Seminars
and Speakers

Betsy Hawley, MA

Betsy Hawley is the executive director of the Pediatric Palliative Care Coalition and has more than 25 years of experience in nonprofit management in both healthcare and community development.

As an advocate, Hawley speaks extensively nationally on coalition building and pediatric palliative and hospice care. Betsy works with other state-based pediatric palliative care coalitions to further meet the needs of families and medical professionals caring for medically complex children. She serves with several organizations involved with pediatric, palliative and end-of-life care.

James and Hawley will explore aspects of compassionate and comprehensive care that offer guidance for families and others experiences the death of a child or pregnancy loss.

Kristin James, LCPC

Kristin James has worked with families coping with illness, trauma and loss for nearly 30 years. She is recognized for her work in pediatric palliative care and grief support and serves on the National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care Pediatric Division and the Illinois Hospice and Palliative Care Advisory Board.

James has provided clinical consultation and training, advocacy and education to healthcare systems, community agencies, funeral professionals and school systems. She co-founded Missing Pieces and developed a program for pediatric bereavement care at Lurie Children's Hospital. She holds a master’s degree in counseling.

Bill A. Johnston, is an advertising and Facebook expert for funeral homes, and president of the Post and Boost advertising agency. He is a speaker and author of four books, including “How Facebook Works for Funeral Homes: Serve Engage Expand!” Johnston graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in television and radio and managed radio stations in the Carolinas.

In 2000 he founded iconnectv.com, an interactive media company for cable television. He also invented a proprietary, scalable software platform that creates, posts and boosts custom advertising for funeral homes on Facebook.

Johnston will provide information on how funeral homes and their staff become known, trusted and celebrated on Facebook.

Michelle Johnston has been a licensed funeral director and embalmer since 2013, graduating from the Dallas Institute of Funeral Service. She attended Fountain National Academy in Springfield, MO, to further her knowledge of restorative art and postmortem reconstructive surgery.

She established East Texas Mortuary Service in 2019 and serves funeral homes by offering embalming and advance trauma repair, among other services. Johnston was approved to open her own educational institution, Johnston Embalming and Reconstructive Institute, to instruct professionals in restorative arts.

Johnston will provide funeral directors with advanced knowledge and practical technical skills in embalming airbrush cosmetics.

Barbara Kemmis is the executive director of the Cremation Association of North America, where she promotes all things cremation through member programs, education and strategic partnerships. After more than 20 years of experience in association leadership, she knows that bringing people together to advance common goals is not only fun but is the most effective strategy to get things done. 

Kemmis earned a master’s degree in library science from Dominican University, a graduate certificate in nonprofit management from North Park University and a B.A. from Earlham College.

Kemmis will discuss a poll on cremation and the eventual destination of cremated remains and the funeral director’s role in the process.

Shun Newbern has nearly 30 years of dedicated funeral service experience and is the owner of Metropolitan Mortuary, in Jurupa Valley, CA. He previously served as a licensed embalmer and funeral director for Rose Hills Memorial Park and Mortuary, Whittier, CA, assisting in supervising a staff of 30 embalmers of a high-volume location. 

He is an adjunct instructor for Cypress College, Mortuary Science Program in Cypress, CA, and has a BS in leadership and management from the University of La Verne. Newbern has published numerous articles on embalming and prep room management.

Newbern will discuss in-depth specialized techniques the embalmer can implement when handling autopsy cases.

Dr. John Paul is a soil scientist with a passion for the health of our soil, and the importance of recycling organic matter. He has more than 30 years of experience with composting all types of organic material.

He began composting animal mortalities in 1993, developed the composting protocol for Avian Flu response and also created videos and factsheets for composting farm animals. Paul has integrated the science of composting with his experience in developing the human body composting process. Dr. Paul developed the human body composting process for Return Home beginning in 2019.

Dr. Paul will explore how beneficial microbes are encouraged, while potentially harmful microbes are discouraged, during the natural organic reduction process.