Starlight Business Development Residency
PAUSE is excited to announce the second iteration of the Starlight Business Development Residency. This no-cost offering is for organizations, business owners, and concept creators from Communities of Color who work in the end-of-life industry. Join us to receive support for your work and to expand your community.
Applications are currently closed.
What is the Starlight Residency?
PAUSE’s Starlight Residency is a no-cost offering for organizations, business owners, and concept creators from Communities of Color to receive support for their work in grief and end-of-life. This program is the first of its kind and launched in 2022 with the generous support of the John and Wauna Harman Foundation.
The Starlight Residency is a 12-month program designed to support and amplify the work of a diverse cohort of remarkable leading professionals. In addition to module-based learning, the Starlight Residency will give participants an opportunity to expand their resources, leadership, and network resilience in the end-of-life industry.
The Starlight Residency supports cohort participants in establishing the infrastructure, practice, and confidence in place to operate their businesses.
What does the Starlight Residency include?
This first-of-its-kind program includes in-person learning modules hosted by subject matter experts (SMEs), in addition to community building, networking, field trips, resource sharing, and a cohort environment where participants will be supported by their peers.
The Starlight Residency will require a commitment of approximately 8+ hours a month. The customized learning modules and communities of practice will be scheduled monthly.
Dr. Julie Shaw (she/her); Founder of Hello, I’m Grieving
“I really feel like this program is helping me grow and narrow down my vision of my business while also feeling supported. It’s allowed me to give myself some grace in not having everything completed or ‘done’ but even just being able to be in this space and feeling free to not know everything or how I will do it quite yet is helping me find who I am in this space and build confidence to bring the vision to life.”
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Cohort environment and support
As a Starlight Residency participant, you will connect and learn within an intimate cohort of entrepreneurs, leaders, changemakers, and peers.
Communities of Practice (CoPs): Guided group meetings where participants gather for project guidance, community support, and resource sharing.
Peer Coaching: One-on-one coaching sessions designed for members to receive open coaching and foster relationship building within the industry.
One-on-One Coaching from Subject Matter Experts: Individual support from professionals in the field.
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Customized learning modules and integration
In the first half of the Starlight Residency, themed modules will be facilitated by experts from various industries. These subject matter experts will share their knowledge and experiences to empower participants to effectively develop their work and business.
These modules are intentionally designed to support the cohort with business-related barriers, ideally leading to more sustainable, supported companies that are equipped to serve each individual and their customer base the best they can.
Module topics include building a business model, financial management, content creation, advocacy, and more.
In the second half of the Starlight Residency, participants will process their experience while integrating and testing what they have learned, with the final wrap up months focused on retrospectives and strategic planning for the coming year.
Learn more about the specifics of each module theme below.
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Content creation and amplification
PAUSE will support each cohort member by developing a unique package of materials built to support their business.
This includes, but is not limited to, a custom media kit featuring their business and story, published articles featuring their writing, custom presentations, and more.
Additionally, PAUSE will also draw from its deep network of publications and platforms to help amplify the voices of each cohort member in third-party content and media.
Monthly module overview
Here is an overview of the various modules that PAUSE plans to organize as a part of the 2024 Residency. During each month’s module, the cohort will experience a number of sessions and receive various resources specific to the topic. This includes:
Monthly workshops/facilitated sessions with subject matter experts from business and end-of-life backgrounds
Community of practice (CoP) meetings with the cohort
Integrated moments of rest and self-care practices
1:1 office hours with subject matter experts
Field trips to various LA-local businesses with grief, EOL, death, dying, and health focuses
Our goal is to create an experience that directly reflects and uniquely supports the needs of our cohort members. The module topics detailed here are tentative and may be subject to change based on the needs of our confirmed group.
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This module will focus on ‘landing’ and onboarding to the Starlight Residency. Facilitation will be led by Alica Forneret, Executive Director of PAUSE, and co-facilitated by Stevie Luna Ibarra, Program Manager.
In our introduction, we’ll connect as a group and prepare participants for the Starlight Residency journey.
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This module will help set up the foundation to continuously invest in you! Rest and balance are key to running a successful, robust, and spirit-lifting business. In this work, particularly as People of Color, we oftentimes feel the need to extend ourselves for the families and individuals we work for. That excellence needs fuel and care. In this module, the cohort will explore their relationships with rest and self-care, and how to incorporate rest and balance into their lives and businesses throughout the program.
Topics include: what is rest, incorporating rest into our work, acknowledging and preventing burnout
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This module will focus on how you structure your business. To help us ground into the Starlight Residency journey, we will explore the services you offer and what makes them unique, then review and develop what business models and components can sustainably bring your services to life.
Topics include: types of business models
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This module will discuss how you engage with the community you currently work with and how to broaden your reach. Your customers can highlight their experiences receiving your services and provide valuable insight into what the community’s needs are.
Topics include: getting to know your audience, surveying, market research
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This module will focus on financial sustainability. In order for businesses to thrive and become successful, it’s important to understand how your business (and other businesses in the field) approach pricing/remuneration, debt management, and preventing financial crises.
Topics include: Tools for financial sustainability, debt management, budgeting, and more.
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This module will focus on financial sustainability. In order for businesses to thrive and be sustainable, it is important to understand how your business (and other businesses in the field) approach pricing/remuneration, debt management, and preventing financial crises.
Topics include: tools for financial sustainability, debt management, budgeting
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This module will focus on the importance of advocacy and networking. Advocacy is not only essential for your clients but for the work you do as well. You will hear from a number of professionals about how they defend their businesses to support Communities of Color, while also developing meaningful partnerships that enhance their relationships with stakeholders, communities, and other businesses.
Topics include: storytelling as an advocacy skill, public speaking, policy change
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This second half of the Starlight Residency will provide a space for participants to test and experiment with what they have learned from the modules. Together, we will discuss lessons learned, celebrate successes, and support strategic planning for the year ahead.
What will you get out of this experience?
By the end of the Starlight Residency, we anticipate participants will:
Reduce their isolation associated with entrepreneurship and build a network of support within the industry
Connect with other entrepreneurial leaders in the industry about the unique opportunities and challenges that People of Color navigate working in the field
Develop a structure/foundation that integrates self-care and rest with resilience to allow further support their customers and audiences
Create strategies for how to build sustainability into their business model
Grow their network of end-of-life professionals
Experience coaching from peers, business experts, and other leading end-of-life professionals
Have access to a trauma- and resilience-informed space to process business challenges and accomplishments
Produce products and content to support their work
Meet our 2024 cohort!
Crystal Coleman (she/her)
The Journeyed Soul
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Crystal was born and raised in Queens, New York. She moved to Los Angeles in 2008 to be closer to her Sister and Niece. Crystal has had many career roles from Chef to Advertisement Sales Assistant. She has always had a heart to serve and make a difference in her lifetime.
The work of an End Of Life Doula found her in 2014. A close friend planted a seed by telling her of the work Death Doula’s provide, and it immediately struck a chord with her. The curiosity led her to explore and ultimately find her love in life.
Crystal certified as a Death Doula in early 2023, through DDLA. She founded “The Journeyed Soul” later in 2023. Her goal is to educate and connect with communities, hold space for those at the end of life and give support to their loved ones in the process.
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Email: crystalclmn@gmail.com
Phone number: (347) 645-0698
Erika Lim (she/her)
Erika Lim, Death Doula
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Erika Lim is a death doula and occupational therapist. While she finds end of life a ripe time for unearthing love, meaning, and peace, she is most fascinated by the rich learnings of the life and death cycles that happen in our everyday life. If we approach death with a bit more curiosity, it reveals truths about how we want to live. She hopes to bridge the communication gap between generations of loved ones regarding life and death while still respecting the values we've been instilled with by our elders.
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Jasmine Godinez-Gomez (she/her)
mirroredheart LLC
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Jasmine Godinez-Gomez is a multi-faceted professional based in Long Beach, California. As a Full Spectrum Doula, Certified Lactation Educator, Artist, Designer, and Mother, she embodies a creative approach to wellness. Through her brand, mirroredheart LLC, she extends a compassionate hand, offering education, workshops, and personalized care to guide individuals through the myriad of life's transitions.
Born and raised in the vibrant landscape of Los Angeles County, Jasmine earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Studio Arts with a specialization in graphic design. She views art not only as a medium of expression but as a powerful tool for healing and processing grief.
With a heart dedicated to service, Jasmine has undergone extensive training as a Full Spectrum Doula, equipping herself to support individuals through pivotal life events including pregnancy, birth, postpartum, loss, and grief. Her commitment extends to lactation education, where she champions the act of breastfeeding as a form of activism and reclamation.
Jasmine is an active member of the Birthworkers of Color Collective. She is a Medi-Cal approved Doula, supporting clients who receive Medi-Cal at no cost to them. Through her involvement with Frontline Doulas Community Doula Champions, she advocates for respectful and inclusive birthing practices & access to essential care for those in need.
Jasmine nurtured the next generation of artists as a mentor with The Feminist Front Youth Feminist Art Lab. Her work has garnered recognition, being featured in publications such as Voyage-LA Hidden Gems and the LA-ist article "What Do Doulas Do — And How Can I Find One In LA?". As well as contributing to anthologies like "Wilding & Sprout: A Poetry and Prose Anthology exploring pregnancy, loss, abortion, and postpartum" by Marigolde Press.
In addition, Jasmine facilitates healing spaces, hosting grief circles and creating resources like a grief coloring book, recognizing grieving as a profound act of creativity.
Jasmine's journey is deeply intertwined with the legacy of her daughter, Gemma, who continues to inspire her work after her stillbirth in 2019.
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Kelly Mindes (she/her)
End-of-Life Doula
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Kelly Mindes is a heart centered certified death doula, hospice volunteer, and reiki practitioner. She supports individuals and families with compassion, flexibility, and a multilayered, multifaceted approach to end of life care. Loss, grief, and ultimately post traumatic growth brought her into this field with an open heart, mind, and passion to assist others facing this most challenging time with as much empathy, dignity, and grace as possible. She helps navigate the complexities of end of life planning through personalized, holistic support which encompasses emotional, spiritual, as well as practical factors tailored to honor the unique wishes, values, and needs of individuals as well as loved ones.
She was born and raised in Los Angeles, California and is a wife and mother of two beautiful teens and two precious doggies. She was an elementary school teacher for over a decade and then a home stager/ professional organizer for another. Looking back, while each career was rewarding and fulfilling in it’s own unique way, being a death doula truly feels like a calling and “coming home” of sorts. She considers it a true privilege and an honor to get to be invited to hold space, bear witness, and help support individuals and families during the most tender, sacred, and meaningful time of their lives/ deaths.
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Email: kqmdesign@gmail.com
Shannan Guillory (she/her)
I Do Death
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Shannan is a licensed funeral director, author, consultant and content creator who spends the bulk of her time guiding grieving families through what is arguably the worst time of their lives. She holds a BA in Sociology from the University of California, Riverside.
Over the years, she's been fortunate enough to serve many amazing families of varying ethnicities, religious, and cultural backgrounds and one thing remained constant–they had all lost someone they loved and didn’t know what to do next. She knew it was time for a change. Shannan is helping people of color rebuild their relationship with death; shifting from a space of fear, to one of understanding.
In 2017, she launched “I Do Death”, a blog where she not only pens stories about her knowledge of the industry, but shares tips and lessons learned on her own grief journey.
Shannan has always been a huge fan of words, and writing proved to be a great sense of comfort for her after experiencing a close traumatic loss. In 2019, she released a coffee table book entitled “Dear Grief, You’re a B*tch”, a short series of five fictional stories loosely based on the Kübler-Ross stages of grief. While initially a way to make sense of her own feelings, this project morphed into a way to broker conversations around different parts of the grieving process and how each of us navigate them.
In 2023, she took this work to a new level and created “Get Stiff” , a podcast where she and her cohost have hard conversations around grief, loss, and everything in between, over cocktails. By having tough discussions with industry experts in a casual setting, she is hoping to create accessible spaces for those who grieve differently.
Shannan has been a guest on a number of podcasts including “Ladies Doing Stuff”, “The Mortuary Show”, “Black Girls’ World” and “Sis, I’m Drinking My Water and Minding My Business”. She has also been featured in Voyage LA Magazine, and in US Urns Online’s “5 Best Funeral Blogs”.
A native of South Central Los Angeles, Shannan loves all things about her city and is passionate about highlighting the culture, people, and promoting healthy discourse about taboo topics. She enjoys reading, eating tacos, screaming her heart out at karaoke, and spending time with her family and friends.
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Sonya (SJ) Jackson (she/her)
SJ Lifestyle Brand LLC
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Sonya Jackson (SJ), I am a dynamic motivational speaker, designer, patient and innovator of the Ventri-Bag; groundbreaking artificial heart medical waist bag designed to revolutionize how individuals carry and access their heart device.
I’m an implant in the LA area residing in San Pedro, CA; Originally from Centreville VA located in The DMV metropolitan area. My significant other and I are here in California; with my two Pomeranians. I’m the baby of 4, 1 sister and 2 brothers. My favorite thing to do is swim. Although I cannot swim now due to my condition of having an artificial heart. One day when I get my heart I will enjoy doing water activities again.
I don’t have a supportive family. So, my business is my baby. I feel I toggle between life and death. Being a CEO with a medical condition can get challenging. Focusing on inventing, designing motivational clothes and using my voice with The Voices of Hope under the American Cancer Society; which allowed me to find my community while helping.
I’m passionate about helping people get through end stage diagnosis of any kind. I started by my doctor calling me to ask if I could mentor LVAD patients who are scared and think their life will change for the negative; I’d explain my lifestyle and encourage them to want to live. Then I was addicted; I have participated and spoken at several Breast cancer awareness events. Telling my story with Nicole Blain on the storyecetomy stage. Blessed to be ft. In the lost Angeles Times and have a sit down interview with Nicole and RadNet Radiology.
PAUSE has helped me identify my space in life. I know my purpose; However, this residency really helps me understand in a full perspective what is needed to succeed. Accountability partners, positive and spiritual support and encouragement to our success is nothing short of a blessing and I’m happy to be apart.
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Eligibility and applying
Eligibility
PAUSE Starlight Business Development Residency prioritizes individuals from Communities of Color. We invite in those who are imagining or re-imagining their work in the grief and end-of-life industries.
Our definitions
End of life: We expect applicants to work in the end of life space, which encompasses the full spectrum of dying, death, and grief experiences that individuals have at the end of their lives. “Dying” includes but is not limited to palliative care, hospice, doula services, and experience post-terminal diagnosis. “Death” includes but is not limited to funeral experience/services, death-related arrangements, and death-related rituals (cultural/religious). “Grief” includes but is not limited to personal grief experience, grief’s connection to mental health, public mourning, and grief-related rituals (cultural/religious).
People of Color/Communities of Color: Individuals from communities that identify as non-White. We currently primarily focus on serving and working with People of Color in the United States.
Participant requirements and guidelines:
Availability to attend module sessions, peer coaching, and community of practice sessions January - December 2024 primarily in person for approximately 8+ hours per month.
Must live or work anywhere within the greater Los Angeles region
Participants must have access to reliable transportation to in-person sessions and internet to attend virtual meetings
Participants must be 18+ years old
Businesses that are in the “birth” “renewal” and “growth” of the organizational life cycle or businesses who are reviving their organization (in order to follow trends and stay relevant) are encouraged to apply
Applications are currently closed.
Questions?
programs@timetopause.org Stevie Luna Ibarra, Programs Manager, PAUSE
hello@timetopause.org Alica Forneret, Executive Director, PAUSE
Are you interested in other opportunities to get involved with PAUSE?
Meet our 2022 lumni
Isabel Knight (she/her)
The Death Designer
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Isabel is a human-centered designer in the deathcare space. She is also an INELDA-trained death doula, a home funeral guide, and a member of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Pennsylvania. She helps doulas and death-positive businesses create a more inclusive and accessible experience for their clients through human-centered design workshops and also creates online courses and offers freelance graphic design work. Her primary goal is to make death a more equitable experience for all, and one day hopes to open a real-life "death cafe" and death education space in Philadelphia! You can find her on Instagram at @thedeathdesigner.
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Kelli Dillon (she/her)
Endpowered
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Kelli Dillon (she/her) is an insightful and experienced consultant, compassionate listener, gracious facilitator, and owner of Endpowered. As a licensed Willow End of Life Educator™, Kelli leads heart-centered experiential workshops, rooted in the palatable exploration of our relationship with grief, death, and endings.
In 2013, Kelli‘s mother died after almost two decades of living with a congestive heart failure diagnosis. Her mother’s last hospital stay and the moments leading up to and after her death replayed in Kelli’s mind several times. She realized there was so much about death and dying that she was simply clueless about. She and her mother never had a single conversation about her someday, one day, death. It felt like it just happened and there were no answers to the myriad of questions that come up when a loved one dies. This missed opportunity became a catalyst for Kelli to seek deeper wisdom and meaning from her mother’s transition.
Through her personal and professional experiences, Kelli discovered that her True North, her life’s calling, is creating safe spaces to facilitate open and honest communication that affects and improves our well-being. In pursuit of her mission, Kelli became a licensed Willow End of Life Educator ™. Through engaging workshops, Kelli helps facilitate and transform conversations around death and dying into a rich opportunity for personal growth and community building. This work organically leverages our human factors and collective capability to connect with universal truths about life and death.
Many folks believe that conversations around end-of-life planning, death, and dying should be reserved for those who are ‘life experienced’ a.k.a our elders, but we can be affected by death and grief at any age. Kelli is on a mission to help others to find the courage to engage in healthy dialogue around the most taboo topic of life, which ironically is death itself. She affirms we can reverse engineer to create a more meaningful and deeply enriched life by taking a curious look at the END to power the NOW!
Endpowered offers virtual and in-person workshops designed for diverse BIPOC: corporate ERGs, community-based programs, organizations, individuals & families.
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Mangda Sengvanhpheng (she/her)
BACII
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Mangda Sengvanhpheng is an artist, healing practitioner, and the founder of BACII - a digital space that focuses on end-of-life topics such as loss, grief and death while providing services and offerings that renew our engagement to life. Her life and death work is guided by her Laotian last name, which means “the light of the full moon.” Mangda’s work has been featured in Vogue, Brydie, NY Mag’s Curbed, Chacruna Institute and more.
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Charlene Lam (she/her)
The Grief Gallery
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Charlene Lam is a certified grief coach, speaker and the founder of The Grief Gallery. After her mother died suddenly in 2013, she leaned into her creativity and instincts as a curator to guide herself through grief.
That work led her to help other people to process their grief and losses.
Charlene believes we are ALL curators after a loved one dies. Her Curating Grief coaching framework is designed to be a creative and accessible way to process grief.
She provides grief coaching to help bereaved people to feel less alone and better equipped to deal with the practical and emotional aftermath of losing a loved one. And when they’re ready, to transform their pain, loss and grief into something beautiful so they can move forward with living their own fullest lives.
As curator of The Grief Gallery, she presents exhibitions exploring death and grief during international design events and festivals, including NYCxDESIGN, DesignTO (Toronto) and the London Design Festival.
She speaks about the power of art, creativity, story and meaning making for healthy grieving and post-traumatic growth.
She’s the author of the forthcoming book Curating Grief: A Creative Guide to Choosing What to Keep After a Loved One Dies. Her podcast guest appearances include Late Bloomer Living, Grief is My Side Hustle (episode live Dec 2022) and the What Works podcast with Tara McMullin. A proud Chinese-American New Yorker (like her mother!), she's currently based in Lisbon, Portugal and works with clients worldwide.
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Briana Simmons (she/her)
Unearthing Tradition
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Briana Simmons (she/her) is a full-spectrum life and death facilitator caring for folks giving life and those facing death. She is the Founder and Creative Director of Unearthing Tradition, a holistic wellness organization dedicated to addressing modern issues with ancestral practices through a continuous process of rediscovery. Briana’s work is inspired by the demise of her loved ones known by name and otherwise. A commitment to unearthing dignified cycles between life and death, specifically for Black, LGBTQ+, and/or spiritual folk are her priority in this work. Unearthing Tradition centers these communities unapologetically and in all ways. Briana offers spiritual care, logistical support, and compassionate guidance for her clients and their chosen beloveds within a range of services including end of life planning, life review, sitting vigil and grief support facilitation. In 2020, Briana completed end of life planning and death doula training with Going with Grace.
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Dr. Julie Shaw (she/her)
Hello, I’m Grieving
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Julie is a change agent whose passion lies in personal development, leadership development, and transition. Dr. Shaw comes from the world of athletics having been a collegiate women’s basketball coach for close to 15 years helping lead teams to multiple championships and the NCAA Sweet 16. After her work with Billie Jean King as her Director of Education, Shaw co-founded Lead Different Consulting where she now works with teams from small businesses to global companies.
Shaw has devoted her time and expertise to the field of diversity and inclusion starting with earning her doctorate in Leadership & Administration focusing on creating safe space climates on college campuses. She has also been an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, women’s equity, and social justice. After the loss of her sister in 2020, Dr. Shaw became a certified grief educator and studied under world renowned grief specialist, David Kessler. She has dedicated her time to help others as the founder of Hello I’m Grieving, a grief awareness brand and community geared towards grief awareness, visibility and education. Combining her gifts of speaking and teaching, Shaw helps leaders in organizations become more grief informed, empathetic leaders facilitating trainings on grief education. Dr. Shaw’s vision is to build a global community of diverse people connected through grief by offering creative engaging events that are centered around building a safe space for grievers to heal and continue living on.
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Marielle Cuison (she/her)
The Death Engineer
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Marielle is the death doula and civil engineer behind The Death Engineer. She enjoys guiding others through their end-of-life options and encouraging people to talk more openly about death and grief. Marielle’s curiosity around death started at an early age when she learned about Filipino superstitions and ghost stories from her family. After her grandpa died in 2016, she felt called to explore the deathcare space and discover how her natural gifts can help others. She completed the Going With Grace End of Life Training in 2018 and continues to expand her knowledge of end-of-life planning and griefwork.
Marielle likes to share her death explorations on her Instagram account, @thedeathengineer. She’s a lover of puns, enjoys creating block printed greeting cards, and believes any floor can be a dance floor. Some items on her funeral wish list include public transit options to get there and a chocolate fountain.
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Nefertiti Moor (she/her)
Dearly Bereaved
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Nefertiti Moor is a Creatress, Green Burial Planner, Grief/Loss Supporter and Home Funeral Guide.. An Anishinaabe land (Detroit, MI) native, currently living on Lenape land (Philadelphia, PA); Nefertiti has never been ashamed of where she comes from or where she's going in regards to community work. By actively healing childhood traumas, Nefertiti continues to embrace the strength in her "sensitivity" and "empathy" by utilizing it to support others.
Although Nefertiti has been intrigued by death for as far back as she can remember; the passing of her Grandfather is what brought her even closer to the death work and offerings that she gives to the community today. She holds dear to her heart the fact that grief, end of life discussions/planning and home funeral options go so underserved in the Black community and she seeks to change that through dedication, focus and action.
In her free time; Nefertiti loves to spend time with her son, eat lots of good food, frolic in nature, create scented candles, pay homage to her Ancestor's and talk about death positive things.
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Patricia Montoya (she/her)
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Patty Montoya is a Psychic Medium, Energy Healer, Anticipatory Grief Coach, Reiki Practitioner, Death Doula, and so much more! She is the founder of Titipoza, a space created to help people process their grief and their trauma and ultimately grow from their experiences. Titipoza was created after experiencing the loss of several of her loved ones. Patty provides the services she did not have while anticipating the loss of her loved ones. Patty believes we are all working through our traumas and processing generational trauma, and we come to this earth to learn, heal, and then teach. In her practice, she uses a blend of her gifts and learnings to empower you through your healing journey. Using energy healing, spirits, or tarot card, she offers a space to raise your vibrations and guide you in your healing journey.
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Tida Beattie (she/her)
MESO LLC
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Tida Beattie is an end-of-life doula, community educator and grief support activist as a result of being present and bearing witness to the difficult deaths of her parents in 2019.
Tida is a co-founder of MESO LLC, alongside Soyeon Davis. Their work guides immigrants and their families to culturally intelligent resources with the goal of providing information, increasing capacity, and offering support at the intersection of care, loss and grief.
Tida trained as an end-of-life doula through Suzanne O'Briens Doulagivers and with Denise Love's Life Options. Tida is currently training to be a hospice volunteer with Zen Caregiving Project in San Francisco and has sat on the AAPI Leadership Council for Compassion And Choices, the national non-profit dedicated to the pursuit of medical aid in dying in the US.
Tida was born in the United States and is the daughter of Thai immigrants. She grew up on the East Coast, attended Johns Hopkins University, and received her MBA from Thunderbird. Prior to co-founding MESO, she was a high-end restaurant consultant, working for chefs Gabriela Camara at CALA, Nancy Oakes and Cat Cora. Tida started her career as a financial analyst supporting information technology sales teams at Accenture.
She loves to eat and cook, dragging her family to farmers markets and listening to BTS. She lives in Northern California with her husband, teenagers, and Miko the Bernadoodle.
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Roshni Kavate (she/her)
Cardamom and Kavate
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Roshni Kavate is an Artist, Grief Nourisher, Alchemist, and an Activist. Roshni is the Founder and Creative Director of Cardamom and Kavate, a cultural wellness platform dedicated to reclaiming nourishing practices rooted in ancestral wisdom for collective liberation. She believes grief is a portal to wholeness. Through rituals and storytelling, we can reconnect to our origins and be our wild selves. She sees the path to being whole as a radical art and political practice. The question that guides her is What is our grief craving? and how can we nourish and feed it?
Roshni earned a B.S in Nutritional Sciences from UC Berkeley, a B.S in Nursing from NYU with honors and Ayurveda Post Partum Caregiver Training from The Center for Sacred Window Studies. She is also trained in Urban Zen Integrative Yoga Therapy to provide complementary holistic care to people with serious illness. Roshni has over a decade of Nursing experience in both clinical and leadership positions working with diverse populations in New York City, Los Angeles and Oakland. Her work has spanned from working as birth doula, transplant ICU nurse, home health nurse and to an end of life nurse. Most recently she worked as a Palliative Care Nurse at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland.
Roshni's early childhood was marked by the grief her mother and ancestors experienced by living on the margins based on gender and caste. Similarly in the United States, as a Nurse, Roshni witnessed racialized trauma and its lasting impact on the health and wellness of communities of color.
She has been grateful to use her nursing skills on service trips abroad and learn from traditional healers in India and Guatemala. Roshni grew up in India and California and enjoys cooking, hand building ceramics, swimming in the ocean, studying plant medicine and natural dyeing.
Roshni is also the CEO and co- founder of the reproductive wellness platform Marigolde. Marigolde is creating a new ecology of care for people navigating post partum, pregnancy loss, and abortion. Marigolde’s mission is to create a new paradigm of care rooted in empowered education, radical empathy and nourishing cultural rituals.
Roshni has been recognized for their work by being featured on KQED NPR, featured speaker on the Reimagine Platform, and a recipient of emerging wellness entrepreneur award from Reclamation Ventures. Roshni recently published a community cookbook on food and grief titled Mending a Broken Heart: Recipes and Rituals for Nourishing Grief, which was recognized by the Yerba Buena Center for Arts. Roshni is also publishing two new books this fall, Wildling and Sprout, a poetry anthology for abortion and pregnancy loss. And Bloom, a modern guide for pregnancy loss and abortion post partum care.
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Vinh; Paul Ha (he/they)
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Vinh;Paul Ha is a first-generation queer brown Asian born in the Bay Area, California, currently residing on Tongva Land (Los Angeles). Vinh;Paul is a gender non-essentialist who uses he/him pronouns and does not identify as a man. He believes he was put on this earth to do spiritual-emotional work and is a trained End of Life Doula, storyteller, Usui Reiki Master, and Sovereignty Daddē with a coaching and mediation practice. He also has over 20 years of working experience in arts, education, and nonprofits. His healing practice is rooted in BIPOC unity, abolition, and bringing somatic comfort, ease, and rest to all queer/trans/non-white people. His death work is committed to providing equity and dignity to the aging LGTBQIA2S+ and Vietnamese diaspora.
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PAUSE extends deep gratitude for the generous support from our funder The John and Wauna Harman Foundation.
Want to learn more about how you can support our program? Get in touch!
Alica Forneret, Executive Director: hello@timetopause.org