Remembering Tricialouise Gurley

Tricia was an inspiration to so many people.  Her smile and passion for life and helping others impacted you as soon as you met her. I am so sorry to hear of her passing.  Working with Tricia and seeing YOUTH MOVE grow in Maryland was a huge accomp;ishment and testimony to her committment to others.

Rest in Peace - Kitty Nelson

Tricia was a remarkable young woman, full of fire, intelligence, goodness, and a deep sense of justice. I attempted to nominate her for the Etna Award for social justice this week and the following is the description of her work that we crafted:

Due to her personal experience as a child in child serving systems, since the age of 20 she has dedicated all of her time and energy into transforming systems that serve youth and young adults (mental health, residential/foster care, juvenile justice, homelessness, LGBTQ). In 2003 because of the great work she had been doing within her county and on the statewide level she was asked to create the same level of change on the national level; at this time she co-founded The National Youth Development Board, which later became Youth M.O.V.E. (Motivating Others through Voices of Experience) National. Throughout her time serving on the board, she has also been recruited by the federal government's SAMHSA (Substance Abuse Mental Health Service Administration) to not only serve as the youngest person ever to be appointed to their CMHS (Center for Mental Health Services) Advisory committee, but she has also been asked to represent the US by participating with IIMHL (International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership) by travelling to Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland. In this capacity she has been able to share a wealth of knowledge with several countries and organizations on how to better improve the lives and services that our young people receive.

Tricialouise was one of the pioneers of the getting the youth movement going on the national level. She has been able to make a direct impact on the lives of youth and young adults in the US on many different levels. As a youth coordinator she has been able to work directly with young people in a way that combines training, empowerment, mentoring, support and healing from their own traumas and history. Tricialouise has worked for the state of Maryland for the last five years; this has allowed her to represent youth voice, causes and issues at the table with key stakeholders, ensuring that change takes place. Her role on both the national and international level has allowed her to actually influence national initiatives and policies which affect the lives of all Americans. Internationally she has been able to provide technical assistance and advice to organizations and governments that are also working to improve the lives of their young people. She has been able to do this on sheer passion, resiliency and determination. Recently she left her position as Statewide Youth M.O.V.E. Coordinator for the state of Maryland to pursue her double majors in Social Work and Business.

Tricialouise embodies both a passion and an enduring drive for social justice. Her resilience as a young woman who emerged from the Child Welfare system inspires hope. She has used her experience to drive changes to enable children to grow up in communities rather than institutions, with caring adults who identify and nurture their strengths. Her commitment helped forge a network of young people who have transformed their experiences in child serving agencies and who use their voices to drive reshaping the systems that they experienced. They are fundamentally changing the options available to those who follow them. Tricialouise provides strong leadership for youth empowerment initiatives throughout the United States and internationally.  She has been able to retain a clear vision and demonstrates courage, persistence and a deep ethical core regardless of the circumstances thrown at her.

Tricialouise has just finished her freshman year with a GPA of 3.452 and a total of 34 credits while working full-time. She would like to get dual degrees in social work and business to enable her to increase her capacity to build sustainable structures to continue the gains made by the movement toward empowering youth as active agents in their own lives. She is also committed to support increasing our capacity within youth and family organizations to embrace a commitment for health and healing. As peer driven partners, family to family and youth to youth initiatives sometimes wound each other. Tricialouise is committed to contributing to practice that builds youth and families up across systems. 

It leaves out how very in love she was with her sweet new husband, John. She was glowing as she described him and their life together. The world will miss Tricialouise and so will I.

Claudette Fette

I met Tricia in 2010 at a conference in Chicago. She left such a positive impression on me. She was truly a leader, an inspirational, and a bright star ---I feel honored to have met her.