Actress and Pattern Beauty founder Tracee Ellis Ross will headline this year's Stand For Her Luncheon in Dallas on Thursday, September 24, lending her voice to a cause confronting one of North Texas's most persistent and hidden crimes. The event runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Dallas, with proceeds benefiting New Friends New Life, a nonprofit dedicated to helping women, teen girls, and children exploited by sex trafficking.
According to NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, Ross will deliver an inspiring message to attendees and has encouraged women to embrace their self-worth and pursue purposeful lives. NBC 5 Today news anchor Laura Harris will moderate a conversation with the actress and producer, who is best known for her work on screen but has built a business career as founder and CEO of the beauty brand Pattern Beauty. Individual luncheon tickets are on sale now, with the nonprofit headquartered at 300 Reunion Boulevard in Dallas operating as a 501(c)(3) organization.
A Local Nonprofit With National Star Power
New Friends New Life was founded in 1998 after an exotic dancer sought assistance from a Dallas church group, according to the organization's own account of its origins shared by New Friends New Life. The nonprofit now serves nearly 400 exploited women, teens, and children annually through trauma-informed recovery and job-placement programs, work that predates federal recognition of sex trafficking as a distinct crime. Among its initiatives is Liberty Street Garden, a one-acre organic social enterprise in Dallas's Wilson Historic District built in partnership with The Meadows Foundation and Bonton Farms, where survivors gain living-wage employment and job skills, as detailed by Dallas Doing Good.
The luncheon has drawn celebrity attention in recent years. During the 2024 event, Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves McConaughey issued a surprise $100,000 matching gift on stage, helping the organization raise over $1 million in a single day, per reporting from PaperCity Magazine. Last year's luncheon drew 1,000 attendees and featured actress and UNICEF Ambassador Lucy Liu, who warned that sex trafficking occurs in everyday public spaces such as transit stops and airports, according to Dallas Innovates. This year's edition is co-chaired by mother-daughter duos Beth Thoele and Brooke Russo alongside Kathy Helm and Marci Kramer, with Lottye and Bobby Lyle serving as honorary chairs, per the Preston Hollow Advocate.
The Scale of the Problem Behind the Fundraiser
The stakes behind the glitzy fundraiser are stark. Texas has an estimated 313,000 human trafficking victims, including roughly 79,000 minor and youth victims of sex trafficking, according to a landmark study from the University of Texas at Austin's Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. In Dallas specifically, city data indicates sex trafficking is a $99 million annual illicit business, with an estimated 400 teenagers trafficked within the city every night.
New Friends New Life CEO Bianca Davis, appointed to lead the agency in 2021 and named a Presidential Leadership Scholar in 2023, has pushed for dedicated human trafficking data dashboards to better inform policy and law enforcement response in Dallas, according to the George W. Bush Presidential Center. Her advocacy comes as North Texas law enforcement ramps up its own response: in May, FBI Dallas and 91 North Texas law enforcement agencies completed Operation Soteria Shield, an effort that resulted in 276 child exploitation arrests and the rescue of 89 children across Texas, per the FBI.
World Cup Prep Adds Urgency
That law enforcement push has taken on added urgency with North Texas set to host matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, an event organizers and advocates worry could heighten trafficking risks in the region. New Friends New Life's Men's Advocacy Group addressed exactly that concern in May, hosting its annual ManKINDness Breakfast featuring Dallas Police Chief Daniel C. Comeaux to discuss sex trafficking prevention strategies ahead of the tournament. Hoodline previously reported on similar concerns raised in nearby Arlington, where officials sounded a trafficking alarm tied to the World Cup's arrival.
The Stand For Her Luncheon remains the organization's primary annual fundraiser, and this year's gathering with Ross adds to a growing list of high-profile advocates who have used the Dallas stage to spotlight the issue. NBC 5 and Telemundo 39 both note their support for the fight against sex trafficking and exploitation as the September date approaches. For a region grappling with federal indictments and lengthy prison sentences tied to trafficking operations, the luncheon offers a counterpoint built on survivor recovery rather than prosecution alone.
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