduating from the University of Arizona. At the end of the summer, she was came on board as staff working in development for SOLD stateside. In January 2010, she traveled to Myanmar and Thailand, where she was able to see this issue of child prostitution and also traveled to Thailand to see SOLD’s work first hand. It was then she decided she could not go on living her life as if this problem did not exist.

After a year with SOLD, Shannon moved to London to purse a Master’s Degree in International Relations. After a year abroad and degree in hand, her wanderlust was not quite quenched, so when there was talk about possibly coming back on board with SOLD in Thailand, she jumped at the opportunity.

Shannon has a heart for helping others, working with other organizations such as The Make-A-Wish Foundation, International Justice Mission UK, and volunteering with youth. She has a love for life, adventure, running, coffee, and good conversation.

Lynette Polinder

Lynette Polinder has been living in Chiang Rai with her husband, Rusty, since July of 2008. She is the volunteer nurse/child sponsorship director with the Thai-Akha Ministries Foundation, where many of SOLD's Akha scholarship students live. It was through this work that she saw firsthand the importance of prevention through education. Lynette became involved with The Freedom Project through her friendships with SOLD staff and is currently the Education Coordinator for our Saturday English classes. She holds a BS in Nursing from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and is currently pursuing her degree as a Nurse-Midwife from Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing.

JK Klaiber

Originally from Ohio, J K Klaiber graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2004. He first moved to Thailand in January of 2006 to teach English for a year. However, after meeting a Chiang Mai street youth and wanting to help, J K was directed to the Volunteers for Children Development Foundation. Impressed with the work VCDF was doing, J K has remained in Thailand volunteering to help pursue VCDF's goal of improving the lives of the street children of Chiang Mai and Mae Sai, Thailand.

J K met The SOLD Project in 2007 and has opened up a partnership between VCDF and SOLD.

D. Picasso Anderson

As a clinician and chaplain, he has been a talk radio co-host and conference speaker in Africa, Switzerland and Vienna. His team private practice offers counseling, coaching, mentoring and consulting.  As an American Psychology Association certified mental health clinician, he works with individuals, children and families. As an after-care provider, his expert services in Addictions Life Coaching has lead to him being referred to prospective clients by several residential treatment and celebrity detoxification facilities in Malibu and Hollywood. He heads a team of professionals that treat a wide variety of issues and services including Addiction Life Coaching and Legacy Project Consulting. He also works with college and professional athletes as a Motivational Sports Therapist. In the entertainment industry his specialty is Creative Talent Therapy. The actors he works with have found him to be an essential asset to providing a safe, healthy and nurturing support system when working with them on the set during filming. This helps actors avoid certain pitfalls. The aftermath of portraying dramatic characters is tough for many actors to transition out of once the directors say cut.  For many the characterization they portrayed takes on a life of its own three to ten months after the film wraps. The therapeutic process of Creative Talent Therapy has led to his common phrase “Healthy Film Making”. He has taught courses in psychology and religion most recently at the University of Phoenix and Pacific Oaks College.