About Us
Meet Our Founding Board
We have a founding board of directors! The team below is getting started structuring our new non-profit, including its mission, bylaws, and more! We then hope to expand by adding additional community members from across death and griefcare who would like to a part of our effort and our Board of Directors or take part in Advisory Committees. Is this you? We Would love to hear from you!
Please fill out the form here
Founding Board Member
Hanna Hasselschwert
Hanna Hasselschwert is a compassionate Death Doula and the founder of Acacia End of Life Services, dedicated to supporting individuals and families through the dying process. A graduate of the Going with Grace End of Life Doula program and an advanced planning facilitator trained by Respecting Choices, she brings a wealth of knowledge to her practice. As the host of the Ypsilanti Death Cafe, Hanna fosters open conversations about mortality, helping to demystify death and celebrate life. She also manages the Last Chapter Collective, a book club that meets monthly for meaningful discussion centered around death and dying portrayed in literature.
Founding Board member
Michael Marie Schofield, PhD
Michael Marie is a farmer, artist, and land steward. She is the founder and funerary artisan of Hickory Nut Farmstead. She handweaves eco-conscious wicker urns for cremains as well as caskets and trays for natural burial. Michael has a deep appreciation for the ability of craft to make challenging topics easier to process and navigate, and she also welcomes individuals and families to be a part of the weaving process.
Michal is a lifelong learner with a deep reverence for nature and the cycle of life and death. She is always seeking to understand the natural world from new angles that enrich her life and weaving practice. She holds a doctorate in microbiology from the University of Michigan, completed the Michigan Naturalist and Conservation Stewards Programs with MSUE, and is a graduate of the Deathwives End-of-Life Doula program.
Founding board member
Grey Allen
Grey Allen (he/him) is a dedicated End-of-Life Doula, passionate about providing individuals with the tools and support needed to make informed decisions about life’s final journey. Having experienced numerous sudden and traumatic losses throughout his early life, Grey felt a deep calling to help others navigate the complexities of death and dying.
Grey is particularly committed to supporting members of the queer community, ensuring they have access to the resources and emotional support they need during end of life transitions. He is the facilitator of a monthly Queer Death Cafe, a space where LGBTQIA+ folks can openly discuss death, dying, mortality and related topics in an inclusive environment. Grey is a graduate of The Dying Year’s End-of-Life Doula training program.
About Our Logo
When envisioning our logo, we wanted something that felt organic, symbolic, and representative of our mission. We were inspired by the similarities between a fingerprint and a tree ring print and the emphasis of this on our interconnectedness with our living world in the wider cycle of life and death. We also wanted to incorporate native Michigan flowers to reflect our roots and commitment to our beautiful Great Lakes region. Autumn-blooming asters and goldenrods grow in community, complementing one another in a way that felt fitting to our overall mission and goals. Rosie additionally included leaves from the ash tree, a special genus of plants woven into meaningful folktales about the cycle of life and death in different cultures around the world. In our Great Lakes region, this family of trees is currently severely threatened by an introduced species of beetle. It felt fitting and emblematic to honor this inspirational tree family and its ongoing struggle to find ways to persevere in this rapidly changing world.
Thank you to Rosie from Patch Patch Studio for this beautiful logo to represent our Collaborative for years to come.
