Andrew Kroeger joins Dr. Sandie Morgan as the two discuss how anyone can find their unique role in fighting human trafficking without changing careers, using the metaphor of grabbing a handle on an ancient Greek pithari jar.

Andrew Kroeger

Andrew Kroeger is a podcast producer with over a decade of experience and a proud Vanguard alum. Before podcasting, he worked in book publishing as an editor and spent years as a live sound engineer. He’s also passionate about global missions, having spent many summers living in Romania, doing outreach work for the past eight years. Andrew has been the invisible force behind this podcast, editing every episode, managing the website, and ensuring content reaches listeners in over 170 countries. What’s fascinating is how Andrew never set out to work in anti-human trafficking – this opportunity came to him through his existing skills and connections.

Key Points

• Andrew’s journey into anti-trafficking work began as a Vanguard student doing live sound for events, which led to connections that eventually brought him to podcast production work eight years later.


• The pithari metaphor illustrates how fighting human trafficking requires many people finding their unique “handle” – you don’t need to carry the entire burden alone, just find where your skills fit.


• Andrew emphasizes that people don’t need to change careers or entire life directions to make a meaningful impact in anti-trafficking work – opportunities often come through existing skills and connections.


• His global mission experience, particularly in Romania and Egypt’s “Garbage City,” gave him firsthand perspective on trafficking issues that keeps him passionate about the work.


• Eight years of editing every episode has transformed Andrew from a “tech guy” into a content expert who can now play an editorial role in shaping the podcast’s message.


• Working consistently with anti-trafficking content can lead to emotional numbing, requiring intentional effort to maintain compassion and avoid becoming cynical about the work.


• The podcast’s focus on hope and human dignity, rather than just statistics and outcomes, sets it apart from other anti-trafficking content and prevents burnout.


• Andrew’s favorite episodes are those featuring Romania because they connect to his personal mission experience, and the recent AI episode with David Tyre because it showed how emerging technology can help rather than hinder anti-trafficking efforts.


• The podcast is transitioning to video format to reach more students and young professionals who prefer visual content and want to share episodes with friends and classmates.


• Finding your “handle” means recognizing opportunities that come to you naturally rather than forcing your way into anti-trafficking work – partnership is often more effective than starting from scratch.

Resources

• Connect with Andrew


• 282 – Crisis Prevention of Ukraine Refugee Trafficking, with Ioana Bauer


• 341 – Following the Money: How Financial Crime Investigations Disrupt Human Trafficking

Transcript

[00:00:00 ] Sandie Morgan: Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast here at Vanguard University’s Global Center for Women and Justice in Orange County, California. I’m Dr. Sandie Morgan, and this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking.

[00:00:24 ] Today I’m flipping the script and putting our producer Andrew Kroeger in front of the microphone. Andrew is a podcast producer with over a decade of experience. And a proud Vanguard alum. Before podcasting, he worked in book publishing as an editor and spent years as a live sound engineer. He’s also passionate about global missions, having spent many summers living in Romania, doing outreach work for the past eight years.

[00:01:05 ] Andrew has been the invisible force behind this podcast. He’s been editing every episode, managing our website, and ensuring our content reaches listeners in over a 170 countries. What’s fascinating is how Andrew never set out to work in anti-human trafficking. This opportunity came to him through his existing skills and connections.

[00:01:40 ] In our conversation, we’ll discuss how he found his handle. Think about the pithari jar, why you don’t need to change careers to make a difference in fighting human trafficking, and we’ll also share some exciting news about the podcast future direction. And now let’s hop to the interview.

[00:02:07 ] One of our favorite stories on the ending Human Trafficking podcast is the story of the pithari. The pithari is a huge jar, a vessel in the King’s pantry of the palace at On the island of Crete. And I still remember the first time I saw it because I thought. I could stand up inside of that. It was so huge and I learned that it was used to bring olive oil, grain, nuts, whatever, into the pantry.

[00:02:47 ] Now the pantry was downstairs in the King’s palace and the stairs were rather narrow and very steep, and I wondered how the people could get it down there. This is 3000 years ago, and then it was explained that the handles that I thought were decorative were instrumental. They were baked on from the top.

[00:03:14 ] Of the jar all the way to the bottom and all the way around. So try to imagine people being able to grab a handle, whether they’re on the top stair or middle or down below, to carry this huge vessel filled with maybe olive oil. You don’t want it to spill, and everyone had to find. Their handle to carry it safely to the bottom,And that is the image I have in my mind when I think about how many people it takes to lead the anti-human trafficking movement. And one of the most important people that you never get to see or meet, and the ending Human Trafficking podcast is our producer. Andrew Kroeger. So I have him today in studio and I am excited to welcome you here.

[00:04:16 ] How does it feel to be on the other end of the microphone?

[00:04:21 ] Andrew Kroeger: It feels absolutely wild, and I’ve never been more nervous.

[00:04:24 ] In my entire life.

[00:04:26 ] Sandie Morgan: Oh my gosh. So let’s do a little bit of our origin story. And when you joined the team, most of our listeners, remember when Dave Stachowiak was on our Global Center for Women I Justice Board and said, let’s start a podcast.

[00:04:43 ] And I’m like, what? We started the podcast. We were co-hosts for years, and that was his handle in how to respond to anti-human trafficking. But today you are the producer.

[00:05:01 ] Andrew Kroeger: I am the producer, so the story actually goes way back, way before this show, and I was actually a student here at Vanguard and a sound engineer here on campus doing live sound for events and every big conference you had on campus.

[00:05:16 ] I would run the sound for it. So I got to know you guys years and years ago and then somehow I know, stayed in touch doing all sorts of projects and I work with Dave a lot and the, something was changing on the Vanguard website and we were gonna lose all of our episodes, so we thought now’s the time to build our own website.

[00:05:35 ] And at the time I was building websites for people and salvaged all these episodes that were gonna disappear. And then I ended up producing all of them. That was eight, eight years ago. So the story with us goes way back to running events and doing, you know, stacking chairs in auditoriums, doing all sorts of interesting stuff.

[00:05:53 ] And I really didn’t know you beyond those few events. So it’s really cool to connect again, like that.

[00:05:59 ] Sandie Morgan: Vanguard alums are so a part of our story at the Global Center.

[00:06:05 ] Andrew Kroeger: That is for sure. So tell me a little bit about how you see your role in carrying this issue forward. I think of my role in two ways. First of all, it’s the obvious stuff is the producers.

[00:06:22 ] So I’m sort of the tech guy behind the scenes and I make sure the websites are still running and episodes are being recorded and put together properly. But also I. My role is maybe not one that Sandie ever feels, but I feel like the a perfect man on the street in an interview where I don’t really know the subject.

[00:06:39 ] I mean, I’ve been listening to every single episode for eight years, so I do know the subject well now, but when I first started, it was really interesting listening as a non-expert and kind of going along the journey. But now I feel like. I play more of an editorial role where I know as I’m doing an an edit where to move things around and where to make sure we preserve something because it’s an important point and where we are able to cut things down for time and that was something that is a role.

[00:07:08 ] I wasn’t playing in the beginning. I was just sort of learning and now I think that’s a really cool part of the job we have. We have now.

[00:07:14 ] Sandie Morgan: So when I think about how you got involved in this and where you are in your life and your career, I’m curious about how you invested so much of your personal passion and compassion for global issues for the marginalized, and somehow I believe that is a key part of why you keep showing up.

[00:07:42 ] It