Angela Woosley
Angela Woosley, M.A. is a Minnesota-licensed mortician and founder of Inspired Journeys LLC, the Midwest’s first woman-owned and client-centered natural deathcare provider, offering a full spectrum of funeral services from family-led after-death care assistance, celebrant services, end-of-life doula work, and natural disposition facilitation. She taught for over ten years in the Program of Mortuary Science at the University of Minnesota, developing one of the first hands-on, writing-intensive funeral arrangements courses in American funeral education. Angela also currently serves as president of the board of directors for the National Home Funeral Alliance.
Ashley Montroy
Ashley Montroy is the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of FrontRunner Professional and has been in funeral service her entire life. She grew up directly above her family’s small-town funeral home, a place where her father served families and founded FrontRunner Professional. In 2010, Ashley joined FrontRunner and has since overseen the company’s marketing division. During this time, she helped FrontRunner grow to be one of North America’s top technology and marketing companies, working with more than 3,000 funeral homes world-wide. To date, she has taught close to 10,000 funeral professionals at 50+ national, state and provincial conventions. Ashley also serves as the Vice-President of the Funeral Service Association of Canada and is the youngest board member in the Association’s history.
Beverly Beuermann-King
For over twenty years, Beverly has used her S-O-S Principle™ with people and organizations who want to control their reactions to stress, build resiliency against life’s challenges, and live healthy, engaged lives. Beverly is a sought-after media spokesperson on mental health and resiliency and has represented high-profile brands such as Expedia, TD Insurance, and P&G. She is a highly respected speaker and is one of less than seventy Canadians to have earned their Certified Speaking Professional designation. Beverly is the author of “Stress Out! 52 Weeks To Letting More Life In.”
Mayor Bonnie Crombie
Since first being elected as Mayor in 2014, Bonnie Crombie has worked diligently to improve the quality of life for Mississauga residents by holding the line on taxes, investing in improving traffic congestion, promoting an agenda of sustainability and resiliency, which includes building regionally connected transit, and attracting major economic investment, all while managing the growth of Canada’s sixth-largest city.
Prior to being elected as Mayor, Bonnie served as the Ward 5 City Councillor, and previous to that, as Member of Parliament for Mississauga-Streetsville.
Before entering public service, Mayor Crombie enjoyed a twenty-year career in business, working for Fortune 500 companies and starting her own business as an entrepreneur.
Building regionally-integrated transit, keeping Mississauga open for business, fostering innovation and creating a more open, engaging, inclusive, and sustainable city have been Mayor Crombie’s leading priorities since taking office.
She has an MBA from York University’s Schulich School of Business and earned a Corporate Director’s Certificate from the Institute of Corporate Directors at the Rotman School of Management.
Christina Walton
Christina Walton is a Registered Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in bereavement and loss, for children and adults. She holds a B.A. from McMaster University, a master’s degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and has been a licensed funeral director for 33 years. She is the Community Care Coordinator with P.X. Dermody Funeral Homes of Hamilton, and has a private therapy practice. She is the President of the “The Children’s Grief Foundation of Canada.”
Lisa A. Baue
A third-generation Funeral Director, Lisa A. Baue graduated with her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Missouri Columbia. She is also a graduate of the National Foundation of Funeral Service Management School formerly in Evanston, IL. Lisa joined her family’s firm as a third-generation Funeral Director in 1979 and took over the business following the unexpected death of her father, David C. Baue in 1987, becoming its sole owner in 1989.
Under her leadership, the Baue family business grew to encompass four funeral home locations, St. Charles County’s first onsite crematory, a flower and gift shop, three reception centers, an 80-acre cemetery and cremation park, a pet cremation and tribute center, a counseling center (the Center for Hope and Healing), and discount company, the Cremation Society of Missouri. Through these affiliates, Baue and its 120-plus employees currently serve close to 2,500 combined families a year.
Lisa currently serves as the Chair-Elect of the Funeral Service Foundation.
Melissa Posey Loose
Melissa Posey Loose serves as the Training and Development Manager for NFDA. A fourth-generation licensed funeral director, Melissa has a diverse background in meeting with families to develop, coordinate, and direct meaningful plans and ceremonies honoring the deceased. She has developed partnerships with hospice organizations to provide grief support programs including support groups, annual memorial events, and a camp for children who have experienced the death of a primary caregiver. Melissa also led her family’s firm, Posey Funeral Directors, to earn the National Funeral Directors Association’s Pursuit of Excellence Award for the past four years. As a 2019 Pursuit of Excellence Award winner, Posey Funeral Directors was also designated as one of NFDA’s five 2019 “Best of the Best” award winners for their community relations initiatives.
Meridith Elliott Powell
Sales strategist, business strategist, leadership expert, Certified Speaking Professional, and award-winning author, Meridith Elliott Powell wants today’s businesses to stop viewing uncertainty as something that prevents them from being successful. This is why her virtual programs, leadership coaching, online courses, and keynote presentations leverage her 9-step formula for making uncertainty your company’s strategic advantage™. With a background in corporate leadership and sales, her career expands over several industries including banking, healthcare, and finance. Meridith worked her way up from entry-level to earn her position in the C-Suite. She is a Master Certified Strategist, Executive Coach and Certified Speaking Professional, a designation held by less than twelve percent of professional speakers. In addition, Meridith is an invitation-only author for LinkedIn, having published more than six courses on their prestigious education networks.
Monica Torres
Monica H. Torres is a LE, LFD, LC, Reconstructive Specialist and Desairologist. Ms. Torres is an internationally recognized public speaker, death industry consultant, online coach, and technical embalming trainer. Monica is the founder of startup company NXT Generation Mortuary Support, LLC (est. 2011). “NXTgen” is a trailblazing trade service which not only offers national embalming service and staff support, but also develops modern online death ed programs for professionals and families. Empowering female morticians by offering accessible accredited technical training programs are at the core of NXTgen’s management and consulting service department.