Ms. Kendrick and her five younger siblings were placed in foster care when she was age 15, spent six years in foster care. She aged out at 21 and is currently undergoing adoption proceedings with her long time foster parents. Read more about her story of adoption in the book The 3-5-7 Model: A Practice Approach to Permanency. 

After serving for a year as a youth consultant, Lacy Kendrick joined the staff of the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Youth Development in October 2008 where she worked with youth and adults around issues concerning youth engagement and served as the lead for the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) project. She has served on several boards addressing adoption and foster care issues, including the Missouri State Youth Advisory Board, the ABA-Bar Empowerment Project National Advisory Board and the Multicultural Advisory Committee for the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Adoption. Ms. Kendrick Burk also recently joined the youth committee of the International Foster Care Organization. She also participated as an intern for U.S. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts through the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute Foster Youth Internship Program where she testified at a congressional briefing on the needs of foster youth. Her focus areas include youth engagement in systems change, youth adult partnerships, youth leadership development, and evaluation.

Ms. Kendrick Burk obtained her Bachelor's of Arts in Psychology at Missouri State University and her Master’s in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Organizational Psychology at William Carey University, where she is also pursuing her Master's in Business Administration. She plans to obtain a PhD to teach at the university level while doing research and evaluation of child welfare, mental health, and adoption programs and policies with a focus on youth. Ms. Kendrick continues to advocate for positive outcomes for older foster youth. For more information, please contact her at lacykendrick@gmail.com.

Jeremy began his advocating for youth in the child welfare system in 2009 whenhe completed the FosterClub All-Star internship based in Seaside Oregon. In Mayof 2010 Jeremy graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communication from theUniversity of Northern Colorado. After graduation Jeremy headed to Washington,D.C. to be a part of the prestigious Congressional Coalition on Adoption InstituteFoster Youth Intern program where he worked with Senator Grassley and theSenate Finance Committee working alongside Senator Grassley’s child welfarestaffer to promote legislation bettering the child welfare system. Upon returningto Denver in August 2010 Jeremy accepted the position as Youth EngagementCoordinator with Mile High United Way’s Youth Success Initiative where he workedwith local Chafee programs to develop youth leadership boards, empoweredyouth to testify in Congress regarding current foster care legislation, and executetheir “signature events.” In April 2012 Jeremy ventured back to Washington D.C. toaccept the contract position as Program Assistant with the Congressional Coalitionon Adoption Institute where he managed 14 Congressional interns, co-coordinatedthe prep work for their annual Angels in Adoption program, and work one-on-one with Members of Congress to understand the program and how they canbenefit from becoming a part. Jeremy is very excited to become part of the YouthEngagement Solutions team and is ready to hit the ground running.

Brittanye' Kelly is currently a student at Liberty University, pursuing a degree in Psychology.   Brittanye' was born and raised in Meridian, MS where she completed high school at West Lauderdale. After completing graduation, she relocated to Nashville, TN to attend Tennessee State University, where she was majoring in Biology/Biomedical Sciences. With always having an attraction to pretty teeth and a beautiful smile, she decided that she wanted to become certified in Dental Hygiene. She went forth with completing two years at Tennessee State University and then attending Kaplan University, where she also completed the Dental Assistant Program. She worked briefly as a Registered and Licensed Dental Assistant before relocating back home to Meridian, MS. She became employed with YES (Youth Engagement Solutions) in June 2012.

Brittanye' is the evaluation associate at NFusion X. If you have questions, please contact her at

Natasha Mitchell is currently attending East Mississippi Community College working on her degree in Recreation Therapeutic Studies. Following she plans to transfer to Mississippi State University to apply her studies toward degree in Applied Physiology emphasis in Recreation Therapy.   Outside of school Natasha is a regular volunteer the Boys & Girls Club mentoring youth and also participate in our community's adult recreational league. She works as the evaluations associate with NFusion VII.  

If you have questions, please contact her at Natasha@nfusionms.org

Savannah moved to Mississippi when she was 15, then entered foster care at age 17.   Since January of 2012, Savannah has been a Peer Support Specialist/Trainer for NFusion IV. She was also serves of an Evaluation Associate with Youth Engagement Solutions.  She is currently in school at Northeast Community College and is part of the Northeast Tiger Marching Band.  She plans to graduate in 2014 with an Athletic Training degree.    If you have questions, please contact her at savannah@nfusionms.org