Patricia Danaher
FOUNDER
Dr. Patricia Danaher is an Irish born writer, producer, scholar. She lived in Japan for several years, where she observed the Jizo tradition and recognized the healing properties of many Japanese customs revolving around his story and ritual. Based in Los Angeles, she is the director of Harvardwood Publishing, has edited and published anthologies of short stories and poems, Once Upon A Fairytale and Seven Deadly Sins. Danaher holds a Masters’ Degree in Mythology and Jungian Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute, where she studied ritual, and was awarded the Joseph Campbell Scholarship. She is completed her doctorate in Ecopsychology at Viridis Graduate Institute, where she focused on Asian grief rituals, Jizo in particular.
Through her own life experiences, travels and studies she came to understand the importance of ritual, and recognized the need for a special kind of practice to address the loss of a baby who did not get to thrive in this realm now. Working with grieving clients to create altars to the invisible, she designed healing ritual gift baskets during the pandemic to enable clients to take the ritual into their own hands while they mourn at home, separate fromm the usual comforting rites of passage. Developing her practice and counseling tools, she now helps grieving families, couples and individuals, including those mourning pet loss. www.ritualsfortheliving.com
Patricia is also the founder of the Harvardwood Literary Prize and sits on the international advisory board of The Auschwitz Institute
Dale Youngman
Board member
Dale Youngman is the Director of Marketing, Outreach and Communications for The Jizo Foundation. Her professional background includes Art Curator, Gallery Director, Business Development, and Marketing Consultant for artists, galleries, small businesses and non-profits. She began working with Patricia's other organization, Rituals for the Living, which she found very helpful in dealing with her grief following the loss of her mother and a beloved cat. Her outreach into the art community has helped that organization to create unique artisan-made items for Rituals’ Seed and Flame Healing Ritual Packages. She handles outreach and commissions within the art community for the public art elements of the Jizo Foundation’s Healing Memorial Sites. Although brought up Catholic, she has a deep interest in Buddhism and rituals from various cultures, as well as a wish to help others deal with family and pet loss bereavement.
Ed Bixby
BOARD MEMBER
Ed Bixby joined the green burial movement back in 2007 when he developed his first green burial preserve, Steelmantown Cemetery, in Woodbine, New Jersey. In the time since, he has created multiple natural burial preserves across the United States, serving the nation premier eco-friendly funeral services as Destination Destiny Memorials. In addition to this, Ed is the co-owner of Eco Warriors Funeral Supplies, offering unique funeral products that are not only green, but economical. Ed also served on the Green Burial Council for fifteen years, ten of which as president. Recently, Ed Bixby founded the Better Death Collective, an online platform that uses social media to educate people on all things deathcare related. With his experience in and knowledge of the eco-friendly funeral industry, he was inspired to create the Global Green Burial Alliance, an international community of eco-friendly funeral professionals. Ed's intention with the GGBA is to bridge gaps between all eco-friendly funeral professionals, processes, and products. In doing so, he hopes to provide a space for open communication, promoting understanding and global changes.
Dez McMahon
Board member
Dez McMahon was born in Dublin, ireland and now splits his time between there and Toronto, Canada. Although best known as an actor, Dez is also a spiritualist medium and shamanic practitioner with over 30 years experience. His practice includes pranic energy healing, specializing in soul loss and power loss, providing healing care to those in mourning. Des is also a life coach and runs his own confidence, self-esteem, and mindfulness classes.
Amy Bishop
BOARD MEMBER
Amy Bishop is a qualified, insured End-of-Life Doula who has earned the Proficiency Badge with the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance (NEDA). Certified as a Doula through the End-of-Life Training from Going with Grace, she has also completed the Intensive Grief Training with Our House Grief Support Center and has trained as a Grief Specialist. She volunteers as a Group Leader for Our House's Children's grief groups and for a local hospice. Additionally, she is a professional yoga educator and incorporates meditation, stress-reduction, and pain-relieving breathing techniques into her end-of-life work. Amy's grief support centers around the belief that grief needs to be witnessed and held. When we create a ritual around a loss, there is the possibility for powerful healing.