Patrick J. McKenna, Esq., is one of the co-founders and is a Director of the Virginia Coalition Against Human Trafficking (VCAHT), an alliance of service providers, attorneys, survivor-advocates, and community members on a mission to remove barriers preventing survivors from achieving a full and healthy life through public awareness campaigns, policy reform and enacting survivor-centered human trafficking legislation. In his role with VCAHT, Mr. McKenna has helped with the enactment of over 40 pieces of legislation in Virginia impacting human trafficking and those victimized by it.

Mr. McKenna is also one of the co-founders and is the President of Human Trafficking Justice & Freedom International d/b/a Just Free International which organization provides free legal services to survivors of human trafficking. In his role, Mr. McKenna is tasked with representing survivors as well as increasing the legal partnerships and resources, both locally and abroad, to address the legal needs of trafficking survivors beyond criminal defense.  

He is also a Co-Founder and former Executive Director of the Virginia Beach Justice Initiative (“VBJI”), now known as Freekind, a faith-based non-profit organization founded in 2011, dedicated to ending human trafficking and restoring those victimized by it throughout southeastern Virginia.

Since 2011, Mr. McKenna has been raising awareness, training groups about the ploys of traffickers and signs of human trafficking, facilitating case management for victims, partnering with governmental and non-governmental organizations to form local, statewide and regional collaboratives and coalitions advocating for better state laws and partnering with others to develop protocols and wrap-around services for victims in the Hampton Roads area and beyond.  As an expert in the area of human trafficking, Mr. McKenna has done interviews throughout Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. with TBN, CBN, local television ABC, NBC & CBS affiliates, radio, and newspaper/internet news sources.

Mr. McKenna has practiced law for over 34 years and is a member of the Virginia State Bar.  He earned his B.A. and B. Mus. Degrees cum laude from S.U.N.Y. at Potsdam and his J.D. degree from Regent University School of Law.   He has been happily married to Lori for over 34 years and is the proud father of three adult children.