The Grief Summit
Sunday, February 28th from 12 – 4 PM EST
A free, virtual conference exploring collective grief and rituals, pathways, and possibilities for healing
We are all experiencing grief
In the wake of the pandemic and systemic injustice, we find ourselves facing vast, collective grief. How we meet and mourn our losses has radically changed. We have been forced to create new rituals and gather virtually. We have unearthed new ways to witness our grief and build resilience together.
In this Summit, we will gather teachers, healers, and community leaders from around the world to share learnings and build solidarity.
In this summit, we will explore:
Storytelling and the role of creativity in our journeys through grief
How family-directed funerals build resilience and strength in navigating grief
How rituals and new traditions influence the ways we experience grief
How to stay present and hopeful amidst immense losses
How to talk about death and grief
Who is this summit for?
Any and all who wish to explore resilience in grief together are welcome. We believe this summit may be particularly helpful for healthcare professionals, educators, artists, psychologists and therapists, coaches, activists (and aspiring activists), somatic practitioners, and mindfulness practitioners.
We encourage you to join us if you:
Want to learn more about cultivating resilience in grief
Wish to understand more about community death care
Are seeking meaningful language to speak about grief, both individually and in the workplace
Need a supportive community of fellow professionals finding collective resilience
There is no cost to attend. We will be gathering virtually for the sake of safety in the time of COVID.
“Your loss is not a test, a lesson, something to handle, a gift, or a blessing. Loss is simply what happens to you in life. Meaning is what you make happen.”
― David Kessler from Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief
Speakers
Roshi Joan Halifax, Ph.D
Roshi Joan Halifax is a Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, anthropologist, and pioneer in the field of end-of-life care. She is Founder, Abbot, and Head Teacher of Upaya Institute and Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 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.
Lashanna Williams
Lashanna is a death doula, bodyworker, teacher, and the Executive Director of A Sacred Passing. She merges formal education, ancestral knowledge, life experience, and all six senses to guide her care. Through A Sacred Passing, Lashanna founded the Listening Line, a free phone line offering non-medical, community care and support.
Heidi Boucher
As a pioneer in the re-emergence of family-directed funerals, Heidi has guided families in caring for their own loved ones after death for more than 35 years. She brings beauty and practicality to the practice of being with the body, instilling a sense of reverence in her consultations with families on home death care.
Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, RN, MSN, FNP
Judy is the President of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), which includes 40,000 members. She is part of a group of nurses engaged in transforming the organization into a social justice union that pledges to participate in uniting labor and community, in order to construct a movement dedicated to combating inequality and to social change.
We Rise, with Fire that Fuels
We Rise are leaders in the domestic worker and immigrant rights movement fighting for greater healing, equity, and liberation for all immigrant workers. They facilitate regeneration circles and community healing processes for transforming grief and rage into meaning and possibility.
Douglas Mawadri
Douglas is the Executive Director of Associates for Health Rights Uganda and the Country Coordinator for The Fire That Fuels Uganda. A lawyer by profession, Douglas has spent more than 8 years working with the LGBTI community and sex workers in Uganda providing legal services.
Ivy Kwong, LMFT
Ivy is a first-generation Asian American psychotherapist, speaker, and author specializing in healing codependency, intergenerational trauma, and Asian American mental health.
Gayle Karen Young
Gayle is a culture builder and a catalyst for human and organizational development. Gayle works to create dynamic organizational cultures in which people can thrive and thus make greater contributions. She acts as the interface between individuals and the systems within which they work.
Marcelo Valansi
Marcelo Valansi is an innovative entrepreneur dedicated to the design, development, and implementation of self-sustaining regenerative projects and resilient communities.
Al Límite Collective, with Fire that Fuels
Al Límite Collective is a placeless, borderless collective of multi-disciplinary, multi-racial, international artists defending the anti-fascist decolonization of the body, and building community resiliency through art and performance.
The Grief Summit is delivered in partnership with Nurture.co, The International Trauma Studies Program, and the Rhiza Collective.
Join us at The Grief Summit
Sunday, February 28th from 12 – 4 PM EST