This is what Nancy Rivard wrote for Voices against Traffcking when she heard about Deborah’s passing.
“Deborah Sigmund will be dearly missed by everyone who knew her. She was a passionate
advocate in the fight against human trafficking and a beautiful human being.
Deborah brought the issue of human trafficking to Airline Ambassadors in July 2009. She shared how she and an American Airlines flight attendant, Sandi Fiorini, had helped start the Blue Lightning initiative for airlines. We were all aghast, but the following month we helped rescue a three-year-old girl in Cambodia. We had proof of this dark reality.
I invited Deborah to join our humanitarian team on a trip to the Dominican Republic. She brought excellent Human Trafficking Awareness brochures from Innocents at Risk, the
organization she founded. She also trained our whole team on what to look for in terms of potential human trafficking activities.
Because of Deb’s passion, we all promised one another to be more aware. The very team she trained ended up identifying trafficking activity on Delta Airlines and Jetblue as we departed.Later that month, the same thing happened on American and US Airways! Our second tip led to the bust of a pornography ring in Boston saving eighty six children!
Deborah helped present at two different Congressional Briefings in 2010, and basically launched Airline Ambassadors’ pioneering efforts on the issue of human trafficking. She was a key part of our training team, providing trainings in Phoenix, Tampa, Washington, DC, Arlington, and more. Her passion for the protection of women and children was infectious. Later in 2019, Deborah would join me and many other frontline advocates for victims of human trafficking andexploitation on Capitol Hill where, under a different name at that time, Voices Against Trafficking was launched. As one of the first Charter Members of Voices Against Trafficking, Deborah inspired all of us.
Beloved Deb, you will truly be missed as no one can match your unique combination of
elegance, kindness, passion, and purpose. May you fly like an eagle and inspire the angels in heaven as you have inspired all of us.”
