ABOUT OUR FOUNDER

"Some paths choose you." Mary Matthiesen

Mary Matthiesen is a transpersonal educator, coach, and community facilitator, raising awareness and promoting social change in support of living and dying well. She melds a passion for creative life expression with 17 years of front-line experience in healthcare, end of life care, and executive leadership. She continues to be inspired by the end of life experiences and stories we each carry and the power they hold to make a difference for our future. Her real-world experience truth telling, and humor bring a unique offering to issues every one of us face in this lifetime. Her experience supporting her mother's choice at end-of-life catalyzed the founding of Conversations for Life™, in hopes that others could benefit from shared wisdom around the 21st century realities we each will face around this profound life transition.

Training, Coaching, and Monologue Workshops

Mary has presented to audiences of hundreds of interdisciplinary healthcare professionals nation wide, and has offered coaching and story-based workshops for women and families, patients, healthcare professionals, spiritual communities. She is adjunct faculty for Harvard/George Washington Institute for Spirituality in Medicine Conferences and offers coaching and educational programs internationally.

Public and Professional Awareness Campaigns

Mary has developed and launched successfully integrated, community-based healthcare and public-awareness campaigns for sudden death and organ donation, heart disease and stroke prevention, women's health issues, end of life care, and community volunteerism. She has held leadership roles with the California Transplant Donor Network, the American Heart Association, the Sacred Dying Foundation, and Community Impact. She now brings her unique professional and personal expertise to create and consult on campaigns that address the most critical issues facing our generation.

Products, Professional Affiliations and Education

Mary is the Founder and Director of the Conversations for Life™, A New Approach to End of Life Conversations for the 21st Century. Executive Producer of the Care for the Journey: Sustaining the Heart of Healthcare audio resource and training program, Co-author and Educator of the Sacred Dying Volunteer Vigil Training Program, Advisor and Lead Facilitator for the Listening Well Network for Mental Health and Stories for Change. Additionally, Mary holds the following roles and credentials:

• U.C. Santa Cruz in Psychobiology
• Stanford University in Psychobiology
• The Center for Spiritual Healing
• The Coaches Training Institute
• International Monologue Project

Personal

Mary lives in Cumbria, UK and offers programs, consulting, and coaching internationally. Her friends, family, dog Rascal and the beach keep her sane ... most days. She is every bit as human and perplexed by the mystery we all face in the daily experience of living and dying, yet knows the power we all hold to come together to make a difference.