End Well 2024

Yvette Nicole Brown is an Emmy-nominated actress, writer, producer and host best known for her roles on the television shows: Community, The Mayor, Drake and Josh, The Odd Couple, Disney Plus’s Big Shot, and Act Your Age and films including Dreamgirls, Tropic Thunder, Avengers: Endgame, and Disney’s Disenchanted. She is also a 2020 NAACP Image Award Nominated writer for Always A Bridesmaid – the Romantic Comedy she penned and Executive Produced that is streaming on Netflix and BET+. Yvette sits on the National Boards of Donors Choose, EMILY’s List, MPTF Next Gen and SAG-AFTRA and is a caregiver and advocate.

J.S. Park is a hospital chaplain, published author, and online educator. For nearly nine years he has been an interfaith chaplain at a 1000+ bed hospital that is designated a Level 1 Trauma Center. His role includes grief counseling, attending every death, every trauma and Code Blue, staff care, and supporting end-of-life care.

J.S. also served for three years as a chaplain at one of the largest nonprofit charities for the homeless on the east coast. J.S. has a MDiv completed in 2010 and a BA in Psychology. He also has a sixth-degree black belt. He is the author of As Long as You Need: Permission to Grieve, releasing April 16th, 2024 and published by W Publishing of HarperCollins Christian Publishing.

J.S. currently lives in Tampa, Florida with his wife, a nurse practitioner, and his daughter, newborn son, and adopted dog.

Roshi Joan Halifax, Ph.D. is a Buddhist teacher, Founder and Head Teacher of Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a social activist, author, and in her early years was an anthropologist at Columbia University (1964-68) and University of Miami School of Medicine (1970-72). She is a pioneer in the field of end-of-life care. She has lectured on the subject of death and dying at many academic institutions and medical centers around the world. She received a National Science Foundation Fellowship in Visual Anthropology, was an Honorary Research Fellow in Medical Ethnobotany at Harvard University, was a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Library of Congress, received the Pioneer Medal for Outstanding Leadership in Health Care by HealthCare Chaplaincy, the Sandy MacKinnon Award from Covenant Health in Canada, Pioneer Medal for Outstanding Leadership in Health Care, received an Honorary DSc from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She has received many other awards and honors from institutions around the world for her work as a social and environmental activist and in the end-of-life care field.

From 1972-1975, she worked with psychiatrist Stanislav Grof at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center with dying cancer patients. She has continued to work with dying people and their families, and to teach health care professionals and family caregivers the psycho-social, ethical and spiritual aspects of care of the dying. She is Director of the Project on Being with Dying, and Founder of the Upaya Prison Project that develops programs on meditation for prisoners. She is also founder of the Nomads Clinic in Nepal.

Her books include: The Human Encounter with Death (with Stanislav Grof); The Fruitful Darkness, A Journey Through Buddhist Practice; Simplicity in the Complex: A Buddhist Life in America; Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Wisdom in the Presence of Death; Standing at the Edge:Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet; Sophie Learns to Be Brave; and her latest work, In a Moment, In a Breath.

She has been involved with the Mind and Life Institute since its inception and is founder of the Varela International Symposium.

For more about Roshi Joan’s life and work, please visit her website: www.joanhalifax.org.

Lisa Keefauver, MSW is a grief activist with more than two decades of professional experiences with grief and loss; working as a social worker, narrative therapist, and educator within multiple settings from non-profits to corporations and universities. Lisa’s wisdom and understanding of grief is also embodied from her personal losses including the death of her husband Eric from Brain Cancer in 2011.

Lisa’s grief advocacy led her to found Reimagining Grief, with a mission to illuminate and dismantle the limited and misleading collective story of grief that causes so much unnecessary suffering. It also inspired her to create and host the top-rated podcast, Grief is a Sneaky Bitch; serve as an adjunct professor of Loss and Grief at the University of Texas at Austin; act as an organizational consultant to facilitate grief-smart organizations; write/appear as a thought leader across media platforms and as a keynote speaker. 

Just before beginning treatment for Triple Positive Breast Cancer in 2023, she took to the TEDx stage to deliver her, Why Knowing More About Grief Can Make it Suck Less. Learn more about why she is on a mission to change the narratives of grief by watching her Media Maker Profile by Medicinal Media. You can pre-order her heavily anticipated book, Grief Is A Sneaky Bitch: An Uncensored Guide to Navigating Loss now. It arrives in bookstores June 4, 2024.

Tembi Locke is the New York Times bestselling author of her memoir From Scratch, and an actor, producer, and screenwriter with a passion for connecting with an audience both on the page and on the screen. From Scratch is a Reese’s Book Club pick, an Audie Awards Best Audiobook Finalist, and a Goodreads Best Books Finalist. Along with Reese Witherspoon and Hello Sunshine, Tembi served as an executive producer and co-writer for the hit Netflix limited series inspired by her book.

Tembi thrives at the intersection of storytelling and advocacy. She credits her advocacy work to beginning with her parents, who always encouraged her to do her part in nurturing a more just and humane world. Tembi speaks on healing after loss, reclaiming your personal narrative, everyday resilience, creativity and the deep belonging found through human connection. Her work includes giving a TEDx talk, keynotes around the country, and being an ambassador to organizations doing the vital work of changing our systems and society for the better. She is also a prolific actor, who cut her teeth with iconic comedies like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Friends before going on to star in over sixty television shows including The Magicians, Bones, NCIS, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and the global hit Never Have I Ever. Through all of Tembi’s ventures, her hope is for her work to inspire people to love more deeply, embrace resilience, and honor the fundamental humanity that connects us all.

When not on set or with family, Tembi is at work on her forthcoming book. An intimate and interweaving look at family history and her pilgrimage to uncovering lost stories, it is a book of optimism and reckoning.

Jared Rubenstein, MD is a pediatric palliative care doctor and medical educator at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, TX, USA.  He is passionate about helping people talk about difficult things and believes that the use of satire, animation, and humor can facilitate these conversations.  When he’s not talking about palliative care, he loves traveling and spending time in nature with his wonderful wife and two hilarious kids.

Lindsay Brant has been a critical care nurse in the Cardiothoracic ICU at UCLA Health for over a decade. Along with a rigorous and perceptive clinical approach, she is a trained Integrative Therapist and Death Doula, equipped with a diverse skill set to engage the mind, energy and spirit of each patient while tending to the body. Lindsay founded and chairs COMMUNITY, a nurse-led committee whose mission is to promote inclusivity, transparency and resilience in the CTICU and to ask the question, how can we show up for each other as we serve and ensure the dignity and autonomy of our patients? Lindsay believes in and practices the power of service. As a member of Upaya Nomads Clinic, alongside Nepali and western clinicians, she provides medical care and practical support to the high-altitude communities of the Himalayas.

Dr. Qwynn Galloway-Salazar, affectionately known as Doc Q, is the Founder and CEO of In Their Honor. As an Army Veteran, Spouse to a Combat Veteran, End-of-Life Doula, Storyteller, and Educator, she has devoted over two decades to supporting military and Veteran communities. Through her visionary leadership, she has fostered national conversations and shaped programming addressing the unique needs of Veterans and their caregivers, promoting quality of life through the end of life. 

In 2023, her groundbreaking work alongside PsychArmor Institute on the “Caring for Veterans Through the End-of-Life Collection,” launched. The collection addresses the challenges faced by Veterans and offers invaluable guidance and support for Compassionate Communities, Caregivers/Loved Ones, and Healthcare Providers.

Beyond her role at In Their Honor, Qwynn remains deeply engaged in supporting various organizations dedicated to military and Veteran communities. She lends her expertise to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s End-of-Life Doula Council and sits on the Veterans Studies Association advisory board. She is also a founding member of the Compassionate Communities Think Tank (U.S.). In her spare time, she mentors Master’s and Doctoral students, nurturing the next generation of leaders in her field.

Qwynn’s tireless efforts have garnered well-deserved recognition, with USA Today honoring her as one of their 2024 Women of the Year. This prestigious accolade, coupled with her previous distinction as the inaugural Woman Veteran of the Year (2022-2023) by the Georgia Department of Veterans Services, is a testament to her impact on her community and the nation at large.

Adimika Arthur, “Madam Medicaid,” is a hospital/health system leader, social entrepreneur, board member and revolutionary changemaker. An experienced clinical epidemiologist and hospital/health system executive, she currently serves as the Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Executive Director for Health Tech for Medicaid (HT4M), a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting innovation in Medicaid, the nations’ largest insurer. By further improving the quality, equity and access to care for vulnerable Medicaid populations, their families and communities, HT4M is radically changing the pace of innovation in Medicaid through innovative program service delivery, infrastructure/ecosystem development and issue/policy advocacy

D.S. Moss is a Humanist (nontheist) Chaplain unwavering in his pursuit to relate stories that connect us to our humanity. A natural explorer, he uses playful inquisition to examine the complexity of the human condition and the intrinsic meaning of life. Moss maintains an interdisciplinary practice of storytelling, street philosophy, and practical altruism. In 2015, Moss created The Adventures of Memento Mori podcast.. The consequence of this deep meditation on impermanence was life-changing. Uncertain of what happens after we die, Moss has dedicated his life to the positive changes that can happen while we’re still alive.

J.J. Duncan is an Executive Producer of The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning

and Bravo’s mega-hit: Project Runway. She is a writer, a  health-care advocate, and a public speaker. She is also a mom, a wife-of-a wife, and an exuberant story teller at most any dinner party. In short – J.J. is busy.

Darnell Lamont Walker is an Emmy-Nominated children’s television writer who understands the power of representation and joy, creating content in hopes that all children get the opportunity to not only see themselves, but see how incredible they are and can be. Darnell has written for outstanding shows, including PBS Kids’ Work It Out Wombats!, Netflix’s Karma’s World, and Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues & You. He’s a death doula, helping individuals and communities move through grief and toward healing and happiness. Currently living between the Chattahoochee National Forest of Georgia and Johannesburg, South Africa, Darnell’s goal is to continue to support children, adults, and whole communities around the world through the building of safe and happy spaces.

Hui-wen is a pediatric ICU nurse based in Los Angeles. She holds an MPH and MSN from UCLA, and is currently obtaining her Certification in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University. She has been published in the American Journal of Nursing (AJN), Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine, the Oxford Handbook of Meaningful Work, and The Healer’s Burden: Stories and Poems of Professional Grief. She is a regular contributor to AJN’s blog, Off the Charts. She has been a keynote speaker for various local and national nursing conferences. Her 2017 TEDxTalk was promoted to the main TED webpage in 2020, titled “How Grief Helped Me Become a Better Caregiver.” She has been featured in podcasts with NPR TED Radio Hour, The Silent Why, Grief is a Sneaky B!tch, and The Apologies Podcast, as well as webinars for Happify and the Speaking Grief Initiative. She and her husband have two daughters, two tortoises and one complicated dog. You can follow her work at http://heartofnursing.blog.

Claire Bidwell Smith is a therapist specializing in grief and the author of multiple books including Conscious Grieving and Anxiety: The Missing Stage of Grief and her work has created new and innovative ways to heal and transform through her grief and loss. Led by her own experiences with grief and fueled by her work in hospice and private practice, Claire strives to provide support for all kinds of people experiencing all kinds of loss. Claire offers numerous programs in addition to working with people one-on-one, as well as training other clinicians to work in the field of grief and loss. Claire has been featured in and written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Scientific American, The LA Times, CNN, MSNBC, Forbes, The Today Show, Goop, Oprah Magazine, and Psychology Today. She deeply loves her work and is devoted to expanding the conversation about grief and loss. www.clairebidwellsmith.com

Dr Anthony Back is Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington. He was educated at Stanford University and Harvard Medical School, and did his postgraduate medical training at the University of Washington in Seattle and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. His research into patient-oncologist communication, funded by the National Cancer Institute and numerous other foundations, led to the founding of VitalTalk, a 501c3 with the mission of disseminating communication skill training to doctors and nurses who care for patients with a serious illness and their families. VitalTalk is one of the most successful non-profit startups in medical education and has trained >800 faculty who teach workshops that have reached >28000 clinicians to date. In 2018, Dr Back turned his attention to psychedelic therapy, writing what remains the only first person account by a physician of a guided psychedelic experience to be published in a medical journal (“What Psilocybin Taught Me About Dying”). He is now conducting the first clinical trial of psilocybin-assisted therapy for doctors and nurses with symptoms of depression and burnout associated with their frontline work in the COVID pandemic, funded by the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation and covered by NBC, National Public Radio, and Forbes. His second study in psychedelic medicine is a study of a group psilocybin-assisted therapy for patients with metastatic cancer.

Hal Hershfield is a Professor of Marketing, Behavioral Decision Making, and Psychology at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. His research, which sits at the intersection of psychology and economics, examines the ways we can improve our long-term decisions. 

Hershfield’s book, Your Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better Today, was published in June. Hal publishes in top academic journals and also contributes op-eds to the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, the Wall Street Journal, and other outlets. He consults with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, many financial services firms such as Fidelity, First Republic, Prudential, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and Avantis, and marketing agencies such as Droga5. The recipient of numerous teaching awards, Hershfield was named one of “The 40 Most Outstanding B-School Profs Under 40 In The World” by business education website Poets & Quants.

Ai-jen Poo is a next-generation labor leader, award-winning organizer, author, and a leading voice in the women’s movement. She is the President of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Executive Director of Caring Across Generations, Senior Advisor to Care in Action, Co-Founder of SuperMajority and Trustee of the Ford Foundation. Ai-jen is a nationally recognized expert on caregiving, the future of work, and organizing. She is the author of the celebrated book, The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America. Together with Alicia Garza, Ai-jen co-hosts the podcast, Sunstorm. Follow her at @aijenpoo.

She has been recognized among Fortune’s 50 World’s Greatest Leaders and Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, and she has been the recipient of countless awards, including a 2014 MacArthur “Genius” Award.  Ai-jen has been a featured speaker at TEDWomen, Aspen Ideas Festival, Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, Skoll World Forum, and the Obama Foundation Inaugural Summit. She has made TV appearances on Nightline, MSNBC, and CBS, and her writing has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME, Maire Claire, Glamour, Cosmopolitan and CNN.com among others. Ai-jen has been an influential voice in the #MeToo movement and attended the 2018 Golden Globe Awards with Meryl Streep as part of the launch of #TimesUp.

Filmmaker, Director, Producer

Louie Schwartzberg is an award-winning cinematographer, director and producer who has spent his career providing breathtaking imagery using time-lapse, high-speed and macro cinematography techniques. Stunningly life-like, his high-resolution immersive films that celebrate life seamlessly bring nature and technology together to transform physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing. Louie is now pioneering the field of Visual Healing through research partnerships with the Providence Saint John’s Pacific Neuroscience Institute, University of California San Diego, University of California San Francisco, the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas and more.

Manager, Advocate

Music manager, Remington Rhodes, was thrust into the role of primary caregiver for his brother, Harry Hudson, when they were both in their early 20s. Having seen the challenges the healthcare system places on people with serious illness and their families, as well as the lack of resources for youth and young adults, Harry and Remington founded the charity Hey I’m Here For You (HIHFY) to support young people undergoing cancer treatment by providing resources to help them discover and pursue their passions.

Healthcare Change Agent, Advocate

Simon Davies, MSW; Hon DEd, is Executive Director, Teen Cancer America, the only national nonprofit working directly with hospitals to advise, support and fund them in the development of specialized programs and facilities for adolescents and young adults with cancer. His early career was in the management of substantial social and health care services in the fields of Learning Disability and Mental Health. Awarded an honorary Doctorate in Education by University of Coventry for the advancement of AYA professional education, Simon has developed an international reputation for success in bringing about change within traditionally structured health systems.

Policy Expert, Storyteller

Andrew MacPherson is Founding Principal and Managing Partner at Healthsperien, LLC, with two decades of federal and state health care legislative and regulatory policy and political experience. As Managing Partner, Andrew co-leads a team of over forty experts who specialize in developing comprehensive legislative and regulatory policy strategies, in-depth analyses, and strategic advocacy and communications initiatives for a wide-range of healthcare organizations, including Fortune 100 businesses, public sector purchasers, national health plans, professional associations, issue-based coalitions, health care start-ups and market innovators, and not-for-profit providers. Andrew has been featured in a variety of national media outlets on a range of health policy issues, including The Washington Post, Health Affairs, InsideHealthPolicy, Home Health Care News, Scripps News, The Messenger, and National Public Radio.

Andrew has a special emphasis and speaks regularly to national audiences on policy and political issues related to person-centered health care delivery transformation, including the public health crisis of social isolation and loneliness in the U.S., value-based insurance design (V-BID), and person-centered advanced illness and end-of-life care delivery. Andrew has been featured in a variety of national media outlets on a range of health policy issues, including The Washington Post, Health Affairs, InsideHealthPolicy, Home Health Care News, Scripps News, The Messenger, and National Public Radio.

Shoshana Ungerleider, MD is an internal medicine physician, the host of the TED Health Podcast and leading voice in healthcare who regularly appears as a medical expert voice on CNN, MSNBC and CBS News. She has been involved with 2 Academy Award-nominated Netflix documentaries on end of life. During her training and early years practicing medicine, she often found herself caring for frail, often older patients who were alone, suffering in pain and surrounded by strangers in a hospital setting. Shoshana knew there had to be a better way, a way to make the end of life more dignified and human-centered so that ending well became a measure of living well. She founded End Well in 2017 to do just that.