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Take Note: How Her Sister's Death By Suicide Led Marisa Vicere To Create The Jana Marie Foundation

Marisa Vicere is the founder of the Jana Marie Foundation.
Shawn Henfling
/
Captured Chaos

After losing her sister to suicide in 2011, Marisa Vicere founded the Jana Marie Foundation in her sister’s honor.

The State College-based non-profit aims to educate and empower young people in the Centre County region and to build awareness about mental well-being and suicide prevention.

Vicere talked with WPSU during National Suicide Prevention Month about the foundation and her sister. 

Lindsey Whissel Fenton is an Emmy award-winning filmmaker, international speaker, outreach strategist, learning designer, and grief educator. In her current role as a senior producer and director at PBS/NPR affiliate WPSU, Fenton focuses on projects related to grief, trauma, and mental health. She is the creator of Speaking Grief and the producer and host of The Apologies Podcast. An international speaker on grief awareness and digital outreach and education, Fenton delivered a keynote at the 44th ADEC Conference and has presented to a variety of organizations, including the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA), American Public Television (APT), the PBS Annual Meeting, and Comic Con San Diego, among others. Fenton earned her bachelor’s degree in Cinema and Digital Arts from Point Park University and her master’s degree in Learning, Design, and Technology from Penn State. She is a dog-mom, an avid consumer of books and podcasts, and a rock climber.
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