NEDA Board of Directors

Board Members

President, Ashley Johnson is an alumnus of the University of Florida, a licensed direct disposer, and a trained end-of-life doula. Ashley has earned a NEDA proficiency badge, belongs to the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association (ICCFA) and Florida Palliative Care Coalition. Her death care career was inspired by growing up in a low socio-economic neighborhood that lacked advocacy on how to deal with end-of-life practices. With more than a decade in the end-of-life care industry ranging from forensic anthropology to whole-body donation, she launched Loyal Hands an end-of-life doula consulting agency to provide education, services, resources, and companionship to agencies, the elderly, and even the healthy as everyone has an end-of-life journey. Having served NEDA board since 2020 as secretary, she brings a wealth of experience and strong leadership experience to the NEDA presidency. Ashley volunteers at several local hospices and non-profits and serves as the “Get Your Rear in Gear” 5k run/walk event director for the Colon Cancer Coalition. Ashley lives in Orlando, Florida. Feel free to email her at [email protected].

Vice President, Michelle Thornhill is a graduate of Eastern University, and Founder of Legacy & Hope, LLC, a boutique company that helps individuals & organizations with grief, loss, bereavement, and end of life care. She is a licensed Advanced Certified Grief Specialist and an End-of-Life Doula, as well as a highly sought-after speaker and consultant who is called to assist communities in crisis. Michelle’s vast industry experience in funeral service and end-of-life started in 1985. She is a former Managing Director of historic cemeteries, overseeing budgets upwards of $3 million dollars and 1800 burials annually. Michelle is the Philadelphia Chapter President for the International Association of Women, a global networking organization of experts, entrepreneurs, and employees who are seeking to enhance their careers and expand their businesses. Michelle formerly co-chaired NEDA’S Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and is a current Advisory Board Member for Girls Leading Africa. Her professional memberships include NEDA, the National Home Funeral Alliance (NHFA), and the Hospice Foundation of America (HFA). Michelle lives in the Philadelphia, PA area. Feel free to email her at
[email protected].

Secretary, McKenna Reinhard is an alumnus of Grand Canyon University, where she earned a Master of Science in Mental Health and Wellness with an Emphasis in Grief and Bereavement. She is also a trained end-of-life doula through Going with Grace and the University of Vermont and has earned a NEDA proficiency badge. She started her career working in healthcare, which inspired her to move into grief and end-of-life work as she realized the lack of support for these areas within the healthcare system. She founded Time Enough, LLC. to provide unintimidating and personable end-of-life services and education. In her doula work, she has focused on grief support for non-death losses, advance care planning for people under 50, and end-of-life support for companion animals and their people. McKenna is also a member of the Arizona End of Life Care Partnership (AzEOLCP), the largest funded end-of-life community-based partnership of its kind in the U.S. As a member of the AzEOLCP, McKenna was Co-Chair of the Community-Based Education Action Team which focused on creating educational events and materials around end-of-life topics with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. McKenna lives in the Tucson, AZ area. Feel free to email her at [email protected].

Director, Joan Bretthauer is the Founder of ACE End-of-Life Doula Services and currently works as an end-of-life doula. Joan earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from Lindenwood University. She holds Certification as an End-of-Life Doula-NEDA Proficient, Advance Care Planning Respecting Choices Facilitator and MIDEO Advance Care Planning Educator. Joan’s innovative involvement in area end-of-life associations has enriched her local and regional communities. During her many years as a board member and President Emeritus of Gateway End-of-Life Coalition, she created programs, workshops, and educational training for health care providers and the community. Joan is currently the organization’s Executive Director of Community Advance Care Planning Facilitation in St. Louis. She is the founder of The Midwest End-of-Life Doula Collective and a member of End-of-Life University, International Doulagivers and Aging Life Care Association. Joan is an avid researcher and sought-after speaker on the topics of advance care planning and end-of-life doulas. As someone in the community committed to make a difference, Joan advocates for Hospice and Palliative Care legislation in Washington D.C and Missouri and volunteers her time as a hospice and vigil volunteer. Joan lives in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Feel free to email her at [email protected].

Director, Lisa Cox is an alumna of Plymouth State University, University of Massachusetts- Lowell and University of Wyoming with advanced degrees in Education, Public Administration and Science. A long-time teacher, program director, and business manager, in recent years, Lisa has served as a core shamanic practitioner and ordained minister through her healing practice, Hjertehagen Healing Passages, assisting people with life transitions, including as an end-of-life doula. Lisa’s doula services focus primarily on end-of-life planning, funerals and memorials, and bereavement support, as well as assistance to pets and their families during final transition. She is an advocate for social justice, having worked with homeless and at-risk children and youth, as a care giver for the elderly and those with health and developmental challenges, and in environmental remediation. Lisa is also owner and creative cook at Red Door Kitchen, cooking for community, and in her limited free time enjoys kayaking, hiking and snowshoeing, reading, traveling and spending time with her 2-legged and 4-legged family. Lisa lives in Laramie, WY. Feel free to email her at [email protected]

Director, Alexis Hughes currently works as a development manager with the Alzheimer's Association in tandem with being an End-of-Life Doula having received her doula training from Going with Grace. A Valdosta State University alumni, Alexis holds certifications in Counseling Grief & Bereavement, and has completed End of Life Care: Challenges and Innovation from the University of Glasgow. Alexis has spent the past few years in an End-of-Life setting via her work with local hospice in which she developed several vigil and wellbeing programs to support their volunteer caregivers. Alexis founded Without Fear - offering a wide variety of death, grief, and transitional guidance education as she believes that all grief is valid and provides support for any type of loss, Her special interests in her doula work include historical traditions and old world practices especially applied to the resurgence of Pagan ceremony in modern End-of-Life work; Alexis is also a trained Sin Eater working to revive this practice within the end-of-life care sphere. Alexis resides in Chattanooga, TN. Feel free to email her at [email protected].

Director, Jessica Johansson is a UVM-trained end-of-life doula (NEDA proficient), celebrant, and ordained Interfaith minister, and the founder of Sacred Journey Holistic End-of-Life Doula Services, in Jaffrey, NH. She is also a companion animal end-of-life doula and supports pets and their families as well. In addition to her private doula and celebrant practice, Jessica serves as the Director of Community Engagement for Life Forest in Hillsborough, NH. Life Forest is a non-profit conservation cremation burial cemetery for both people and pets, and the first of its kind in this country. In this role Jessica is able to harness her marketing skills in service to a mission she believes in and supports. Beyond her professional commitments, Jessica hosts and facilitates Death Cafes in her area and is a volunteer for the Monadnock Kitty Rescue & Adoption. She is also an active board member of the Greater Monadnock Collaborative Chamber of Commerce, where she also chairs the marketing committee. Jessica's dedication to service is an integral part of her approach to life. Jessica lives in Jaffrey, NH. Feel free to email her at web@nedalliance.org.

Director Karen Reppen formed Persephone's Garden to offer personal death awareness training and end-of-life care education through workshops and presentations, and to provide direct support for those preparing for or experiencing aging, illness, death, and grief. A strong proponent for community death care, she helped form The Great Circle Collaborative. Another grass-roots effort, Walking Each other Home, Karen helps to inform about home funerals and natural burials. Karen received a Grief Support Specialist certificate from the University of Wisconsin and completed the end-of-life doula training through the University of Vermont. She also completed the Upaya Center's "Being With Dying" contemplative end-of-life care intensive, and is a long-time student at Stephen Jenkinson’s Orphan Wisdom School. Karen has more than 20 years of experience as a hospice communications professional and direct-care volunteer and has completed CNA training and pet therapy programs. Formerly a facilitator for the UW Multicultural Awareness Program, she remains active in several local antiracism and social justice initiatives, including previous service as a board member for Solace Friends, Inc., providing end-of-life care for vulnerable populations. An adventurous mixed-media artist, avid gardener, canine pack mom, and lover of all things natural and wild, Karen calls Madison, WI, home. Feel free to email her at [email protected]

Staff

Business Manager
Kim Adams is responsible for managing our membership platform and directories. Kim served two years on the NEDA board after many years of experience in the death/dying field, having begun in the early 1990's as a case manager, and housing and legislative advocate for people with HIV/AIDS. She served on the National Home Funeral Alliance (NHFA) Board of Directors as Secretary and Events Coordinator, is a certified, professional End of Life Coach, Home Funeral Guide, and hospice volunteer. Kim is currently on the Board President of the Omega Home Network, a non-profit national membership organization that promotes the development and expansion of community homes for dying people,.and she is the former President of the Board for The Lily House, a community end of life home in Wellfleet, Massachusetts.

Website Design and Content
Lee Webster is a NEDA Founder and Treasurer who has served in a leadership role and in developing websites for many other death care nonprofits, including the National Home Funeral Alliance (President), Green Burial Council (President) New Hampshire Funeral Resources, Education & Advocacy (Director), Funeral.org Partnership, Conservation Burial Alliance, Minnesota Death Collaborative, as well as many others outside the nonprofit sector. She is a published author, national speaker, and leading advocate for funeral reform, combining her career experience with hospice, conservation, and higher education development to changing end of life and after death practices to truly meet the needs of individuals, families, and communities.

Advisors

Legal Counsel
Poul Lemasters, Esq has a professional career that covers both funeral service (over 25 years) and law. He attended Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science, graduating in 1996. While working in deathcare, he went on to attend Northern Kentucky University, Chase College of Law, graduating in 2003. Poul now operates and is principal of Lemasters Consulting, located in Cincinnati, Ohio, a consulting business entirely for the deathcare profession, which includes funeral homes, funeral directors/embalmers, cemeteries, cemeterains, cremationists, crematory owners, as well as the suppliers to all of them. He assists in areas of legal, compliance, regulatory, and operational issues. Poul also serves in various roles with national groups such as: General Counsel for ICCFA (International Cemetery, Crematory and Funeral Association; Legal Counsel for NCBVA (National Concrete Burial Vault Association); Legal Advisor to CCC (Catholic Cemetery Conference). See Poul's website for more information.

Past Board Members

Founding Directors
Merilynne Rush 2018-20 (President)
Deanna Cochran 2018 (Vice President)
Suzanne O'Brien 2018-19 (Vice President)
Trudy Brown 2018 (Secretary)
Lee Webster 2018-19 (Treasurer)
Patty Burgess 2018
Tarron Estes 2018

Directors
Kim Adams 2018-20
Alua Arthur 2019-20
Elizabeth Aungier 2018
Diane Button 2020
Robert Drake 2020
Karylinn Echols 2020
Alvin Harmon 2022-23
Jessica Harrington 2022
Karen Hendrickson 2021
Nada Frazier 2019
Joelle Johns 2019
Elizabeth Johnson 2020-22
Joseph Knight 2019-20
Lisa Patterson 2019-20
Amy Roth Sandrolini 2020-21
Diane Santostefano 2020-22
Angela Shook 2018-22
Cole Smith 2022-23
Tonya Fortune Smith 2021-22
Victoria Quinn-Stephens 2019-20
Terry Skovronek 2018
Leann Thrapp 2019
Charlene Vandiver 2019
Tracey Walker 2019-21