The Unit: Lessons on Living & Dying

PEGGY CALLAHAN’S sense of fairness has propelled her work as a television journalist and anti-slavery activist. She co-founded Free the Slaves, one of the leading anti-slavery organizations on the planet, and set about using her television skills to build a movement in a world where people believed Abraham Lincoln had already ended slavery. Free the Slaves works in 600 communities, across seven continents, and has been instrumental in getting four acts of congress passed to fight slavery.

Peggy lives with her family in Los Angeles but has spent much of the last 11 years on the road documenting slavery on five continents. As one part of her work, she created the world’s largest film library on modern-day slavery that is shared with media, free of charge to help spread the word, and executive produced 28 films on modern-day slavery. Three major television networks are engaged in campaigns to help end slavery. Free the Slaves is involved with all of them.

Hundreds of millions of viewers have seen Peggy’s work around the globe. Her documentaries on slavery have been translated into Chinese, Hindi, Greek and Spanish. Peggy oversaw spreading the word of Free the Slaves’ strategic, holistic approach to ending slavery through an award-winning website, celebrity outreach, message products and served as writer and editor for the book, Slavery.

In 2008, Peggy created and produced the first Freedom Awards. The awards are part of a bigger, international strategy to end slavery and celebrate modern day heroes of the anti-slavery movement. The awards have been covered by 150 media outlets, broadcast to 85 million people in the United States and west Africa, and leveraged $2.1 million for the winners.

As a television reporter, documentarian and show producer, Peggy specialized in social justice issues. She did projects on homelessness, racism, foster care and the death penalty. Her work has been recognized with more than a dozen major awards.