Sisterhood Spotlight

What skills and qualities do you believe are essential to succeed in the FBI, and how can young people wanting to enter this field develop these attributes?

Great question. I think the number one thing that is especially important in the FBI, but also really any career path you choose, is to be a person of integrity, to be brave. We face challenges every single day that test and gauge us to do the right thing, even when someone isn’t looking. It’s not always popular or easy to do that. It’s hard to stay true to yourself and not cave to what society tells you is acceptable, the whole “everyone’s doing it so you should, too” mentality. But in the end, you want to be able to look at yourself in the mirror at night and be proud of the reflection you see. Doing the wrong thing can often come back to haunt you, but you’ll never regret doing the right thing.

You also have to be resilient. It’s easy to become a cynic when you see so many ugly things happening in the world, things that go against your morals and values, but it’s important to remind yourself that you can always be a light to counter all the darkness. The job is stressful, no doubt. It’s not one of those jobs that you can just clock out at the end of the day and not take any of it home with you. It’s heavy. I think about our investigations A LOT. Sometimes they keep me up at night. But at the end of the day, I love this country, I want to do my part to make it better, and I feel blessed God opened this door for me. I know I’m exactly where I need to be.

Regarding your question about advice I’d give to young people, I mentor lots of high school and college students who want to join the FBI. I also do speaking engagements at various schools in the area, either topic centric on issues facing youth like sextortion, or just for Career Expos, and I try to make myself available to talk to students afterwards and provide my contact information if they have any other questions about a career with the FBI. The biggest thing I stress is to stay out of trouble. Drugs aren’t cool. Choose your friend circle wisely because you will become like them, whether you realize it or not. Surround yourself with people who pour goodness into you, who make you want to be better, who inspire you, who aren’t afraid to stay true to themselves. Be kind to one another, be a team player, recognize we all have different gifts, and when we work together, we’re this incredible force multiplier. I tell students every decision you make will have a consequence, positive or negative, like throwing a stone into a body of water and watching the ripples move from it. No one is perfect, and we all make mistakes, but we should always try to grow from our mistakes and do better the next time.

Can you share a defining moment in your career at the FBI that solidified your passion for this line of work and reinforced your commitment to making a difference?

My passion to fight human trafficking began long before my career with the FBI. Like most of us, I’d seen the movie “Taken,” but of course I didn’t really know much about trafficking or understand just how deeply permeated and prevalent it is in our world today. It wasn’t until I moved to Italy in 2009 that I encountered the Italian mafia and the women they trafficked from Eastern Europe on my very front steps. I remember feeling anger when I watched the girls lean into car windows and talk to potential customers that had pulled off to the side of the road right outside my little second-story apartment. While these women appeared hardened and cavalier, I didn’t understand that they were being exploited and were likely working under fear of violence or retaliation if they didn’t comply with what the traffickers wanted. Had I known then what I know now, I think I would have responded differently. I spent much of my Master’s studying countries’ legal obligations to fight trafficking, and then after I graduated and moved to D.C., I joined task forces and non-profit groups that sought to fight trafficking. Ultimately, I’m really grateful for my family, teachers, and friends along the way who believed in me and encouraged me and told me I could do anything I put my mind to, and I’m grateful God gave me the gifts He did to bring me to where I am today.

Since I’ve been with the FBI, one of the things that impacts me the most in my role is when I get to talk to students about the threats facing them. The FBI’s number one mission is to protect the American people, to protect our nation’s children from harm. I take that mission very seriously. I feel like I’m a fierce mama bear with lots of cubs when I get to interact with these kids. Most recently through COVID and everything shifting to virtual platforms, sextortion has become a major problem. When I’m up there talking to the students, I can see them really soaking in what I’m saying, and I hate that it scares them, but sadly, they need to be scared. There are a lot of bad people out there, and if I can protect these kids and make them think twice before clicking “send” on a photo or encourage them to educate their friends and family on sextortion, then that makes me really happy because you’re seeing actual, tangible results from your work; you’re seeing that priceless impact. It’s a positive ripple effect that is truly making a difference.

In your efforts to combat human trafficking, how has the fentanyl crisis influenced the challenges and progress in addressing these issues?

When I moved to Roanoke, I quickly realized human trafficking looked quite different from how it appeared in other cities, especially port cities or cities on the southwest border. The opioid epidemic in this part of the state fuels the crime, and victims here are sometimes the girls you grew up with, your neighbors even. Traffickers might sit outside a methadone clinic waiting for recovering addicts to come out and get them hooked all over again. Addiction ensures compliance, and no one knows how to exploit this better than traffickers. I’d never seen anything like that before. Thus, I started the Southwest Virginia Trafficking Collaborative in 2020 with a group of women from multiple different agencies and have kept it running for four years now. It’s comprised of local, state, and federal law enforcement, non-profits, and the medical community from the Roanoke Valley and Lynchburg territories, essentially running along the I-81 corridor. The Collaborative meets quarterly and provides valuable training to members on trafficking and crimes against children with useful resources they can take back and implement within their own agencies and organizations. I wanted to set up this group to connect and train these various sectors on what human trafficking looked like here in Southwest Virginia, and I wanted a platform for our partners to be able to help one another with investigations and get survivors the resources they need. And through it, investigations have been jointly opened and worked amongst agencies. I’m really proud of what the Collaborative has been able to achieve.

Can you share your insights on the FBI's efforts to combat human trafficking, and what resources or training programs would you recommend for those interested in contributing to this critical fight?

On a national level, there have been some really landmark trafficking cases. These days, it isn’t just the traffickers who are being held accountable. It’s also those who run hotels and knew what was happening on their property and either facilitated it or looked the other way and didn’t notify law enforcement. There are some real consequences to complicity, and I’m grateful to see legislation being enforced to attack the threat from all angles. While most of the trainings I partake in are law enforcement sensitive, there are some great resources on fbi.gov, to include a podcast called “Inside the FBI: Combating Human Trafficking.” You can read about the various task forces and initiatives operating around the country, like the Innocence Lost National Initiative FBI works in conjunction with the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. You can also learn more about federal legislation being implemented, like the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as well as find press releases on current, real-time human trafficking investigations.

About Starla Mills