Featured Speakers
Featured Speakers
During the seminar, you will have the opportunity to hear from national experts in grief, trauma, health and wellness and more. Below is a list of the speakers and presenters who will be in attendance.
Make sure to also download the TAPS Events app. Recommended session schedules for different grief programming and speaker information are all built into the easy-to-navigate app.
Alexis Ackel
Alexis has taught and practiced yoga for over two decades. As a scientist, she is fascinated by the capacity of the brain to heal itself and how neuroscience can interface with the ancient practice of yoga to help modern day warriors and their families. She has been interested in sharing yoga with trauma survivors for many years and has worked with sexual assault survivors and grieving children in the past. Alexis currently volunteers with Warrior Spirit Project as a trauma-informed yoga teacher.
Karen Anderson Fignon, MA, ATR-BC, GC-C
Karen is a Connecticut licensed clinical art therapist and certified grief counselor. Since 2010, she has co-facilitated the Artful Grief: Open Art Studio at the TAPS National Conferences and National Suicide Survivors Conferences. She has been a flight attendant for American Airlines for over three decades, where she provided support to co-workers following 9/11 and flight 587 in 2001. At home in Connecticut, she offers workshops using art and meditation for healing life's transitions, losses and grief. Karen's father and two brothers served in the Navy, which cultivated her understanding of military culture. Karen's personal experience of grief is shaped by the loss of her 48-year-old brother, friends and mother. She has two grown children and three cats that are still growing and continue to inspire her own healing.
Kim Burditt, MSW
Kim has been with TAPS since January 2013, when she joined the Survivor Care Team to provide outreach to military suicide loss survivors. Kim is currently the Senior Manager of Programs and Trainings for TAPS Suicide Postvention, where she is responsible for the programming, planning, content development, and execution of a wide range of events, retreats, trainings and reunions, including TAPS’ annual suicide survivor seminar. Kim is a certified ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) Trainer, has a B.S. in communications and a master's degree in social work. Prior to TAPS she provided older adult suicide prevention trainings around the state of Massachusetts. After the suicide death of her only sibling, USMC veteran Jon Hoffman, in 2010, Kim’s heart is in caring for and walking alongside all loss survivors and those who care for them, especially those touched by suicide.
Bonnie Carroll
Bonnie Carroll is the President and Founder of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, the leading national Military Service Organization providing comfort, care, and resources to all those grieving the death of a military loved one. Ms. Carroll founded TAPS following the death of her husband in an Army plane crash. She is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a retired U.S. Air Force Reserve Officer, and she has served in the White House under three Presidents.
Frank Campbell, PhD, LCSW, CT
Dr. Frank Campbell is the Executive Director Emeritus of the Baton Rouge Crisis Intervention Center, where he is developing the first National Training Center for Suicidology. He is also Senior Consultant for Campbell and Associates Consulting where he consults with communities on Active Postvention efforts and Forensic Suicidology cases. During his more than thirty years of working with those bereaved by suicide he introduced his Active Postvention Model (APM) in 1997 it is most commonly known as the LOSS Team (Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors). His work with survivors and victims of trauma has been featured in three discovery channel documentaries, multiple professional journals, and several book chapters. Frank has been a consultant to TAPS for years, beginning with the very first National Military Suicide Survivor Seminar in 2009.
Ange Marie Dwyer
Ange Marie Dwyer is a mixed media artist, teacher, tutu wearer and writer that currently lives in Colorado. Drawing on her life experiences as a woman and U.S. Army veteran, Ange Marie travels throughout the country teaching the healing power and fun of creativity and art to military service organizations and non profit groups. She has been a volunteer with TAPS for 4 years, teaching break out art sessions for the TAPS youth program during national and regional events. Her hobbies include making tacos, playing with her two dogs and exploring vintage shops. She is also a wife to a veteran and a mother to two young men.
Brandon English, MSW
Brandon has been the Director of Loss & Healing Programs at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) since 2016. He has been in the bereavement and loss field for over 10 years. Prior to his work at AFSP he was the State Program Director for Mothers against Drunk Driving and Program Manager at Comfort Zone Camp a bereavement camp for children. He has also done extensive work with Gold Star families. He has presented at conferences, seminars, and events across the country on grief and loss, suicide bereavement and children and grief. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from High Point University and a Master of Social Work from The University of North Dakota.
RX (Robert) Fogarty
RX (Robert) Fogarty founded Dear World in 2010 and is now a sought after advisor to companies, non-profit organizations and universities who believe a requirement to high performing teams is an individual’s ability to share and listen to stories with skill and sincerity. Fogarty has traveled the world interviewing, coaching and photographing extraordinary people including Syrian refugees, Boston marathon bombing survivors, national champion athletes, Fortune 100 CEOS, college students and even his elementary school’s current students. Fogarty is a graduate of the University of Oregon, was born in Omaha, Nebraska and tells people he came of age in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Special Appearance: Dear World Photos | What's Your Brain Tattoo? An Authentic, Interactive Storytelling Session
Jacque Francona
Jacque serves as a Home Base Family Outreach Coordinator and has been involved with the Home Base Program since its inception in 2009 and joined the staff as a member of the Family Outreach Team in August 2012. Francona is a Military-connected mother of four—one son and three daughters. Her oldest daughter is the proud and ever-concerned sister of three Military siblings. Jacque’s son served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps and deployed to Afghanistan in 2011 with 3rd Battalion/4th Marines. Her son-in-law is a Captain in U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. He deployed to Iraq in 2008 and Afghanistan in 2011-2012 with 1st Battalion/6th Marines. Jacque’s youngest daughter attends the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. Jacque received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Arizona 1982 and practiced in the medical surgical and home health fields before devoting herself full time to raising her family.
Jon Ganues
Jon is Manager of TAPS Men's Program, managing all aspects of event planning and coordination. Jon provides a safe space for grieving men to share their stories, connect and support each other, and find ways forward in their unique journeys, building relationships among the surviving community to deepen the foundation of support for male military survivors. Jon serves on the Virginia Military Advisory Council, exploring issues impacting quality of life for service members and their families, relations between the installations and surrounding civilian communities, as well as effects of encroachment. Jon served on the Department of the Air Force 2022 to 2024 Survivor Advocacy Council, which served as a forum for the Air Force and Space Force to champion survivor programs. He is a former TAPS Peer Mentor and was the 2019 Peer Mentor of the Year. Jon is a retired U.S. Army Warrant Officer with 21 years of active-duty service, with experience in logistics and information technology. He is a lifetime member of the U.S. Army Warrant Officers Association, and he is a lifetime honorary member of the Board of Directors for Henrico County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). Jon holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with information and technology from Colorado Technical University. Through his work at TAPS, Jon honors the memory of his son, Airman First Class Jon Wesley Ganues, Jr., U.S. Air Force, who died by suicide on June 2, 2009.
Margaret Grado
Margaret is a U.S. Army veteran and certified yoga teacher. She has completed multiple trainings specific to yoga and trauma, including Unbreakable Training from the Baptiste Foundation and Mindful Yoga Therapy. Margaret is currently enrolled in Warriors at Ease training and is a volunteer teacher for Warrior Spirit Project.
Shelley Grove
Shelley is a certified yoga teacher and yoga therapist. The focus of her work is on the integration of trauma, chronic pain and addiction. She is the Steady Warriors Mission Ambassador for the nonprofit Warrior Spirit Project where she provides educational workshops, one-on-one sessions, trauma-informed yoga classes and Integrative Restoration (iRest®) meditation to veterans, first responders and their families living with post traumatic stress, chronic pain, addiction and traumatic brain injuries.
Betsy Hart
Betsy serves as a Home Base Family Outreach Coordinaotr and is the wife of an active duty Naval Aviator and knows first-hand the joys and struggles of military life. Over the last 18 years, she and her family have found their way through nine moves, six deployments and countless detachments. She has spent the last 14 years as a full time mom to three military children. In addition to her adult life experience, Betsy is the daughter of a Vietnam veteran and a child and family therapist. Home Base’s mission to heal the invisible wounds of war is deeply personal to her. Betsy has a degree in Communication from Florida State University. She served as a volunteer for Home Base for 18 months before joining the team as a Family Outreach Coordinator at the end of 2018.
Jennifer Keeling
As Senior Coordinator of TAPS Suicide Prevention & Postvention, Jennifer coordinates postvention projects like the TAPS National Military Suicide Survivor Seminar, Home Hase Intensive Clinical Programs, and psychological autopsies. Since losing her husband of 17 years, 1SG Ronald Keeling in 2009, Jennifer has had a desire to support and care for all loss survivors by walking alongside them on their grief journeys.
Andy McNiel, MA
Andy is the Senior Advisor of Youth Programs for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). Andy is an author and trainer on topics related to grief, bereavement, and end-of-life. He has been an advocate for healthy children, teenagers, and families throughout his career. He brings his dedication and expertise to TAPS, where he oversees, develops, and facilitates programming for young military survivors. He is co-founder and executive partner of The Satori Group, LLC, a national education, management, and consulting company that provides education, content development, training, and consultation in grief and loss. His leadership has guided the National Alliance for Grieving Children, the Amelia Center at Children's of Alabama, and Hospice of Martin and St. Lucie in South Florida. Andy is a trainer for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention; a member of the International Workgroup on Death, Dying, and Bereavement; and he previously served on the Board of Directors for the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC). Andy holds an M.A. in counseling and a B.A. in religion.
Renee Monczynski, MAOL
Renee is the creative director of the TAPS Young Adult Program that was established in 2016, specifically for surviving children and siblings. Since the sudden death of her husband when they were both active duty, she found healing and new purpose among her military family and peers at TAPS. Renee has a passion for education and volunteerism, earning multiple undergraduate degrees in education and psychology with a concentration in child development, culminating in a MA in Psychology - Organizational Leadership, from Southern New Hampshire University. She has spent her life in service to others through volunteering in several organizations including Young Marines as a training officer, Gold Star Wives Inc. as the Education Chair, National Board, Marine Corps League and TAPS as a military mentor and group leader. Renee has presented the TAPS Young Adults Program to the professional communities of Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) and the National Alliance for Children's Grief (NACG).
Melinda Moore, Ph.D.
Dr. Melinda Moore is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky. She is in private practice in Lexington, Kentucky, and routinely trains clinicians in suicide-focused treatment. Dr. Moore serves on the board of the American Association of Suicidology as the chair of the Clinical Division and is the co-lead of the National Action Alliance’s Faith Communities Task Force. She recently published The Suicide Funeral: Honoring their Memory, Comforting their Survivors (Wipf & Stock) with her co-author Rabbi Dan Robert. She conducts suicide bereavement research at Eastern Kentucky University with an emphasis on Posttraumatic Growth (www.posttraumaticgrowth.com). She received her Ph.D. from The Catholic University of America.
Gene Morrissey
Gene served in Vietnam as an Infantry Platoon Leader with the US Army. As a result of his service in combat he sustained significant physical and psychological injuries. He now manages these conditions successfully without medication thanks to exercise, meditation, and other practices. After retiring from a successful financial management career in corporate America, he began focusing his energies on community service, especially for Veterans. Gene now volunteers with Warrior Spirit Project as the Community Engagement Ambassador for the Leadership Team, as an advisor for community garden projects, and as a Level 1 iRest® meditation teacher for the Steady Warriors program.
Carla Stumpf Patton, EDD, LMHC, NCC, FT, CCTP
Dr. Stumpf Patton serves as the Senior Director of Suicide Prevention & Postvention Programs at the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), where she oversees programs and services provided to military community members and families after a suicide loss. She is a suicidologist and subject matter expert in the areas of grief, trauma, and suicide prevention, intervention, and Postvention, is a registered ASIST trainer in suicide first aid, and is trained in Psychological Autopsy Investigations and Crisis Response Planning. Dr. Stumpf Patton holds a B.S. in Psychology, an M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Guidance Counseling, and a Doctorate of Education in Counseling Psychology. Her dissertation research focused on military families bereaved by suicide, and was a key contributor in the development of the TAPS Suicide Prevention Model™. Dr. Stumpf Patton is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, a Certified Fellow Thanatologist, a National Certified Counselor, a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, a Florida Qualified Supervisor, and a counseling educator in higher academia. She is the surviving spouse of Sergeant Richard Stumpf, an Active Duty U.S. Marine Corps Drill Instructor and Gulf War Era Combat Veteran who died by suicide in 1994, several days before their only child was born. She is remarried to a retired U.S. Marine, who was also a suicide survivor widower, with whom she shares five children.