Phelps is involved in several outreach projects to increase youth participation in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). She serves on ORNLs Educational Outreach Committee as its diversity chair for Knox County Schools. She has done outreach through the ASCEND program of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sororitys graduate chapter, establishing a program to teach robotics, drones, circuitry, and coding to inner city high school students in Knoxville. Phelps is also the Vice President of the board of Youth Outreach in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (YO-STEM).
Phelps was featured on the Oak Ridge Associated Universities STEM stories program, partnering with nearby schools in Tennessee. Phelps received the 2017 YWCA Knoxville Tribute to Women Award in the category Technology, Research, and Innovation. This award recognizes "local women who lead their fields in technology and excel in community service".
In 2019, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) featured Phelps in the Periodic Table of Younger Chemists in recognition of "her outstanding commitment to research and public engagement, as well as being an important advocate for diversity". She was one of two Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers thus honored. Phelps is associated on this honorary periodic table with the element einsteinium, having along with others, including Julie Ezold, researched purification of einsteinium-254, and her fellow awardee, the post-doctoral researcher Nathan Brewer of Oak Ridge laboratory's Physics Division, is associated with the element tennessine. Their inclusion follows a competition by the IUPAC and the International Younger Chemists Network (IYCN).
At the December 6, 2019 TEDxNashvilleWomen, Phelps presented the talk "How I Claimed a Seat at the Periodic Table", where, according to TED Talks, she "debunk[ed] the myth of solitary genius and challenge[d] institutional elitism by sharing stories of women of color making their way in science".