Meet Our End-of-Life Experts
Experts Alphabetically by Category P-Z
Planning a Funeral
Gail Marquardt
VP Consumer Engagement
National Funeral Director Association
Gail Marquardt manages the NFDA’s consumer education initiative, Remembering A Life, which educates consumers about the value of a funeral, the value of a funeral director and the importance of remembering loved ones after they die. Gail manages the Remembering A Life website (RememberingALife.com), produces and hosts the Remembering A Life podcast and manages the Remembering A Life blog. She is also active in volunteering for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and advocating for the LGBTQ+ community.
Planning a Memorial Celebration
Lindsey Nickel
Owner & celebration planner
Lovely Day Legacies
Lindsey is the go-to celebration of life planner for families in the San Francisco Bay Area. She helps grieving families plan a meaningful celebration of life without feeling even more stressed out. Since 2010 she has been planning special events so she knows what works and what doesn’t work for a beautiful and memorable celebration of life. When she’s not planning events, Lindsey enjoys hiking, fostering rescue dogs, and binging Real Housewive
Pregnancy & Infant Loss
Jenn Stachula
Executive Director
Share, Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support
Jennifer Stachula is the Executive Director of Share Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support, a national nonprofit supporting families who experience the loss of a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth, or early infant death. Since 2011, Jenn has devoted her work to walking alongside grieving families and advocating for more compassionate, informed care. As a bereaved parent herself, she is deeply committed to ensuring no parent walks alone and to improving how families are supported after the loss of a baby.
Pre-planning for Funeral Expenses
Sara Williams
President
Funeral Consumer Alliance
Sara, as well as Phyllis Croisant, Ph.D., FCA Secretary, Dianna Repp, Ph.D., FCA Board Advisor/Past Director of the FCA contributed their expertise to this topic. The Funeral Consumers Alliance is an educational nonprofit with nationwide affiliates offering funeral consumer support, information and advocacy for legislative change. Three FCA Board members offered their expertise to SevenPonds for their funeral planning resources page.
Sudden & Traumatic Loss
Reviewed by SevenPonds Team
Content in Development
Terminal Illness
Dawn Gross
Palliative Care Physician
University of California San Francisco Health
Dawn is a palliative care physician dedicated to supporting seriously ill patients. Blending her scientific training with a storyteller’s empathy, she brings both knowledge and compassion to her work. A graduate of Tufts University School of Medicine, where she earned her MD and PhD, she later served as the Arthur M. Coppola Family Chair of the Department of Supportive Care Medicine and Clinical Professor at City of Hope National Medical Center. Dawn’s commitment to helping others extends beyond the clinic as a writer, researcher, podcaster, and speaker on end-of-life care.
Loss of a Child
Reviewed by SevenPonds Team
Content in Development
Low Cost Funeral Arrangements
Hank Williams
Vice President
Funeral Consumer Alliance North Carolina
Hank, a Graham, North Carolina resident, serves as Vice President of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of North Carolina (FCANC). One of 80 affiliates nationwide, the FCANC empowers consumers through education, promotes ethical practices, and ensures fair, affordable pricing for funeral goods and services. A retired military veteran, Hank also serves as Vice President of a local veterans’ nonprofit and is a strong advocate for veteran affairs. He regularly speaks to community groups about funeral planning and veterans’ issues and proudly supports the local Death Café, fostering open dialogue about death and end-of-life choices.
Talking About Death
Kate DeBartolo
Senior Director
The Conversation Project
Kate is a Senior Director at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and leads The Conversation Project, IHI’s public engagement initiative to help people share wishes for care through the end of life. The Conversation Project, founded in 2010, rests on the belief these discussions should begin at the kitchen table—not in the intensive care unit. It offers free tools, guidance, and resources to start talking with those who matter most about your and their wishes. Kate joined IHI in 2007, after designing and executing national field operations for IHI’s hospital-based programs. She is a Wellesley College graduate.