SECRETARY

admin@mndeathcollaborative.org

Michelle is an INELDA trained end of life doula, grief coach, and founder of HELD. While serving as a caregiver to her husband during the end of his life, she came to understand the transformational possibilities that exist when being deeply present to the dying experience. Michelle is a member of both INELDA and NEDA, is a Certified Grief Educator through David Kessler, is a Certified NLP Practitioner, Hypnotherapist and Life Coach through IntraAwareness. To learn more about how Michelle practices the art of death midwifery go to heldoula.com.

MEMBERSHIP

members@mndeathcollaborative.org

Becca is a Going With Grace trained & NEDA proficient End of Life Doula, volunteer with Sholom Hospice, and founder of Partners in Passing. As a former management consultant, Becca is passionate about using her organizational, project management, and communication skills to build community and support for the dying and their circles of support. Becca is committed to facilitating uncomfortable conversations with the aim of making death less weird.

DEVELOPMENT

development@mndeathcollaborative.org

Cindy McCreary is an End of Life Doula, Grief Specialist and Certified Life Planning Specialist trained through International Doula Life Movement (IDLM). She currently volunteers her services as an End-of-Life Doula at Sholom Hospice in St. Paul, MN and as a volunteer with other hospice organizations in the Twin Cities area. She has recently ended a long career in Organization Development which included leadership and team development, change management and executive coaching. She enjoys using her skills in new ways through her work with the MN Death Collaborative and her volunteer work. She is passionate about making a difference in death work and is grateful to have compassion, kindness and caring at the core of how she spends her time.

FINANCE

finance@mndeathcollaborative.org

Liz is a graduate of the Going With Grace Death Doula Program, and is certified through NEDA. She volunteers at Providence Place in Minneapolis, and has provided Tarot divination to clients for 40 years. Her interest in end of life work was born when her mother died in 2012. Liz was part of the home birth movement in the 70s and 80s, participating in evolving how we are born in this country. The role of midwife is strong in her life work, and she now works to support the evolution of how we die. She sees the importance of normalizing conversations about death, educates people in end of life planning and supports people in thinking about what they want when their time comes. The most profound knowing that has come from this work has been to deeply internalize the reality that she will die. When facilitating groups, her goal is to bring an awareness of our mortality, and often feels a palpable sigh of relief in gratitude that these conversations can be had with courage, humor and love.

COMMUNICATIONS

communications@mndeathcollaborative.org

Libby recently stepped away from her full-time career in the field of Radiation Therapy to instead lean in to things she is passionate about, and she found her passion lies in death work. She is a certified Advanced Care Planning Navigator, a volunteer with Beyond Hospice, and is also actively working to bring Natural Organic Reduction to the Twin Cities through Live On Minnesota. She strongly believes everyone should have a “plan” for their deaths and celebrations of life. She, herself, has brainstormed everything from a music playlist, to food she wants served, to pictures she wants hung at her own celebration of life. And to be clear, it’s going to be FUN with lots of laughing and embarrassing stories about her. The only tears allowed at her celebration should be tears of joy and laughter in remembering Libby.

EDUCATION-EVENTS

events@mndeathcollaborative.org

Lacey A. Hart serves as the Event and Education Coordinator, bringing over 25 years of leadership experience across healthcare, quality, and compassionate care innovation. A seasoned strategist and servant leader, Lacey has led national initiatives in care transformation and end-of-life education, blending operational excellence with deep empathy. She is the Founder of Hope to Healing and Co-Founder of HB Healthcare Safety®, and holds certifications in Compassion Fatigue, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and End-of-Life Education. Lacey is passionate about fostering meaningful conversations around death, dying, and healing—and creating welcoming, inclusive spaces for shared learning and connection.

MARKETING

marketing@mndeathcollaborative.org

Emily is an INELDA trained End of Life Doula. After watching her father navigate his end of life journey with cancer, Emily began processing her grief experience through writing and learning about alternative modalities of healing, which led her to discovering death work. As a visual and user experience designer, Emily is drawn to approaching problems with creativity, and she is grateful to support this community and its important mission. She is passionate about removing the stigma around death and grief.

OUTREACH

outreach@mndeathcollaborative.org

Monica is a certified Death Doula and completed her training with Going With Grace. She completed the David Kessler Grief Education Certification to ensure her work is grief-informed. She is a hospice volunteer with Lifespark and has been a professional member of the MNDC since 2023. She is most excited about the professional development of death work, exceptional client experiences, and high-quality collaboration with her peers in this important work.

MEMBER AT LARGE

ty@mndeathcollaborative.org

Ty Wooton is an End-of-Life Doula and grief companion who offers care and advocacy to individuals and families navigating the complex terrain of death and loss. Their work is rooted in a fierce belief that everyone deserves dignity, agency, and compassion, especially at the end of life. Serving as a volunteer at Providence Place Senior Living, they facilitate bereavement and mediation groups for hospice residents. They are also a counselor and patient advocate at Whole Woman’s Health Clinic, where their work focuses on reproductive loss support. Their role as a doula, both in death and reproductive transitions, reflect a lifelong commitment to community care, bodily autonomy, and the sacred work of remembering. A deep-rooted investment in justice informs every part of their work, striving to create space where people feel seen, supported, and empowered to make choices that align with their values; whether in grief, in dying, or in the process of active loss. As a community organizer and care worker, Ty continues to support the shift toward more accessible, inclusive, and affirming death care in Minnesota and beyond.