What Our Compliance Specialists Do

Our compliance specialists are responsible for providing unbiased reviews of applications that ensure adherence to our standards in all categories. Each specialist has expertise that qualifies him or her based on education and experience. They generously volunteer their time and expertise to make sure that every certified business and individual meets or exceeds the requirements of their discipline's certification. Our specialists engage with prospective providers, guiding them through the paperwork process to success from the first call to the determination. For a step-by-step guide to the certification process, go to Become Certified. If you have skills that qualify you to participate, please contact these specialists—they'd be delighted to hear from you.  

Products

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Sam Bar is a graduate of Northeastern University, Sam worked as a quality assurance and manufacturing engineer for companies in both the United States and China. In 2011, he joined the U.S. Peace Corps as an education volunteer in Mozambique, where he taught at a secondary school and coordinated a national science program. As our go-to expert on sustainability issues in manufacturing and product use, Sam draws on his diverse manufacturing expertise and global development exposure to ensure our product providers represent the values of green burial. Sam@greenburialcouncil.org

Cemeteries

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Anna Mehrer is an Oregon-based Marketing Consultant providing services to cemeteries since 2012. Her curiosity for cemeteries has been lifelong. She provides technical expertise and creative services to industry organizations. Having lived along the eastern seaboard, in Germany and Austria, as well as Chicago and the Pacific Northwest, she is grateful for the opportunities to visit as many cemeteries as possible. She is excited to be on board with the Green Burial Council facilitating cemetery certification as it combines promoting a sustainable end-of-life practice, her skill for attention to detail, and learning as much as possible about new (to her) cemeteries. She loves metal detecting anywhere except cemeteries, baking butterscotch pie, speaking German, and her partner and their cats. Her website is OrderOrder.net.

Funeral Homes

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Aleta Cardinal is a licensed funeral director and embalmer in Wisconsin. Originally from central Illinois, she has a BS degree in Mortuary Science and Funeral Service from Southern Illinois University of Carbondale. She loves helping families as a funeral director and educating the public about different aspects of the funeral industry and the choices available to them. She is also an environmental advocate, and loves the idea of getting back to the roots of our culture; including taking care of our own loved ones when they pass. Aleta@greenburialcouncil.org
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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 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. Shawn@greenburialcouncil.org
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Sam Perry is a dual-licensed mortician (Indiana and Illinois), green burial advocate, and death educator. He has a BS in Mortuary Science and Funeral Service from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and is working on his MS in Education from there as well. He currently works as an anatomy curator and as an adjunct professor teaching Changing Landscapes in Funeral Service. He hosts Death Cafés in his community and believes that through death and loss we can find tools for learning to live stronger, more whole lives. Samuelp@greenburialcouncil.org