Board of Directors

Michaeleen (Micki) Burns, PhD, is the Chief Executive Officer at Judi's House/JAG Institute and adjunct faculty at the University of Colorado. JH/JAG is a comprehensive family bereavement center in Denver. A Licensed Psychologist with two decades of experience providing therapeutic assessment and support to families facing adversity, Micki has witnessed the lasting impact of unaddressed grief. She is dedicated to ensuring appropriate care is available for all and raising childhood bereavement to a level of critical public importance. At JH/JAG she oversees the direct service, research, and training departments working towards a vision where no child is alone in grief.

Adam D-F. Stevens (they|them), MA, RDT are a Registered Drama Therapist (RDT) who works primarily with adolescents in the Tri-state area. They have worked with the Hetrick-Martin Institute and Cooke School & Institute in NYC. Adam's role includes supporting queer, POC, and neurodiverse youth in transforming their loss, grief, and trauma into unapologetic, abundant joy and empowerment. Adam serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Creative Arts Therapy Programs at Antioch University in Seattle, and New York University and Marymount Manhattan College in NYC. Adam currently sits on the Board of Directors for the National Alliance for Children's Grief (NACG). They have sat on the Board of Directors for the North American Drama Therapy Association (NADTA) as Chair of the Cultural Humility, Equity, and Diversity Committee, and now as the President-elect. Adam works to support theatrical productions on and Off-Broadway as an emotional wellness consultant. They were named Artistic Director for the Collideoscope Repertory Theatre Company (CRTC) by NYU in 2020. CRTC’s mission is to advance racial justice and healing through artful affinity and performance. They were recently awarded the NADTA Raymond Jacobs Memorial Diversity Award and the NADTA Performance Award for their work with CRTC and in recognition of their outstanding dedication to diversity in the field of drama therapy, through advocacy, championing a diverse membership, and working to increase skill, awareness, and cultural humility. Their research focuses on offering space for Black clients to reclaim racialized roles and deconstruct stereotypes connected to generational and historical trauma and grief. Adam's superpowers are rooted in the fantastical forces of creativity and love.

Jim Santucci, CPA, is a graduate of the U.S Military Academy. Jim served four years in the active duty Army as an Infantry officer with the 25th Infantry Division and later commanded the 227th Engineer Company while a member of the Hawaii National Guard. After his 10-year-old daughter died in 2008, he received support from Kara, a non-profit grief services agency in Palo Alto California. Soon after he began volunteer work for organizations advocating for pediatric palliative care (Children's Hospice & Palliative Care Coalition, Coalition for Compassionate Care of California) and supporting bereaved parents and individuals (Kara, Lucile Packard Family Partners Group). In November of 2013, Jim became the Executive Director of Kara. In addition to his daily chief executive responsibilities, he is a peer group facilitator for parents who have suffered the loss of a child and serves annually as a counselor at Camp Kara (a weekend bereavement camp for children and teens). His non-profit service also includes time with Children's Health Council in Palo Alto and over 19 years of operations management for two faith- based organizations. He is a Certified Public Accountant.

Jennifer Wiles, MA, LMHC, BC-DMT, is the Director of the HEARTplay Program and Camp Erin Boston at Good Shepherd Community Care in Newton, MA. She has directed these programs since 2012, and has overseen their growth and expansion during this time. During her tenure, HEARTplay has been the recipient of several grants from both local and nationally-based organizations. Jennifer has taught and trained people in the field of children’s bereavement and expressive therapy locally, nationally and internationally. Her current project, Expanding the Language of Grief, is focused on providing access to compassionate grief support services to people of all abilities. Jennifer is a board-certified dance movement therapist/licensed mental health counselor and is on the adjunct faculty at Lesley University’s Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences where she also serves as a clinical site supervisor. She has taught grief counseling and dance movement therapy at the Apollo Institute, Beijing, China. She was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief where she also chairs the Education Committee. She received a certificate in Nonprofit Management from The MetroWest Nonprofit Network/Framingham State University in 2021. She is a professional member of the New England Children’s Bereavement Network, the MA Mental Health Counselors Association, the MA Coalition for Serious Illness Care, The American Dance Therapy Association, The National Alliance for Children’s Grief, and the Association for Death Education and Counseling.

Debbie Meyer has extensive background in leading nonprofits as the present executive director for Erin’s House for Grieving Children the past 15 years and, prior to that, the leader of Children’s Hope Hospital Hospitality House. She also spent time as the marketing director for a winning Indianapolis 500 race car driver and has over 20 years’ experience as an executive in corporate marketing.

Debbie is an adjunct professor at Huntington University since 2014 teaching classes in grant writing, nonprofit management, and leadership. Most recently, she participated in the Foellinger Foundation Leadership Lab—a one-year program comprised of twelve Northeast Indiana leaders and designed to develop adaptive leadership skills.

Debbie is proud of her time as former board member and secretary on the executive committee for the National Alliance for Children’s Grief (NACG). She has also served as a board member for Cancer Services of Northeast Indiana, Visiting Nurse, and Leadership Fort Wayne.

She has a bachelor’s degree in business management from Indiana Wesleyan University and a master’s degree in nonprofit administration from University of Central Florida—obtaining these while working full-time and raising a family. In April 2021, Debbie became a Certified Leadership Coach through the International Coaching Federation and Certified Coaches Alliance.

In her spare time, she loves to read, travel, cheer on Indiana University basketball and Notre Dame football with her family, and help at her church.

Fun fact: Erin’s House and Debbie are a featured chapter in American Spirit by Taya Kyle and Jim DeFelice, 2019 – Pages 164-172

Lisa grew up in Stamford, CT and received her B.A. in Economics from Yale University and her M.B.A. from Stanford University. She and her husband, Peter, moved to Atlanta in 1996 to open the southeastern office of Bain & Company, a strategy consulting firm. Lisa joined Kate’s Club as its Executive Director in March of 2021. Kate’s Club is a non-profit empowering children and teens, their families, and young adults, facing life after the death of someone important to them. Lisa also serves on several non-profit boards including ACLU of Georgia and Horizons Atlanta. Kate’s Club resonates with Lisa both personally and professionally. When three-year-old Lisa’s brother died suddenly and her family did not have the tools to understand, share or process their grief. This single event shaped all their lives, both individually and collectively. Professionally, Lisa joined Kate’s Club with a vision for growth – to lead this 20-year-old non-profit based in Atlanta to a statewide organization serving the hundreds of thousands of bereaved young people in all of Georgia. In her free time, Lisa enjoys gardening, running, traveling, and visiting her three grown children.

Dr. Tashel Bordere, CT is a Researcher and Adjunct Professor in the Center for Family Policy & Research, Human Development and Family Science at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She currently serves as Board Member of the Association for Death Education and Counseling, Board Member of the National Alliance for Grieving Children, and Advisory Council Member of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). She has specialized education and training as a Certified Thanatologist (Death, Dying, and Grief). She has served as Editor of the ADEC Forum publication. Dr. Bordere’s research program assumes a contextual approach focusing on trauma, loss (homicide loss, assaultive violence – sexual assault), suffocated grief and Black youth and family bereavement. She studies cultural practices that promote healing and survival. Dr. Bordere has done numerous workshops, consultations, keynotes, and published research relating to social inequities and culturally responsive practices in loss including her co-edited/co-authored book, Handbook of Social Justice in Loss and Grief (Routledge). She recently completed a Forward Promise Fellowship through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focusing on the promotion of healing, growth, and thriving among boys and young men of color. Dr. Bordere has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the Ronald K. Barrett Award (2018) from the Association of Death Education and Counseling for research on Black adolescent and young adult grief, 2022 Excellence in Engagement in Outreach Award at the University of Missouri, and the CASE Award for outstanding faculty mentorship to underrepresented college students. She has been featured in multiple media outlets including USA Today, New York Times, Legacy.Com, Psychology Today, Houston Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquirer, NPR (WPSU Take Note), on national and international podcasts (Grief Outloud - Dougy Center), and webcasts (National Alliance for Grieving Children), and the Open to Hope Cable Show – Saving At Risk Youth. Dr. Bordere developed the S.H.E.D. Loss and Grief Tools Training.

For the past 40 years, Kevin Carter, MSW, LCSW, has spent his career working in several formal and informal capacities focused on helping families heal after facing a traumatic event in life. Kevin has worked in a range of human service and academic institutions across the country and is a highly respected and nationally known clinician, administrator, and educator. This long-spanning career in service, combined with his natural lived experience in service, has allowed Kevin to develop a perspective that very few practitioners can obtain.

Kevin has a strong belief that his approach to accomplishing his established goals starts with examining the impact of childhood loss and grief experiences from the lens of his psychosocial development as an African American male growing up in the South and as a social work practitioner. Kevin believes that despite growth in understanding African American grief, there is a need for developing approaches to education and intervention that inspire hope and courage to make a change. He further believes that the emphasis on perceived pathology and the problem-focused approach has led social workers to shy away from advocacy and prosocial approaches to healing in communities of color.

Kevin feels that the clinical field has had a long history of practice with African American individuals, families, and communities who are coping with grief and trauma. A foundational element of this practice is to challenge social injustice. He hopes that his approach to issues through his consulting platform will help participants to develop historical and contemporary frameworks for understanding how African American children and families cope with grief and ongoing injustices related to death, dying and living by exploring systemic and relational approaches that honor the unique cultural and historical experiences of African Americans.

Dr. Chiapa has worked in various settings and across populations and lifespan, with an increasing focus in working with pediatric populations. Dr. Amanda Chiapa (she/her) attended graduate school at Arizona State University (2017) and completed an APA-accredited internship at the Yale Child Study Center, where she specialized in the Pediatric track. She remained at Yale for her post-doctoral fellowship and pursued an additional post-doctoral fellowship at MassGeneral for Children at North Shore Medical Center, where she gained continued training in pediatric neuropsychological and psychological assessments and working with psychiatrically acute children and adolescents. Following training, Dr. Chiapa provided therapy to children and adults through private practice and continued her focus in anxiety, coping with medical illness, and social pragmatic concerns. She also provided neuropsychological assessments to children and adolescents. Following private practice, she returned to the Yale Child Study Center as faculty and provided a range of assessment and program development skills, where she honed her expertise in working with pediatric populations and cultivated a passion for working with healthcare providers around grief-sensitive healthcare. Dr. Chiapa was privileged to transition to Oregon Health and Science University as director of the inpatient Pediatric Psychology Consultation/Liaison (PPC) Service for Doernbecher Children’s Hospital (DCH), where she has effortfully pursued roles on committees and leadership titles that are in line with her professional aims to serve and to train. As the Psychology Division’s JEDI Associate Director and affiliate faculty of the Clinical Psychology Program, she has been actively working to bolster support for graduate students and psychology interns and postdoctoral fellows, with current efforts aimed at co-leading a tiered mentorship program for trainees who identify as BIPoC. She is also a member of DCH’s Department of Pediatrics Diversity Committee, Pediatric Behavioral Health Best Practice and Quality Improvement committees and co-leads the Bereavement Committee, where she leans on her clinical and academic foundation to help optimize experiences for patients and staff. Dr. Chiapa is passionate about seeking equitable ways to provide family-centered healthcare through a socio-culturally informed lens, with particular interests related to anxiety, adjustment and coping to medical illness, and grief and loss. Dr. Chiapa’s training focused on culturally-informed intervention development, implementation, and evaluation, with clinical residencies intentionally in healthcare settings that served marginalized communities. Her professional pursuit draws from this training to consider the various ways providers can promote equitable healthcare and resources and support families with compassion and dignity. On the weekends, Dr. Chiapa enjoys exploring coffee shops, playgrounds, and listening to music with her husband and two young children.

Allen L. Dave, Jr. is Chairman and President of Death Care Management & Financial Group and President of Allen Dave Funeral Homes and Crematorium of Texas and the Shreveport Funeral Home & Cremation Tribute Center. A National Board-Certified Funeral Director and Certified Funeral Executive, he has held leadership roles across the funeral profession and served on the ICCFA Board of Directors and Educational Foundation. Allen is also a national speaker and educator, recognized for his expertise in funeral service management and commitment to supporting grieving families.

Cathy Fox, MSW, serves as Assistant Professor and Field Education Director for the Social Work Program at Creighton University. As an alum of the program herself, she enjoys educating and supporting students as they prepare to become future helping professionals. Prior to moving to academia, she served over eight years as the Program Director and Director of Operations at Grief’s Journey, a center for grieving families in Omaha, NE. Her expertise includes social work practice in the field of grief and loss, grounded in trauma, child development, and family systems, with a strong background in mental health, suicide, and nonprofit administration. She formerly served on the Board of Directors for NASW-NE (National Association of Social Workers); is an active member of NASW, NACG Education Committee, Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors (BPD), and Council on Social Work Education (CSWE); and regularly presents at national conferences for these organizations. As a college faculty working with rising professionals, she has a particular interest in self-care, trauma-informed classrooms, and mental health among young adults.

Ryan Loiselle, MSW, LICSW is the program director for FRIENDS WAY. In his role, Ryan manages the day-to-day operations including intake, referrals and community outreach, as well as supervising the volunteer facilitators. In 2001, Ryan began his tenure at FRIENDS WAY as a volunteer group facilitator. He has been the program director since 2011. Prior to joining FRIENDS WAY, he worked at Merrimack Valley Hospice with a concentration in pediatric palliative care and children’s bereavement. He also served as the program director of “Jeff’s Place”, a bereavement center in Wayland, MA created by FRIENDS WAY founder, Jenny Kaplan. Ryan studied at the University of Rhode Island and received his degree in Human Development and Family Studies, with a minor in Thanatology (the study of death, loss, grief, and bereavement). He went on to Simmons College in Boston, MA and received his master’s in social work. Ryan also has a private practice, Rhode Island Grief Counseling, LLC in Providence, RI. Additionally, he has presented at several conferences for NASW (National Association of Social Workers) and for NACG (National Alliance for Children's Grief) on children's bereavement. He joined the board of directors for the NACG in January 2022.

Holly is an operations and strategy manager specializing in healthcare philanthropy and nonprofit development. She currently serves as Operations and Strategy Manager at Mount Nittany Health Foundation, overseeing strategic planning, daily operations, and fundraising initiatives. In addition to her experience in project management, donor relations, and foundation partnerships, Holly is a licensed attorney, bringing legal expertise to her work in gift planning and organizational strategy. She previously held advancement roles at Penn State University and Kettering University, managing complex initiatives and strengthening donor partnerships. Outside of work, Holly enjoys reading, coffee, and embarking on fun road trips.

Annette R. March-Grier, RN., C.F.S.P., is a native Baltimorean, and Vice President of a family business; March Funeral Homes located in Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia. She is a registered nurse, a mortician and the visionary of Roberta’s House Inc., a non-profit Family Grief Support Center founded in 2007, by the March family in honor of their matriarch, Julia Roberta March. Annette is the President, and has lead the way for grief education and support for grieving children and families in Baltimore for more than 38 years. A teacher, counselor, trainer and leader, with her compassionate staff, provides a safe place for children and adults to heal and recover from the death of someone close. Roberta’s House provides trauma informed care and addresses grief as a public health service through education and over 15 peer support programs. Children, adults, and families suffering the loss or death of a loved one receive support and a safe place to heal and recover. To date Roberta’s House has provided support services to

more than 10,000 children and adults and trained over 800 community volunteers that support their programs. Roberta’s House conducts grief support programs for individuals of all ages and types of death losses as well as professional workshops for the community. It is the first bereavement center to be founded by African Americans in the U.S. to address the inequities for people of color with grief and mental health resources.

In January of 2021, March-Grier fundraised and successfully completed the construction of the first bereavement center in Baltimore Maryland to serve children and families. The center is located on the same landmark that her parents operated the funeral home from 1957-1980. The 22,000 square foot facility is a state of the art bereavement center that is one of a kind in the US to provide bereavement care and counseling for the underserved and people of color.

Annette is a recipient of numerous awards and achievements. She received the National Caring Award in October, 2016 which includes her induction into the Caring Hall of Fame located in the Frederick Douglas Museum on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. In addition, she was selected by CNN, the world leader in news, as one of the top ten CNN heroes, 2014 for changing the world.

Brianne L. Overton, Ph.D., FT, LPC-S, NCC, is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Illinois and Missouri. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Education in Counseling and Master of Education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of Missouri–St. Louis, and her MA in Thanatology from Hood College. She is the author of My Grief Comfort Book – Creative Activities to Help Kids Cope with Loss and Keep Memories Alive. Her current research explores the grief gap and its impact on BIPOC, young adults navigating terminal illness and changes to their life trajectory, as well as supporting bereaved family members after loss. Dr. Overton has extensive experience working in nonprofit settings, supporting grieving youth and families who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling, or primary caregiver by providing resources, advocacy, and education. She previously served as Chief Clinical Officer for Experience Camps, a national nonprofit that offers no-fee, clinically informed programs for children who have experienced death-related losses. In addition to educating and supervising master’s level clinicians, she has spent 18 years in thanatology, offering grief counseling, death education, suicide prevention and intervention, and consultation.

Leila W. Salisbury is the executive director of The Kentucky Center for Grieving Children and Families (KCGCF), which she founded in 2020. She currently serves on the Membership Committee of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief. She is trained on the Peer Healing Curriculum as part of a pilot program with the University of Chicago Medical School; the KCGCF is one of two pilot sites in the country for this teen-led, evidence-based grief support curriculum. She has also worked as a volunteer with the McClean Fletcher Center (a children’s grief center in Jackson, MS) and raised a grieving child after her husband died when her daughter was 5. Prior to founding the KCGCF, she spent 25 years in scholarly publishing, serving as director of the University Press of Mississippi and the University Press of Kentucky. In these roles, she was also active in the Association of American University Presses, serving on its board of directors and numerous committees. She is a graduate of Davidson College (NC) and has a MA from the University of Kentucky.

Lindsey Whissel Fenton (she/her) is an Emmy award-winning content creator, outreach strategist, and learning designer. In her current role as a senior producer and director at PBS/NPR affiliate WPSU, Lindsey focuses on projects related to grief, trauma, and mental health. She produced and directed Speaking Grief, a multiplatform initiative that works to create a more grief-aware society. Lindsey has presented to a variety of organizations, including the National Alliance for Children’s Grief (NACG), the Association for Death Education Counseling (ADEC), the PBS Annual Meeting, and Comic Con San Diego, among others. She serves on the board of advisors for the NACG and the communications committee for ADEC. Lindsey 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 reader, and a rock climber.