Expert Category: Course presenter

Beverly Wallace, MDiv, PhD

Beverly Wallace is currently the associate professor of Congregational and Community Care at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN. Wallace has authored several articles and book chapters including Narratives of Grieving African Americans About Racism in the Lives of Deceased Family Members; A Womanist Legacy of Trauma, Grief, and Loss: Reframing the Notion of the Strong Black…

Rev. Carla Cheatham, PhD, MDiv

Carla Cheatham began her career in psychosocial services before working as an interfaith healthcare chaplain and bereavement coordinator. She is a national keynote speaker and consultant focusing on emotionally intelligent and resilient professionals and organizations, Chair of NHPCO’s Ethics Advisory Council, former Leader for NHPCO’s Spiritual Caregivers Community, Adjunct Professor at Seminary of the Southwest,…

Stephen R. Connor, PhD

Stephen Connor is the executive director of the Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA) with 485 organizational members in over 100 countries. Connor has worked in palliative care continuously as a researcher, licensed clinical health psychologist, consultant, author, educator, advocate, and executive. For 11 years he was VP for research and professional development at NHPCO….

Rabbi Gary S. Fink, DMin

Gary Fink was Senior Vice President of Counseling and Family Support at Montgomery Hospice in Rockville, MD, where he supported the counseling departments, directed the Spiritual Counseling staff, and led interfaith community outreach efforts. He served as a congregational rabbi for more than 25 years, retiring from the pulpit to establish a pastoral counseling practice…

Jenna Z. Marcus, MD

Jenna Marcus is an Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern Medicine. She has a BS from Oakland University and an MD from Wayne State University School of Medicine.

Leah McDonald, MD

Leah McDonald is a current Fellow in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at Hope Health and Brown University School of Medicine in Rhode Island. She completed her residency in Emergency Medicine at NYU/Bellevue and is interested in improving primary palliative care and hopsice skills provided in critical care settings and the emergency department.

Sheila Otten, LCSW

Sheila Otten is in private practice in Louisville, KY, living out her passion providing education and support to children and families. She is also an instructor at the University of Louisville. Otten worked in community mental health supporting children and families in crisis and went on to serve as the primary social worker with the…

William F. Ro​sa, PhD, MBE, ACHPN, FAANP, FAAN

William Rosa is chief research fellow, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center. He spent one year with the Human Resources for Health Program in Rwanda, East Africa (2015-2016), contributing to the curriculum content for the first Masters-prepared nursing cohort in the country and completed MSK’s interprofessional hospice and palliative…

Leslie R. Robinson

Leslie Robinson is a therapist in private practice who spent 30+ years working in many diverse capacities within underserved and marginalized communities. She proudly served as a Department of Defense Reintegration Speaker nationwide during the drawdown from Afghanistan. In 2009, Leslie founded Trance4mation Games, the overall company for her Keep It Real Inclusion game, Warrior…

David Steinhorn, MD, FAAP

David Steinhorn is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School with residency in pediatrics and fellowship training in pediatric hepatology and critical care medicine. He completed post-doctoral training in 1997 in hospice and palliative medicine at Hospice Buffalo in New York and has been continuously board-certified in those specialties. Steinhorn served on the…

Ryan Weller, LCSW, APHSW-C 

Ryan Weller is the National Program Manager for Palliative and Hospice Care for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Prior to this role, he was the team leader and clinical social worker for the Portland (Oregon) VA Medical Center’s Palliative Care Consult Team for 20 years. During 10 of those years, he was also the…

Molly Brooks RN-BC, CHPCA

Molly Brooks is a board member of Hero’s Bridge. She is a registered nurse with over 23 years experience with specialty certifications in gerontology and hospice and palliative care. Throughout her professional and personal life, she has dedicated herself to caring for others, especially aging veterans.