Hilaire Phillips

Hilaire Phillips is a small business owner, public speaker, and founder and CEO of The Pierson Project, a non-profit dedicated to continue the legacy that her son, Pierson Phillips, left when he died by suicide at the age of 14. Hilaire helped foster her son's love of public speaking and advocacy for mental illness after learning that he first had thoughts of suicide at the tender age of 7. Knowing that he would have to be able to express what he needed and be able to ask for help, she allowed him to speak to small groups. He quickly became confident and passionate about ending the stigma and shame surrounding mental illness and suicide and spoke at many venues including the Children's Services Fund, Speak Up, Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation, Comprehensive Mental Health Services, and at the General Federation of Women's Service Clubs Missouri State and International conventions. In just three short years, her son made a huge impact on those who heard him speak and was one of the first young kids ever to speak publicly about living with a mental illness and suicidal thoughts. After the loss of her son, Hilaire knew there was still more work to be done and started The Pierson Project. This gave her the opportunity to develop communication and interpersonal relationships with a variety of community members and further what Pierson spoke so bravely for: To help society accept that mental illness is the same as a physical illness and to end the stigma and shame that goes along with it. Hilaire has participated in KMBC's feature about mental illness called, Chronicle: War Within and appears in and helped produce the feature length documentary Just Like You: Anxiety + Depression. Hilaire has spoken at a number of events and conferences about mental health and suicide and is a field advocate for the AFSP.