Profiles

Operation Underground Railroad

Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) is an American non-governmental organization based in Salt Lake City, Utah, with offices in Cedar City, Utah and Anaheim, California.^[1] It is the subject of the 2023 movie, The Sound of Freedom.

History

Operation Underground Railroad was founded in 2013 by Tim Ballard, who had previously worked for the United States Department of Homeland Security for twelve years investigating crimes against children.^[2]

In October 2020, Davis County prosecutor Troy Rawlings revealed that his office was investigating Operation Underground Railroad based on complaints that the organization was taking credit for arrests made by the Davis County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.^[1:1] Among the potential charges under consideration were "communications fraud, witness tampering and retaliation against a witness, victim or informant." The investigation was officially closed March 28, 2023.^[2:1]

Organization

OUR is a sister organization to the Nazarene Fund.^[3]

Team

Name	Position	Notes
Tim Ballard	Founder and CEO^[4]	Nazarene Fund, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Deseret Book, San Diego State University, Imperial Valley Community College, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Matt Osborne	President and Chief Operating Officer;^[5] Director of Global Operations (former)^[6]	Nazarene Fund, United States Department of State, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, FOX Sports, New Friends New Life
David Lopez	Lead tactics instructor^[7]	Nazarene Fund, Zelenko Labs, International Health Brands, The Wellness Company, Integro Capital, Blackwater
Simon Brewer	Chief Financial Officer^[6:1]	Predictive Technology Group, Predictive Biotech, Brewer Initiatives
Emily Evans	Chief Communications Officer	Entertainment Industry Foundation, Rising Star Outreach, Red Bull
Nate Lewis	Chief Development Officer	Atoifilms
Jessica Mass	Chief Aftercare Officer^[6:2]	Utah Youth Village, Abilities Believe Live Empower (A.B.L.E.), The Cupcake Girls, Foster Family Care Network, University of Zambia, Trinity Chaplain College^[8]
Carlos Bauer	Treasurer^[9]^[10]	Dixie State University, Savage Esplin & Radmall, Predictive Technology Group
Jerry Gowen	Chief Experience Officer^[10:1]	Symantec, PowerQuest, Legato Systems
Alessandra Serano	Chief Legal Officer	Howrey, Office of Legal Policy, Offices of the United States Attorneys, University of San Diego School of Law, San Diego County Superior Court, Project Safe Childhood, United States District Court for the Southern District of California, Lawyers Club of San Diego, Federal Bar Association^[11]
Jeff Carter	Chief E-Commerce Officer	Predictive Biotech, Backcountry, Sundance Catalog, Mervyn's^[12]
Brad Damon	President (former)	-
Benjamin Pack	Vice President	Volo Loans, Alpine Funding Group, Altabank, Bank of England Mortgage, First Community Bank Utah
Taylor Huckstep	Vice President of Information Technology^[13]	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FranklinCovey, Freeman, Pitman Farms, Predictive Technology Group, Boy Scouts of America
Kevin Kozak	Director of Operations (former)	-
Tauni Frampton	Director of Financial Operations^[14]	Predictive Technology Group, BDO USA, Backcountry
Jonathan Lines	Chief of Operations (former)	United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), Office of Inspector General, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), doTERRA Healing Hands, Coaxion Global
Will Oborn	Customer Service Manager^[15]	Predictive Biotech, Backcountry, Kami
Craig Anderson	Board member	Uncle of Tim Ballard
Mark Blake	Board member	-
Marc Reynolds	Board member	-
Wes Mortenson	Board member	-
Stephen Fairbanks	Board member	-
Tevya Ware	Board member^[16]	Coaxion Global, Ware Animal Products
Sabine Martelly	Representative in Haiti^[17]	WatersMark, Government of Haiti, Association Fanm Kore Fanm
Candace Lierd	Volunteer^[18]	CR House & Company, Exitus
Richard Ford	Speakers Bureau volunteer^[19]	International Health Brands, Zelenko Labs, Rebel Lion, Stemwav

Partners

Organizations partnered with OUR include:

Aerial Recovery^[20]^[6:3]

Funding

OUR has received funding from:

Together 4 Them^[21]

External grants

OUR has provided grants and other financial support to, or is a client of:^[6:4]^[22]^[16:1]

31:8 Project
All God's Children
America World Adoption Association (AWAA)
American Relief Centers (ARC)
Ankura Consulting Group
Building Arizona Families
California District Attorney Investigators' Association (CDAIA)
Callister Broberg & Becker
Catch the Wave of Hope
Celebrity Branding Agency (CBA)
Child Adoption Associates
Childhelp
Children of All Nations
Children's House International
Chinese Children Adoption International (CCAI)
Defenders for Children
Dressember Foundation
Empowered to Change International
End Exploitation Montana
Exodus Cry
Families Mentoring Families
Gladney Center for Adoption
Global Centurion Foundation
Hand in Hand
Hands Across the Water
Holt International Children's Services
Human Trafficking Training Center (HTTC)
Joyful World Ministries
Legacy of Hope International
Liberandus International
Lifeline Children's Services
Love Justice International
Love Never Fails
Madison Adoption Associates
Marshall University Foundation
Mercury One
National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children
Nazarene Fund
New Hope for Children
Nomi Network
Open Door Adoption Agency
Pathfinders Justice Initiative
Playing for Change Foundation
Racing for Orphans with Down Syndrome (RODS)
Radical Empathy Education Foundation (REEF)
San Diego County Probation Officers Association
Sierra Cares Foundation
Small World Foundation
Snell & Wilmer
Social Medicine International
Switch
The Third Talk
This Mission
Todd Jordan Consulting
Uncaged
UNITAS
University of California, Irvine
Upper Peninsula Human Trafficking Task Force
Utah Attorney General ICAC Task Force[21]
Utah Tech University
Vanguard University
Wasatch International
White Mountain Research
Wide Horizons for Children
WillowBend Farms
World Links Association
Zoe Ministries

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