Elizabeth Phillips has garnered national support and an array of accolades for her advocacy on behalf of survivors of child sexual abuse. As of Sept. 24, the Park Cities native can count a 2026 ProtectHer Award from New Friends New Life among them.
Phillips began her advocacy on behalf of her brother, Trey Carlock, who took his own life at the age of 28 in 2019.
Trey was abused from age 7 to 17 by a former staffer at Kanakuk, a Christian summer camp based in southwest Missouri. Later, he was prevented from speaking about the abuse by a nondisclosure agreement he’d signed in a civil case against Kanakuk.
Since her brother’s passing, Phillips has founded No More Victims, a national advocacy organization supporting child protection laws, and advocated for the passage of Trey’s Law, legislation designed to prohibit the misuse of nondisclosure agreements in child sexual abuse cases.
Phillips was one of several honorees recognized for their work in the fight against human trafficking and gender-based violence during New Friends New Life’s Stand for Her Luncheon.
In a video message shared during the luncheon, Phillips said she learned from the work of New Friends New Life after the nonprofit was formed at her church when she was in eighth grade.
“I got an early and very formative look around how to help the vulnerable in the community,” she said. “I never knew that all the things I’d learned would apply to my very own family.”
She told the crowd of more than 1,500 about applying those lessons in her “journey to give victims their voices back,” and advocating for policy change.
“Survivors hold the solutions, and it’s in them finding their voices that we all start to better learn how to prevent this,” Phillips said. “That’s what I love about New Friends New Life; it’s especially that new life part. It’s life changing and life-saving work.”
Through the advocacy of Phillips and others, versions of Trey’s Law have been passed in Texas, Missouri, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana. A federal version of Trey’s Law passed in the U.S. Senate in May and has moved on to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Phillips’ other recent accolades include being named the 2026 Beacon Award Honoree by the Grant Halliburton Foundation. She was also selected to be among People Newspapers’ 20 Under 40 in 2024.
During the New Friends New Life’s Stand For Her luncheon, the organization’s leadership announced it was nearing its $1 million fundraising goal, with nearly $900,000 raised. The fundraiser supports the organization’s work providing support services for trafficked and sexually exploited teen girls, women, and their children.
Following the awards, the event featured a conversation between NBC5 Today co-anchor Laura Harris and Girlfriends and Black-ish actress Tracee Ellis Ross.
Luncheon co-chair Beth Thoele, who chaired the event alongside daughter Brooke Russo, and Kathy Helm and daughter Marci Kramer, reminded audience members that once they become aware of issues of human trafficking or gender-based violence, “you cannot look away. You can only decide what you’re going to do about it.”
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