Many people are unaware that there are two nonprofit entities to the GBC. The first is a 501(c)6 certification and business league; the second is a 501(c)3 educational organization. Both work together to make raise awareness and serve families seeking a natural ending. Board members share a strong commitment to volunteer service and dedicate their skills and experience to further the mission of the Green Burial Council.

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Certification & Provider Support
​501(c)6 GBC

 Ed Bixby, President, is the owner and operator of Steelmantown Green Burial Preserve in Steelmantown, NJ, as well as Purissima Natural Burial Ground in Half Moon Bay, CA.  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 2019

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Candace Currie, Secretary, is the former Director of Planning and Cemetery Development at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge and Watertown, MA.  She began her Mount Auburn career as a volunteer in the mid-1990s mapping some of the 5,000+ trees throughout 175 acres. Mount Auburn Cemetery was certified by the GBC as a hybrid burial ground in 2014.  She left Mount Auburn in March 2018 to dedicate her time to establishing green burial grounds throughout Massachusetts. She is the clerk for Green Burial Massachusetts, Inc. – a 501(c)(3) advocating on behalf of individuals who choose natural burial and providing technical assistance to municipalities, neighborhood groups, and non-profit organizations on creating green burial options in local cemeteries. Term expires 2020

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Dyanne Miller Matzkevich, Treasurer,  has been a Cemeterian for the past 16+ years at Pine Forest Memorial Gardens and Gethsemane Memorial Gardens in North Carolina.She is a graduate of the ICCFA University, a certified celebrant, and has served as President of the NC Cemetery Association. She has also served on the Board of Directors for the Southern Cemetery Cremation and Funeral Association (SCCFA), as well as the ICCFA. Dyanne conceived and developed the Garden of Renewal at Pine Forest Memorial Gardens. This development has been recorded in the multi award winning documentary, “A Will for the Woods”, which has been shown around the world and all over the United States.
Dyanne resides in Wake Forest, NC and is mom to 2 sons and a daughter, and is Grandmama to Westley!

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Brad Angell, Director. Dr. Angell’s practice has demonstrated a strong commitment to progressive sustainability policy, practice, and scholarship. Since 2012, Brad has worked in advanced composting on the community scale; a movement that has grown from a simple backyard hobby to a serious environmental services industry whose business is driven by the opportunity to systemically reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, empower clients to achieve Zero Waste goals, and to provide individuals an option for healthy mortality processing. Brad’s interest in working on the Green Burial Council is focused on two goals: first, to advance green burial policies; and second, to support those involved in the certification process as they aspire to become a GBC funerary provider.

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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 2021

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Doug Renfield-Miller, Director 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 M.A. in International Affairs at George Washington University and an M.B.A. from Stanford University. In 2015, Doug was appointed an Advanced Leadership Fellow at Harvard University.

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Shawn LaValleur Adame is a wife, mother, Sacred Passages death midwife and funeral celebrant, notary public, licensed funeral director, and owner & founder of DIY DYING, a licensed funeral establishment in Long Beach, CA. 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, CA, where she worked for 6 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, CA. Her current business, DIY DYING, offers before and after death care services, living & home funerals, green burials on land and at sea as well as cremation services.

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Education & Outreach
501(c)3 GBC International

Jane Black, Director, of Dayton, Ohio, has worked as an artist, writer, editor, juror, panelist, curator and nonprofit executive director. In 2014, she founded Build Art In, LLC, to assist communities, corporations and organizations in identifying art that expresses its unique vision, mission and aesthetic. Currently she is serving as a death companion for her mother while planning a move back to the West Coast. Her expertise in conference planning alongside superior organizational skills will be an asset to the Green Burial Council.

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Dr. David O. Carter, Director, is Director and Professor of Forensic Sciences at Chaminade University of Honolulu. He brings extensive experience with the decomposition of remains in terrestrial habitats. Dr. Carter is particularly interested in the contributions that decomposing remains make to biodiversity and the cycling of energy of nutrients, all of which are crucial to a healthy planet. Dr. Carter joined the Green Burial Council because he is interested in the sustainable and respectful disposition of remains.

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Holly Chan, Director is a User Experience Designer based out of San Francisco and a graduate from the University of Washington. Her design education and career has been driven by a calling to make the end-of-life and funeral industry more environmentally-friendly, compassionate, and accessible to all. Currently, she works at AncestryDNA. She devotes the rest of her time to nonprofits and startups in the end of life space, as well as to her cat and muse, Matcha. She is particularly interested in how the arts and technology can enrich our end of life experiences and unite us across all walks of life.

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Sabrina Dorfman, Director is a copywriter and communications specialist for a hospital system in Los Angeles, CA. 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. 

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Darrell Hill, Director, is Founder + CEO of EternityGardens.com – a technology platform that engages and educates cremation families about laying to rest cremated remains.  Darrell has a professional background in marketing and brand building, having spent more than 20 years as a marketing and branding leader in healthcare, financial services, and strategy consulting. He has served on the following boards:  Advocate Charitable Foundation, The English-Speaking Union of the United States, and Chicago Jesuit Academy.  After earning his MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Darrell and his wife settled in Chicago with their three children.

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Adrian Jach, Director, worked in graphic design and marketing for 30 years. Her lifelong interest in organic gardening and all things natural inspired her to become a certified horticulturist and an LA County Master Gardener, and to complete a certification course in the Art of Death Midwifery and funeral celebrant training. She has volunteered for numerous non-profits over the years, designing graphics and gardens, staffing information tables at public events, teaching gardening and nutrition, and recruiting donors and volunteers. She is adamant about spreading the word about green burial and home funerals since she learned about both in 2012.

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Roxanne Walsh, Director, currently lives in the foothills of the southern Canadian Rockies. Roxanne has always been an environmental advocate.  She spent eleven years campaigning for the cleanup of a leaking sour gas processing plant into the Sheep River, and it’s associated industrial landfill. During that time, Roxanne championed three cases before the Alberta Environmental Appeals Board, which prompted the town, the province, and industry to address issues of the past and protect the drinking water for the town. Now, as an End of Life Educator — and Nature Advocate — Roxanne encourages people to consider body disposition options that protect groundwater, rivers, and drinking water for downstream users. She helps people explore options, know their rights, and promotes leaving a gentler environmental footprint as one of their life legacies. Roxanne is the author of the books: "Planning for a Good Death – User’s Guide and Workbook." She is a Certified Funeral Celebrant and A Commissioner for Oaths, in the Province of Alberta, Canada.

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Lee Webster, Director, is a career writer, editor and researcher, and frequent speaker and published author on funeral reform, including end-of-life support, home funerals, and natural burials. She is the Director of New Hampshire Funeral Resources, Education & Advocacy, former President of the National Home Funeral Alliance, a previous board member and educational consultant for the Green Burial Council, Int'l, and has served on the NHPCO End-of-Life Doula Council. She currently serves as a founding member on the Board of the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance and with the Conservation Burial Alliance. She is a frequent speaker to local and national academic, health, and conservation organizations throughout the country, and published author, webmaster, and long time hospice volunteer. She lives in the foothills of the White Mountains.

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Kat Weir, Director, is a certified funeral director and a nonprofit professional based in St. Louis, MO. She brings to the board a unique combination of fundraising and development, event planning, end of life and death care, and nonprofit management experience. Her passion for responsible and meaningful death care began early and drives her life both professionally and personally. Currently, Kat serves the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis as Individual Gifts Manager, having cut her teeth in nonprofit development at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. She holds a bachelor's degree in Education from Webster University and a master's degree in Nonprofit Management from Washington University in St. Louis. Kat lives with her two children, Myles and Lydia, and together they enjoy exploring the rich cultural history of St. Louis's cemeteries and museums.  

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Anne Weston, Director, is founder of Green Burial Project, a 501c3 dedicated to educating and advocating in the community about the benefits—environmental, financial, and spiritual—of green burial. To accomplish her work she speaks through North Carolina on green burial and alternative body disposition practices and conducts workshops on advance directives at death expos, public libraries, graduate classes at Duke University and UNC-CH, churches, retirement communities, and civic groups. She also serves on the Orange County Dept. on Aging EOL senior resource team supporting education and policy programs, writes a death positivity column for The News of Orange, consults on green options for families at need, and supports 3 local Death Cafes. She is a member of NHFA and FCA of the Piedmont and is a graduate of Duke University with a BA in English and an MA in Liberal Studies. 

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​With deep gratitude to all who have served the Green Burial Council

Former Board Members

Volunteers

Advisory Council

Matthew Alcide
Paul Bauman
Katey Bean
Sara Brink
Billy Campbell
Stephen Christy
​Ernest Cook
Rob Caughlin
Bob Fertig
​Brian Flowers

​Sharon Hermanson
William Jordan III
John Lovasco
​Mike Mitchell
Barb Milton
Father Charles Morris
​Stephen Olson
​Robert Prout
Joel Rabinowitz
Paul Rahill

Jon Eric Rolfstadt
​Merilynne Rush
Joe Sehee
Joshua Slocum
​Joe Smolenski
​Kim Sorvig
Lindsay Soyer
Shari Wolf

​Juliette Armstrong
Sam Bar
Jim Betino
​Matt Dolkas
Kate Kalanick
Donna Larsen
Sam Perry
Shannon Shoup
Monica Varona

Billy Campbell
Brian Flowers
Elizabeth Fournier
Suzanne Kelly
Sam Perry
Joe Sehee
Mary Woodsen