The Green Burial Council is comprised of two distinct nonprofit entities. Both work together to further the movement toward more sustainable burial practices and to support those who are actively engaged in green burial activities. Board members share a strong commitment to volunteer service and dedicate their skills and experience to further the mission of the Green Burial Council.​

The 501(c)6 certification and provider support organization oversees certification conducted by independent third-party experts, and maintains up-to-date certification standards for cemeteries, funeral homes, and product providers. The 501(c)3 educational and outreach organization develops educational materials and opportunities for providers and the public to learn more about natural burial.

Those interested in becoming involved with the Green Burial Council are asked to fill out our volunteer application here.

Certification and Provider Support
​501(c)6 GBC

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Ed Bixby, President, is the owner and operator of Steelmantown Green Burial Preserve in Steelmantown, New Jersey, as well as Purissima Natural Burial Ground in Half Moon Bay, California.  Ed’s extensive background in land use and development includes being a licensed New Jersey real estate broker and the owner of Fox and Fox Builders, LLC. Ed’s experience in the development industry has provided keen insight into better land use practices and drives his passion for the natural burial movement and the benefits it provides to the present and future generations. Ed has led presentations on natural burial for numerous organizations and has provided educational training for both funeral directors and cemeterians alike. Ed resides in southern New Jersey with his two daughters Ava and Mina. Term expires June 2022
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Baxley Andresen, Vice President, hails from the world of prop design and puppetry. In an effort to change her career trajectory, she began to volunteer at the Los Angeles Arboretum, discovering a love of plants and nature. Through that, she discovered land conservation and green burial, and has since been searching for ways to collaborate with land conservation trusts and habitat restorers to bring about a natural burial ground and conserve open green spaces. In 2019 she completed her Horticulture Certificate at UCLA. She worked with Alua Arthur of Going with Grace in 2018 and 2019, and currently works as a funeral arranger at FRIENDS Funeral Home in Venice, California. Baxley is currently looking to establish more green burial space in Southern California. 
​Term expires June 2023
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Kate Berdan, Secretary, comes to the GBC with experience in conservation with The Nature Conservancy, Woodstock Land Conservancy, Vermont Land Trust, Otsego Land Trust, and the Adirondack Land Trust, among others. She is currently earning her doctorate at the University of Vermont from the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. Kate is committed to advocating for and supporting conservation burial. 
Term expires June 2023
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Doug Renfield-Miller, Treasurer 
​Following a long career in international finance, Doug now devotes most of his time to volunteer and philanthropic activities, especially GoodEnding, Inc., a nonprofit he founded to improve end-of-life outcomes and reduce societal costs. In addition to GoodEnding, Doug currently serves on the board of and volunteers at Regional Hospice and Palliative Care. He has previously served as board chair of School Year Abroad, as a director of Habitat for Humanity—New York City, and is a Trustee Emeritus of Connecticut College. Doug majored in French and philosophy at Connecticut College, earned an MA in International Affairs at George Washington University, and an MBA from Stanford University. In 2015 Doug was appointed an Advanced Leadership Fellow at Harvard University. 
​Term expires June 2022
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Shawn Lavalleur Adame, Director, is a wife, mother, Sacred Passages death midwife and funeral celebrant, notary public, licensed funeral director, and owner and founder of DIY DYING, a licensed funeral establishment in Long Beach, California. Shawn started her career in the funeral industry in 2006. She began as a DC Specialist and office manager at the Omega Society, in Orange County, California, where she worked for six years. She was then recruited to area manager for Smart Cremation, Accu-Care Cremation Centers, and Gateway Crematory serving So Cal. She then opened Argos Funeral Services, in Torrance, California. Her current business, DIY DYING, offers before- and after-death care services, living and home funerals, green burials on land and at sea, as well as cremation services. 
​Term expires June 2022
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Steve Berkoff, Director, is on his second career as owner/operator of Memorial Reefs, a Hawian memorial service company that restores marine life similar to Eternal Reefs on the Eastern seaboard. Steve’s first career spanning forty years has been in communications, giving him expertise in nonprofit management, business plan development, financial management, strategic planning, fundraising, public speaking, training, and education. He is dedicated to helping heal the damage to the planet and embraces green alternatives. 
​Term expires June 2022
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Marla Carter, Director, holds both a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Accounting. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a member of the AICPA and NJCPA.  After 10 years in public accounting and three years as a controller in the private industry, she joined a company called Your Part Time Controller and only focuses on nonprofit accounting.  She is excited to join the Green Burial Council board.
​Term expires June 2024
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Darren Crouch, Director, is president and co-founder of environmentally responsible funeral product company Passages International, Inc., and is also the founder of agreenerfuneral.org, a website designed to educate consumers about alternatives for greening their funeral. He has been featured in The Director Magazine, The American Funeral Director Magazine, Funeral Business Advisor, The Cremationist, the ICCFA Magazine, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and has spoken at several national and international conventions, including the Asia Funeral Expo, the National Funeral Directors Convention, and the ICCFA Convention.
​Term expires June 2022
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Rachel Essig, Director, is the Executive Director of River View Cemetery in Portland, Oregon. River View Cemetery is Portland’s oldest endowment care cemeteries and has been offering natural burial and funerals since 2009 and is a certified hybrid cemetery by the Green Burial Council. Rachel’s background is in habitat protection through Metro Regional Government’s land acquisition bond program. She became a cemeterian when Metro assigned her to manage fourteen historic cemeteries in their park’s portfolio. She’s presented at the ICCFA Annual Convention, the Cemetery Association of Oregon, and to the Oregon legislature. She’s a board member with the Cemetery Association of Oregon and the Lone Fir Cemetery Foundation. Currently, Rachel is working on a dedicated natural burial meadow and natural burial forest section within River View Cemetery. Rachel is motivated by providing a place for reflection and by serving everyone regardless of race, religion, gender, or economic condition.
​Term expires June 2024

Education and Outreach
501(c)3 GBC International

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Caitlyn Hauke, President, holds a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology, and a BS in Biology, with a concentration in forensic science. She is a biological safety officer, cemeterian, and serves on her local town cemetery commission. Caitlyn aims to use her extensive experience encompassing published work, public speaking, teaching, and research to compile, communicate, and promote scientific research related to green burial and deliver that body of knowledge to the general public. 
​Term expires June 2023
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Jane A. Black, Vice President, has had a long and varied career as a writer, artist, juror, panelist, curator, nonprofit executive leader and business owner. A native of Ohio, she currently lives in Portland, Oregon, where she is working as a Safety Data Management Specialist for TriMet, one of the country’s premier urban public transportation systems. While helping to care for her mother, she completed studies in EOL issues through the San Francisco Zen Center and the American School of Thanatology. She is engaged in spreading the message that, while we do not know when our time on earth will end, we can express our desire for a beautiful death through acceptance, documentation, and preparation.
​Term expires June 2023
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Liz Dunnebacke, Treasurer, began her career over twenty-five years ago in the entertainment industry where her experience ranged from property development for Comedy Central to free-lance work on PBS documentaries. Since moving to New Orleans in 2004, Liz’s work has toggled between television production and nonprofit administration. As the executive director of New Orleans Video Access Center, Liz saw the quintupling of the organization’s operating budget and built workforce development programs that put New Orleanians back to work in the burgeoning film industry in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Liz has followed the growth (return) of the green burial and home-funeral movements with passion, and is committed to providing resources to the community for sustainable end-of-life care. Liz holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Brown University.
Term expires June 2023
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Hannah Palko, Secretary, is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, with a specific research interest in the sustainable socio-ecological practice of green death care. She holds an MS in Ecology and a BS in Biology and has served as a science and environmental educator and research assistant. She is interested in completing a comprehensive survey of green cemeteries and aiding in research development. 
​Term expires June 2022
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Sarah Beck, Director, received her Master of Divinity (M.Div.) from the University of Chicago with an emphasis on Indian philosophy and bioethics. She later trained as a hospital chaplain at Rush University Medical Center and UCSF Medical Center and helped patients make end-of-life decisions during times of great stress and loss. She was first introduced to green burial as an option for a cleaner, more peaceful and healing way of caring for the dead while serving a bereaved family in the neonatal intensive care unit. Sarah currently works as a Program Manager at UCSF Medical Center.
​Term expires June 2024
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Kate Burns, Director,  has served as a parole officer, a director of human resources, and investigator of complaints of harassment, discrimination, and sexual violence for a large university in the midwest. She recently transitioned into a new career path and is currently serving as an organizational development consultant at a healthcare system in Topeka, Kansas. In her spare time, Kate is an amateur photographer and enjoys kayaking. Kate found the Green Burial Council during her grief journey after her mom died unexpectedly in 2019. Her interest and curiosity grew and she has become committed to learning and subsequently educating others on sustainable end of life care. Kate is in the process of completing the Going with Grace End of Life Training to become an end of life planner/death doula. She serves as a co-host on the Death Dialogues Project Podcast and is thrilled to serve on the Green Burial Council Board of Directors!
Term expires June 2024
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Rev. Dr. Sequola Collins, Director, serves as director of bereavement at Russell Memorial Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Durham, North Carolina. She holds doctoral degrees from Payne Theological Seminary and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical (A&T) State University; and is a Doctor of Ministry candidate at Duke Divinity School. Sequola is the author of several works, including The Glad Funeral; and “Black Churches and Green Funerals: How green funeral and burial practices can be part of the Black Church tradition, aesthetics, and sensitivity to ecological justice.”She enjoys the theatre with her daughter, Destiny.
​Term expires June 2024
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Sabrina Dorfman, Director, is a copywriter and communications specialist for a hospital system in Los Angeles, California. With a background in marketing and advertising, Sabrina is helping to find new ways to educate the public and relevant organizations about green burials. She holds a fiery passion for sustainability and environmental conservation. Sabrina volunteers her time for local trash clean- ups and tree planting. She believes in the future of green burials and is excited to help create a shift in today’s culture and burial practices. 
​Term expires June 2022
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Jeff Hodes, Director,  has forty-plus years of experience in the cemetery industry, with key positions in major cemetery organizations, and has provided consulting services to cemeteries across the United States for over ten years. As an active leader in cemetery development, training, and volunteering with multiple industry associations, Jeff has served in leadership roles on the boards of directors for six different cemetery associations, and earned the Certified Cemetery Executive and the Certified Supplier Executive distinction from the International Cemetery Cremations Funeral Association, and a MS degree with an emphasis in environmental studies. 
​Term expires June 2022
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Kim Stewart, Director, holds a deep and lifelong commitment to the wellbeing of the natural environment. Her professional expertise includes several years spent in horticulture. She later transitioned to finance, which she used to support human services for some of the community's most vulnerable members in her metropolitan area. She is grateful to employ skills gained through degrees and other recognition in the advocacy of compassionate and meaningful environmental action, in celebration of the end of life.
​Term expires June 2024

With deep gratitude to all who have served the Green Burial Council.       
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Former Board Members

Matthew Alcide
Brad Angell
​Paul Bauman
Katey Bean
Sara Brink
Billy Campbell
Doug Carroll
​David O. Carter
Rob Caughlin
Holly Chan
Stephen Christy
​Ernest Cook
Candace Currie
​


​
Bob Fertig
​Brian Flowers
Susan Greer​​​
Sharon Hermanson
Darrell Hill
Adriane Jach
William Jordan III
John Lovasco
​​Diane Miller
​Mike Mitchell
Barb Milton
Father Charles Morris
​Stephen Olson
​
Robert Prout
Joel Rabinowitz​
Paul Rahill
Jon Eric Rolfstadt
​​​​Merilynne Rush​
Joe Sehee​
Josh Slocum
Joe Smolenski
Kim Sorvig
Lindsay Soyer
Roxanne Walsh
​Lee Webster
​Anne Weston
​Shari Wolf

Volunteers through 2020

Kim Adams
Juliette Armstrong
​Joshua Atkinson
Sam Bar
Cassie Barrett
Jim Benito
Kimberley Campbell
Aleta Cardinal
Candace Currie
Matt Dolkas
Emily Ford​
Pat Healy
Kate Kalanick
​
​​Donna Larsen
Ariel Leath
​Tanya Marsh
Sam Perry
Mark Richardson
Gail Rubin
Merilynne Rush
Cody Sanders
Shannon Shoup
Joe Smolenski III
​Josh Slocum
​Monica Varona
Anne Weston