Mara Sankin

COMPASSION • DIGNITY • UNDERSTANDING

My name is Mara Sankin, and I am based in Cleveland, Ohio. I work with Affinity Care of Ohio as a Death Doula and Hospice Educator, where I help individuals and families navigate the end-of-life journey with compassion, dignity, and understanding. My work focuses on education, emotional support, advocacy, and helping families feel less alone during some of life’s most difficult moments.

In addition to my role in hospice care, I am the founder of Partners in Passing, a company dedicated to providing holistic end-of-life support and guidance. I also serve part-time as a court-appointed guardian, advocating for vulnerable individuals who need support, protection, and a voice in complex life situations.

With a background rooted in service, recovery advocacy, and human connection, I am passionate about helping people walk through life’s most sacred and challenging transitions with grace, honesty, and compassion.

My work in end of life care is not something I chose lightly. It is something I was led to through my own healing. I spent over 20 years working as a drug and alcohol counselor, supporting people through some of the most painful and transformative moments of their lives. In 2014, I began my own recovery journey, and at my lowest point I remember feeling completely disconnected from humanity as a whole. That experience changed me. Recovery became more than staying sober. It became a path back to connection, to truth, and to learning how to show up for others in a real and meaningful way.

As I rebuilt my life, I became more aware of how many people move through this world without anyone truly advocating for them, especially at the end of life. That awareness is what drew me into hospice and eventually into my work as a death doula. I also serve as a court appointed guardian, working with individuals I often think of as the lost souls, people who are vulnerable, overlooked, or without a voice. To me, this is all part of the same calling. I believe we are here to help each other walk home, and that every person deserves to do so with grace, dignity, and someone by their side who sees them.

What I love most about this work is the opportunity to bring presence into spaces that can feel heavy or uncertain. Whether I am sitting with someone at the end of their life or supporting a family trying to make sense of it all, my role is to be a steady, compassionate witness. My journey taught me that even in the hardest moments, there is a deep opportunity for connection and meaning. Being able to offer that to others, especially at the end of life, feels like a continuation of my own healing and a way of giving back what was so freely given to me.

Mara Sankin
Affinity Care of Ohio

Death Doula & Hospice Educator

Shanti Vani

PROVIDING SUPPORT & EDUCATION TO GRIEVERS

Shanti Vani is a death doula in Gainesville, Florida who specializes in grief support. She serves as a founding member and board president of the Florida End-of-Life Doula Alliance (FEOLDA) 501(c)(3), established in 2024. FEOLDA develops educational resources and fosters collaboration among end-of-life doulas, professionals, and advocates throughout Florida, thereby advancing awareness and understanding of doula-supported, non-medical care, advocacy, and compassionate support for individuals at the end of life and their caregivers. Shanti is proud to be part of the first statewide organization of its kind in the United States.

She earned an Associate of Science degree in Respiratory Care in 2008 and accrued 11 years of hospital experience. Shanti was trained as a death doula by INELDA in 2018 and subsequently volunteered in hospice care for two years. She obtained certification as an Advanced Grief Recovery Method Specialist in 2021 and completed Megan Devine's 6-month Grief Training in 2024. In 2022, Shanti established Transforming Grief, LLC and designed a curriculum for addressing grief, trauma, loss, and preparation for end-of-life. Since launching her business, she has delivered grief classes, facilitated workshops within the community, and provided one-on-one client services.

Shanti is committed to upholding high standards for death doulas and actively fosters relationships among medical personnel, patients, families, and the broader community. She promotes cooperation and collaboration to enhance well-being for all stakeholders. By creating opportunities for meaningful connections, she contributes to improved communication, trust, and overall wellness.

Additionally, Shanti facilitates Improv sessions with elders, teenagers, and veterans at the VA Honor Center. She is a mother of four, grandmother to six, and great-grandmother to nine. She has been happily married to her husband since 2004.

Shanti Vani

Transforming Grief

Death Doula

Robert Cornett, MTS

END-OF-LIFE PLANNING • GRIEF SUPPORT • LIFE REVIEW

Robert Cornett, MTS is a certified end of life doula and death educator working with hospice patients in the Hudson Valley, New York.  He holds a master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School and has done extensive study of religious and spiritual conceptions of the afterlife and the literature of post-mortem experience and communication. He is a member of  the International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA) where he trained and was certified. He is also a member of the International Association of Near Death Studies (IANDS). Robert has trained in meditation and transpersonal psychologies including at the Monroe Institute, a leading center for exploring and experiencing expanded states of consciousness. He is also an actor and playwright  and conceived, produced and acted in a play about near death experiences, “Crossing the Veil and Coming Back to Life.”

Earlier in his career Robert was the director of a graduate level training program in Holistic Education and Health, a senior Human Resource executive, and an organizational and leadership consultant.

Robert Cornett, MTS

Bridge of Light

Crossing The Veil

End-of-Life Doula

Numbered Days Death Care

GRIEF SUPPORT • PLANNING • LEGACY WORK

Niki DiGaetano is a death doula and writer who founded her practice, Numbered Days Death Care, in 2021 after completing her doula training and a year of hospice volunteering in 2019. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, she offers her work locally in-person and virtually worldwide. Although she provides services for end-of-life planning & legacy work, she currently specializes in 1:1 grief support, where she has worked with clients across the country.

When she isn't doula-ing, you can find her hiking through the mountains or writing a memoir that blends wisdom from death care and a 900 mile hike. She's currently pursuing her master's degree in clinical mental health counseling, with the goal of becoming a licensed grief therapist. Connect with Niki at her website, numbered-days.com, or her Substack, nikielle.substack.com.

Niki DiGaetano

Numbered Days

Death Doula, End-of-Life Planning, Legacy Writing & Grief Support

ACE End of Life Doula Services

ADVOCACY • CHOICE • EDUCATION

Joan Bretthauer is an end-of-life doula in the St. Louis area.

She is nationally known and recognized for her leadership roles in the EOLD community and has served as a vital resource for me in understanding the breadth and scope of doula work. In addition, Joan continues to be a conduit for connections to those in the EOLD community who are key stakeholders in the hospice/palliative care - EOLD collaboration vision. Joan finds much of her guidance from her training as an Anamcara Apprentice via the Sacred Art of Living Center, and is blessed with a wonderful blending of organizational skills and heart-centered intuition.

Joan is a leader in the EOLD community because she has the calling to do this work, the heart centered guidance and training, and the experience of both being with the dying and working with other leaders in the medical and EOLD community. She is a true "north star".

Joan Bretthauer, MS

ACE End of Life Doula Services