Founder
Marlene Trzaska
Founder & Executive Director, Path to Thrive
Marlene Trzaska is the Founder and Executive Director of Path to Thrive, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering survivors of domestic violence, emotional abuse, and trauma through art, education, advocacy, and community. Path to Thrive also equips loved ones, professionals, and communities with the tools to recognize unhealthy relationship patterns, respond with compassion, and support healing.
Marlene is also a Registered Art Therapist, integrating the healing power of creative expression with trauma-informed care. Through art therapy, she helps individuals access emotions that are often difficult to put into words, creating safe pathways for processing trauma, rebuilding identity, and restoring a sense of control and self-worth.
As a survivor, Marlene understands that some of the deepest wounds cannot be seen. Her lived experience, combined with her clinical training in art therapy and years of studying trauma, resilience, and human behavior, inspired her to create an organization where awareness becomes understanding, pain becomes purpose, and survivors are empowered to thrive.
Through immersive art experiences, photography, storytelling, educational programs, and community partnerships, Marlene shines a light on coercive control, emotional abuse, and the lasting impact of trauma while creating spaces where survivors feel seen, heard, believed, and supported.
A business owner, artist, photographer, mother of two, and art therapist, Marlene believes healing is contagious. When one person heals, families grow stronger, communities become healthier, and future generations gain the opportunity to break cycles of harm.
Her vision reaches beyond traditional labels. She hopes to inspire a world where we stop defining one another by gender, wealth, education, profession, or background, and instead by the qualities that truly shape our relationships—integrity over manipulation, empathy over indifference, accountability over control, and compassion over harm. She believes our greatest measure is not who we are, but how we make others feel and the legacy we leave through our actions.
Marlene envisions Path to Thrive becoming a globally recognized leader in trauma-informed education, survivor advocacy, and healing through the arts—helping create a future where every relationship is built on dignity, respect, safety, and hope.
“Your story does not end with survival. Together, we can create a path to thrive.”