Ilja Abbattista

Ilja Abbattista is a lived-experience consultant, trainer, speaker, and entrepreneur working across the modern slavery and human trafficking sector. Over the past three years, she has supported charities, businesses, local authorities, and national programmes through survivor-led training, policy and document review, advisory panels, and consultancy, helping organisations build safer, more ethical, and more effective responses to exploitation.

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She is a Board Director at Bright Future Co-op, an Ambassador for Causeway, and a member of multiple survivor-led and professional advisory panels focused on prevention, survivor voice, and sustainable employment pathways.

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Alongside her sector work, Ilja is a multi-business founder with over 13 ventures to her name, including an award-winning restaurant and a long-running cookery school. She now works under her own name, using lived experience, storytelling, and business strategy to drive change for individuals and organisations.