About Us

Project Protect Our Children is a 501c3 founded in 2019 by Denise M. Mears.  Denise found her passion in anti-human trafficking working with a Houston non-profit that provided direct services to teenage trafficking survivors. 

Through her work in Houston, she realized that the average child didn’t have the ability to understand the level of deception a predator will go to, thus making them easily manipulated.  Technology and the internet have made it easier for predators to engage, entice and entrap our children both in the real world and the virtual one.  It was evident to her that our children were falling victim to an evil that they were unaware of.  She realized that our youth need to be given the knowledge and skills to be able to identify such situations.

Hearing the young girls’ stories of how they were manipulated and what they endured while being forced to work Houston’s streets ignited something in her.  She realized that most communities were missing a vital resource in the fight to stop child sex trafficking and exploitation – preventative education. 

Preventative education provides knowledge.  Knowledge spreads awareness; awareness is the key to prevention and identification.  Every child should be taught how to protect themselves from human trafficking and exploitation.  Every victim should be given the opportunity to be recognized, as most walk among us controlled by their trafficker and shackled by psychological chains. 

Faced with the most current statistics and armed with skills and knowledge she had acquired, she felt called to provide preventative educational programs and awareness trainings at no cost.

Our Mission

We are dedicated to preventing child sex trafficking, exploitation and abuse through proactive community engagement, preventative educational programs, awareness and empowerment opportunities.

Our Vision

Our vision is a world where every childhood is free from predators, exploitation and abuse.

Our Mission Partners

We believe that fighting human trafficking is a collaborative effort.

As affiliates of the Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force and members of the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance of the Southern District of Texas, the Houston Rescue & Restore Coalition, the Montgomery County Coalition Against Human Trafficking and the Brazoria County United Front Coalition, we are working to combat Human Trafficking in our communities.

Our Board of Directors

We are proud to introduce the Project Protect Our Children Board of Directors and honored to have them by our side! Together we will make a difference. Together we will fight to end child sex trafficking, exploitation and abuse. Together we will work to protect our children.

Our Advisory Board

Edwin “Jack” Lamm III, Lamm & Smith, P.C

Denise Weatherford, New Caney Independent School District

Kelly White

Elizabeth Shaw, C12

Brett Mears, Palmer Logistics

Denise DeGeare, Independent Personal Technology Consultant 

Our Team

Denise Mears

Founder & CEO

Denise Mears is the Founder and Executive Director of Project Protect Our Children. Denise began her work in the anti-human trafficking space in 2016, working with youth who had experienced commercial sexual exploitation in Houston. She found her passion for prevention after years of hearing different variations of the same story from youth survivors. Denise founded Project Protect Our Children in 2019 to fill glaring gaps in the anti-human trafficking space. She recognized that the battle against child sex trafficking, exploitation, and abuse requires more than just intervention—it requires a proactive, comprehensive, and holistic community approach to prevention. As the Executive Director, she launched Project Protect Our Children’s unique, innovative, impactful, and transformative programming to engage, educate, and empower communities to protect our most vulnerable population, our children.

Denise majored in business at Texas A&M, Corpus Christi, graduated from Rice University’s Leadership Institute for Nonprofit Executives, and completed Trust-Based Relational Intervention® Training through the Karen Purvis Institute of Child Development at Texas Christian University. She is a Texas Education Agency-certified provider of human trafficking training for school district board members, charter school board members, and school officers and a continuing professional education (CPE) provider for the State of Texas.

Denise is a past chair of the Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force’s PREVENT subcommittee. She is a member of the Houston Rescue and Restore Coalition, Montgomery County Coalition Against Human Trafficking, Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance of the Southern District of Texas, Texas Family Leadership Council, and the Texas Network of Youth Services.

Christa Mayfield

Director of Operations

Christa began her work in the anti-human trafficking space in 2015. Over the next eight years, she developed the presence, programs, and policies of a fledging anti-human trafficking organization, serving in nearly every role, from education to direct services. Prevention Education became her primary objective. Upon building relationships with schools, Christa presented to over 20,000 students, empowering students to identify signs of exploitation and to be a part of the solution to keep their community safe. She trained a myriad of professionals, from law enforcement to dentists, to identify human trafficking in a criminal setting. Through her involvement in the United Against Human Trafficking Coalition, including serving three years as Chair of the Education Committee, she supported collaborative efforts to improve survivor services, educate the public, and foster unity between the various agencies represented. Following a passion for health, she received her health coaching certification through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in 2020. During her work in the social services space, Christa recognized a critical gap in the emerging continuums of care – care for the service providers. Combining her training and experience, Christa launched Good Sustained to support the health and longevity of social service providers through a trauma-informed lens. In 2023, Christa began serving as the Director of Operations for Project Protect Our Children and looks forward to lending her experience in non-profit leadership and development to an organization so uniquely focused on youth inclusion and empowerment.

Sheila Whittle

Education Development Specialist

Sheila Whittle serves as the Education Development Specialist for Project Protect Our Children. In 2004, Sheila first heard about human trafficking while in college and made the decision to dedicate her life to fighting this atrocity. To that end, she has worked in the education and nonprofit fields since 2006, serving at-risk and vulnerable populations, especially youth. Before joining PPOC, she taught at Title 1 schools in both New Jersey and Texas, provided direct services to teen sex trafficking survivors in the Greater Houston Area, and worked with sex trafficking victims and sex workers exiting exploitation in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

During her time in the classroom, she witnessed the entire spectrum of at-risk factors in her students, including sexual abuse, poverty, cognitive disabilities, sexual identity, homelessness, neglect, etc. While working with teen survivors, she saw how those same at-risk factors directly contributed to their trafficking, exploitation, and abuse. One story, in particular, hit close to home; one survivor was being trafficked while attending a middle school in her district only a few miles from the middle school she taught at.

This reality pressed upon her the importance and urgency of bringing prevention education to ALL students, especially those with increased vulnerabilities. Sheila’s experience and knowledge in both the classroom and the human trafficking field have equipped her to help fulfill the mission of Project Protect Our Children and serve as the Education Development Specialist.

Nicole Murillo

Community Engagement Coordinator

Human Trafficking Liaison

Nicole Murillo serves as the Community Engagement Coordinator and Human Trafficking Liaison. Nicole is deeply committed to our mission and bringing about positive change in our community.

With a decade-long career at the Houston Police Department, Nicole has honed her skills and expertise to address the most pressing issues facing our society. During her time in law enforcement, she served in various capacities, including three years on patrol, three years as an investigator in gang crime, and finally, four years as a detective for the Human Trafficking Unit. In this pivotal role, she worked tirelessly to investigate and combat human trafficking, advocating for the rights and safety of victims while holding perpetrators accountable for their actions.

After retiring early from the police force, Nicole transitioned to the nonprofit sector, joining ReVision Houston as the Lead Navigator for the Homeless Youth Program. In this role, she had the privilege of providing critical support and resources to vulnerable young individuals, many of whom were at risk of exploitation and trafficking. Through compassionate outreach and personalized assistance, she was part of empowering those youth to reclaim their lives and build a brighter future.

Fluent in both English and Spanish, Nicole is dedicated to breaking down barriers and ensuring that our message reaches every corner of our community. By fostering meaningful connections, raising awareness, and providing resources, Nicole is committed to prevent child sex trafficking and exploitation, creating a safer and more inclusive environment for all.