Our Team
Gabriel’s Light relies on team members, volunteers, and partners to forward our mission to prevent youth suicide. We believe that we can improve mental health and save young lives through education and outreach.
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Carol Deely
PRESIDENT & CO-FOUNDER
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Kate Bridgeman
MARKETING DIRECTOR
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Kim Harrigan
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
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VersAnnette Blackman
TRAUMA-INFORMED FACILITATOR
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Laura Frieldlander, MSW, LCSW
EDUCATOR
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Megan Crisp, MS, OTR/L, BS Psychology
EDUCATOR
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Sosina Tesema, MSW, LSW
INSTRUCTOR
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Kristin Furjanic
PROGRAM MANAGER, YOUTH AMBASSADORS
Our Key Partners
We provide funding and program support to the following organizations. Find additional organizations that provide suicide prevention, postvention, cyber safety, and anti-bullying campaigns on our Resources pages.
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Elyssa's Mission
Elyssa’s Mission® provides hands-on support to area public and private schools in order to educate students, staff, parents, and guardians on how to recognize and assist those teens most at-risk.
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Hope Squad
Gabriel’s Light funds Elyssa’s Mission Hope Squad training in Chicago-area schools.
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Erika's Lighthouse
Erika’s Lighthouse helps schools provide their students with the skills needed to talk to each other, to their parents, to their teachers and counselors. Their resources raise awareness, reduce stigma, educate students, promote good mental health, and encourage help-seeking.
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NAMI Chicago
NAMI Chicago educates to fight stigma and discrimination, advocates fiercely for our community, and shares hope, connection and expertise with people on their mental health journey.
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Active Minds
Active Minds is dedicated to saving lives through education, research, advocacy, and a focus on young adults ages 14–25. Their focus is opening up the conversation about mental health and creating lasting change in the way it is talked about, cared for, and valued.
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Buckets Over Bullying
Buckets Over Bullying is a non-profit initiative whose mission is to stop cyberbullying of children and teens through education, lawmaking, and legal action.
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Cyber Safety Consulting
Cyber Safety Consulting educates teachers, parents, and children on the dangers in our digital and connected world.
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Organization for Social Media Safety
Organization for Social Media Safety offers school-based social media safety presentations that teach students and parents how to stay safe from social media-related dangers -- like cyberbullying, social media addiction, sexual harassment, violence, and hate speech.
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Bark Technology
We recommend Bark, a parental control phone monitoring app, to help keep kids safer online. Bark monitors social media, text, and email on Android and iOS devices.