Deborah Kaercher’s doctorate and professional background is in combined public health and grassroots technology-based start-ups. Born in Springfield, Missouri, Deborah received her BA in Political Science and Philosophy from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and her MPH and Ph.D. from Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia where she entered a program in women’s health studies and public health. She was the founding Vice-President and Executive Director of the Women and Family Health Information Network, establishing operations in 1997 with a coalition of over thirty community and non-profit members in the South Texas community. The Network was adopted by the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio in 2004. Her most recent publication was included in Feminist Popular Education in Transnational Debates: Building Pedagogies of Possibility. She is currently working as the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of a new organization – The Final Acts Project: Theatre and Creative Arts Supporting End of Life Care Planning – which is dedicated to humanizing the end of life experience through the arts, humanities, theatre, education and resource development.

Craig Hurwitz is a pediatrician who specializes in pediatric pain and palliative medicine. He attended the University of Texas and Southwestern Medical School in Dallas before moving to Duke Medical Center in North Carolina for a pediatrics residency. Dr. Hurwitz completed his pediatrics training in 1982 followed by fellowship subspecialty training in pediatric hematology and oncology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital from 1982 – 1985. Following fellowship training, Dr. Hurwitz joined the faculty at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as an Assistant Professor where he specialized in treating children with acute leukemias. In 1993, he joined the Maine Children’s Cancer Program in Portland, Maine where he remained as Director of the Program and a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Vermont School of Medicine for the next 10 years. Dr. Hurwitz took at 2 year sabbatical to return to fellowship training in Pain and Palliative Medicine at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston from 2003-2005, and subsequently returned to Portland to build and direct a combined adult and pediatric palliative medicine program in Maine. Dr. Hurwitz made his final move back to Austin in 2011 when he was recruited to Dell Children’s Medical Center as the new director of the Pain and Palliative Medicine Program.

Stephanie A. Graham attended law school at the University of Missouri – Kansas City and graduated in 2003. During law school, Stephanie was a paid intern at the Missouri State Public Defender’s Office in both the Kansas City Appellate Division and the Kansas City Trial Division. In 2003, she joined the Missouri State Public Defender’s Office as Attorney in the Kansas City Trial Division. While at the Public Defenders Office, she represented hundreds of clients from initial arraignment through final disposition. In 2005, Stephanie moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to accept a position with the Clark County District Attorney’s office. As a Deputy District Attorney, she gained invaluable experience handling hundreds of cases on behalf of the State from initial investigation to final disposition. Stephanie’s extensive jury trial experience includes the serious crimes of Murder, Sex Assault, Kidnapping and Robbery.  On November 30th, 2012, after seven years in Las Vegas, she resigned her position as Deputy District Attorney to return “home” to her friends and family in Kansas City. Stephanie received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Susan Hull, MSN, RN, is a nursing executive, entrepreneur and national thought leader passionate about co-creating technology-enabled innovations, transforming health and care eco-systems to dramatically improve population health, resilience and wellbeing. Susan believes we can achieve an affordable, sustainable learning health system – where consumers, providers and communities are dynamically engaged and thriving, with personalized health solutions achieving the triple aim.

Susan developed her passion for end-of-life dialogue and ethical decision making through early experiences as a pediatric nurse, working with families, chaplains and collaborative care teams, in intensive care and emergency settings. She has served in a variety of roles including managing a new Children’s Hospital Emergency Service, nursing and health system executive, new healthy community partnership and community health information network executive, clinical informatics and decision support executive, consultant and action researcher. As founder and CEO of WellSpring Consulting, she has supported health care communities in the US and Canada since 1994. She recently served as Chief Health Informatics Officer for Diversinet, Vice President for Elsevier’s CPM Resource Center; on the NeHC Consumer e-Health Advisory Board and on HHS’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Consumer Technology Standards workgroup. She co-chairs a national Consumer eHealth initiative with the Alliance for Nursing Informatics; and serves on the Learning Health System Policy and Governance Framework Initiative.

Michelle Mirsky lost her young son, Lev, to heart disease and cancer in late 2010 after a three year pitched battle. Since 2007, Michelle has worked for Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas – first in the Palliative Care program and then as the Family Liaison. She currently chairs the Dell Children’s Family Advisory Council. Michelle has presented locally and internationally on Best Practices in Patient-and Family-Centered Care and continues to spread the message of storytelling and patient-family engagement as a means to improvement in healthcare. Michelle’s background and training are in writing and, in a past life, she taught English. She’s written for a number of creative outlets including McSweeney’s and The Austin Chronicle. Her writing has appeared in Best American Essays.

Kandyce Powell, RN, MSN has 30 years professional experience working with end-of-life issues. Since 1992, she is the Executive Director of the Maine Hospice Council and Center for End of Life Care in Augusta where her primary responsibilities include educational, technical and advocacy assistance for educators, health care professionals, and policy-makers who are interested in improving the quality of life for the dying and bereaved. She has been instrumental in developing partnerships to address these issues, and has been a tireless advocate for the underserved. She is a frequent speaker in Maine and throughout the US on topics related to end-of-life care and has been a mentor to many graduate students interested in end of life issues. In 2000, Kandyce was instrumental in starting a Hospice program at the Maine State Prison in Warren Maine. Kandyce provides pro bono support and experience around end-of-life issues and Hospice care options to the Board.

Gail Yantis has been in the insurance industry for over 20 years.  She began her insurance career in life management with Prudential and was promoted to expand a nationwide program for them rising to the Director level.  She then went into the independent brokerage channel spending see the last several years with brokerage agencies.  As an independent general agent she has the ability to work with many companies to provide the solution that best fits the client.  Prior to entering the professional world she was widowed at 28 without a plan.  Before she entered the  insurance profession Gail was City Administrator for the City of Leander.  She has completed the Certified Long Term Care Consultant (CLTC) training program and has earned her FLMI designation.  She is a certified CE instructor and teaches courses on long term care, life insurance and ethics.  Gail continues to enjoy learning and expanding her knowledge base.  She spends her leisure time traveling and enjoying her four grandchildren.   Gail enjoys working with clients to help them obtain the most suitable products and to understand the process.  She is a firm believer in relationships and works hard to develop and maintain them.