A Suffolk resident has been selected for an FBI award for her “dedication to the furtherance of crime prevention and education at the local, state and national level.”

Chandra Moyer is the founder and executive director of Release Me International, which works to create awareness and prevent child exploitation and sex trafficking.

FBI Norfolk Special Agent in Charge Royce Curtin selected Moyer for a Director’s Community Leadership Award. Moyer plants to travel to Washington in April to receive the award from FBI Director James B. Comey.

Moyer, who moved to Suffolk about a year ago, started RMI from her home in Chesapeake in 2012.

In 2000, the ordained minister incorporated Fruit of the Spirit Ministries, a nonprofit that has hosted retreats, workshops, conferences and Bible studies for abuse survivors.

Moyer first encountered commercial sexual exploitation of children as a young girl living in the Philippines. As well as observing young girls being preyed upon, she was also a victim in her home.

But her inspiration to start RMI came from work in Uganda with ex-child soldiers of the Lord’s Resistance Army. She worked with a non-governmental organization to help war-affected youth overcome their emotional trauma.

“It was quite a life-changing experience,” Moyer said.

After returning to the States, she enrolled in a graduate program at James Madison University. Her research as part of the program revealed to Moyer that trafficking is also a domestic issue.

RMI’s first child exploitation prevention training was with school nurses in Chesapeake Public Schools. To date, according to its website, RMI has conducted training workshops for more than 1,000 college students, school nurses, educators, social workers and law enforcement.

Moyer has also partnered with non-governmental organizations to help victims in Tanzania and the Philippines.

“Because of our training, we have had four students identified as trafficking victims in this region,” Moyer said.

Sex trafficking is known as a hidden crime, and RMI teaches the early signs to look out for.

In 2012, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation requiring the Board of Education, assisted by the Department of Social Services, to provide awareness and training materials on human trafficking, including prevention strategies, to local school division staff.

According to Moyer, Fairfax County in Northern Virginia has taken it another step further, with a curriculum to educate students.

Moyer said RMI has conducted one training session for Suffolk Public Schools nurses, and would like to work further with parent-teacher associations and administrators.

Moyer hopes the FBI award will give her young organization more credibility. It’s validation of the work it does, she said.

She also hopes it will help with fundraising.