Tashel C. Bordere, PhD, CT is an internationally-known scholar, author, and speaker, and a grant-funded researcher at the Center for Family Policy and Research at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is certified in Thanatology. Dr. Bordere is President of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief (NACG) and board member for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). She completed a Forward Promise Fellowship through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) focused on healing among Black male youth. She is a mentor and career coach to Health Equity Scholars through Johns Hopkins (RWJF). Dr. Bordere’s research focuses on cultural trauma, stigmatized loss (gun violence), suffocated grief (a term she coined), and Black youth and family grief and death rituals. She has received numerous awards including the Dr. Ronald K. Barrett Award (ADEC), Excellence in Engagement in Outreach (MU), and the Outstanding Faculty Mentorship to underrepresented students award (MU). Dr. Bordere has done workshops, keynotes, and published research on inequities in loss and culturally resonant practices, including her co-edited book, Handbook of Social Justice in Loss and Grief (Routledge). She is a grief health advisor on films and has been featured in national/international media.