Tricia Everest: Women of Influence
Tricia Everest is an attorney, a philanthropist, an heiress, a member of one of Oklahoma’s oldest and most prominent families, and the co-founder of two groundbreaking nonprofits dedicated to helping victims of domestic and sexual abuse and to breaking the cycle of incarceration.
She’s smart, funny, always beautifully dressed, and is as close to royalty as our state can get. Everest is a modern royal, though; you’re as likely to see her geared up for a triathlon as suited up for a board meeting or dressed up for a gala - that is, if you see her at all. The limelight is one of her least favorite places to be, but she’ll tolerate it when she can extend its rays to illuminate causes she champions.
“For my entire childhood, and my whole life, my family has always volunteered and served their community. I never understood that it was optional at all. It was always a part of life,” Everest says. Another immutable lesson her family taught her was that every single person deserves to be treated with the utmost respect and hospitality.
The importance of affording dignity to all was underscored further for Everest in the summers, which she spent working at hotels owned by her family, and in college, where her internships took her to nonprofits dealing with helping victims overcome horrific trauma. “As I began to study hospitality and as I also learned more about what trauma does to people, I realized that hospitality can be used in how we treat people who need help. We have incorporated that philosophy into our client interactions at Palomar,” she says.
Everest’s story, like all of ours, has its share of love and personal heartbreak. Tragedy struck her family the summer before her senior year at Vanderbilt. Her younger brother Jimmy was diagnosed with cancer and died when he was just 17. Wise beyond his years and fully aware of his impending death, Jimmy taught the family how to cope and heal before he passed away, giving very specific instructions to his family. The children’s cancer and blood disorder center at Oklahoma City’s Children’s Hospital is now named for him
“Jimmy was very clear that he wanted me to continue on my path, which would help me move forward and heal, and that he wanted us to spend as much time together as a family after the initial shock of his death began to fade, so we could get used to the idea of being a family of four, instead of five,” she says.
Although she didn’t know it at the time, those two seemingly incongruous themes, hospitality and surviving trauma, would come together and shape the course of her life’s work. All she needed was a catalyst, which arrived in horrifying fashion one beautiful April morning in 1995. Everest was working in downtown Oklahoma City when the bomb went off. “I was working as a travel agent, and it was a great experience for me. I learned so much. But within two weeks of the bombing, I felt a huge divine calling to help children, so strong that I immediately gave notice, even though I didn’t know how I was going to answer the calling.”
When the universe wants something to happen, it happens. Positive Tomorrows, Oklahoma City’s school for homeless children, was hiring its first volunteer coordinator, and Everest got the job. “It just found me,” she says. “Once you follow a calling, you have to close the windows and watch for the door to open.”
From there, she joined the board at Calm Waters, which at the time was part of Baptist Hospital (now INTEGRIS). “I watched Gene Rainbolt orchestrate separating it from Baptist and guiding its board and leadership through becoming a stand-alone nonprofit. He was masterful, and watching that taught me how to create a nonprofit.”
Which is exactly what she’s done. Twice. The first one is ReMerge, founded in 2010. ReMerge is a comprehensive evidence-based female diversion program designed to transform pregnant women and mothers facing incarceration into productive citizens. Women with children facing non-violent crimes are given an opportunity for treatment and rehabilitation, providing an alternative to incarceration in Oklahoma County. When evidence-based alternatives to incarceration are offered, mothers can become productive citizens, capable of caring for themselves and their children and leading a crime-free future, thus breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty and incarceration.
The second one, Palomar, Oklahoma City’s Family Justice Center, opened in 2017 and goes even further to remove barriers to accessing the services that abuse victims need. It is victim-centered, safety-focused, survivor-driven, trauma-informed, and kind-hearted. On site are 47 nonprofits and agencies which offer wrap-around services ranging from counseling, legal assistance, child care and medical care. Key partners include the Oklahoma City Police Department, Rainbow Fleet, YWCA and many more.
“No matter what work I do with criminal justice, the arts, health and education, Palomar remains paramount. Through the adverse childhood experiences study we can predict who will have significant health issues and incarceration. Palomar partners represent varied federal, state and local disciplines that are changing the conversations, priorities and resources,” she says.
Everest also serves as a Trustee of E.L. and Thelma Gaylord Foundation and Chair of Inasmuch Foundation’s Advisory Committee. “Each year the Inasmuch and EL and Thelma Gaylord foundations receive hundreds of grant requests. I am most fortunate to learn about what so many people do and how they help.
I believe my role goes beyond being a good steward of financial assistance, rather also to tell their stories and connect people when I can to enhance missions and sustainability.
Her other philanthropic endeavors include Chair of Allied Arts, past-Chair of YMCA - the organization’s first female chair in its 128-year history - and service on numerous nonprofit boards.
photos: Ryan Magnani