Jade Desmarais has an academic background in Anthropology and is a former apprentice funeral director who, before entering the death care industry, provided care for chimpanzees retired from biomedical research in the United States and Canada. She is an advocate for organ/tissue donation and has presented virtual educational information sessions on the topic. She dreams of a world where economically accessible, ecologically beneficial, and culturally sensitive death care are available to all. Jade currently works in the Autopsy and Decedent Affairs division of the Department of Pathology at Brigham & Women’s Hospital.
Liz Dunnebacke is the founder and Executive Director of Wake, a nonprofit deathcare service organization based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Liz also serves on the board of directors of the Green Burial Council International, and has a background in television production.
Heather Massey, MSW, is an end of life specialist, Death Educator,trainer, consultant, and Funeral Consumer Rights Advocate. She is passionate about reviving the ancient art of natural death care, at home and in community, and the many benefits therein for the environment and for grieving families. A former hospital Social Services Director and VNA/Hospice Administrator, she has 40+ years of experience caring for the dying, dead, and bereaved. A national speaker, she also curates and hosts several educational platforms on end of life, death, dying, post-death care and bereavement.
Amy Shea is an essayist with a PhD and MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow, where she wrote a collection of essays titled, Too Poor to Die: An Exploration of the Economic, Political, and Social Implications of Dying Homeless. Her work has appeared in The Missouri Review, Pangyrus, Portland Review, The Massachusetts Review, Spry Literary Journal, Fat City Review, From Glasgow to Saturn, End of Life Studies Group Blog & the Journal of Sociology of Health & Illness. She works as the Writing Program Director for Mount Tamalpais College, a free community college for the incarcerated people of San Quentin.
Equitable Disposition Alliance 