Walking the End-of-Life Journey With LGBTQ Elders

Sherrill Wayland is the director of national education initiatives at SAGE, where she also directs work of the National Resource Center on LGBT Aging (NRC) and the SAGE/HRC Foundation Long-term Care Equality Index; she also leads operations for SAGECare. Sherrill began work with SAGE at the local level in 2008, founding the SAGE Affiliate in St. Louis, Missouri, and becoming a certified trainer with SAGE in 2011. Prior to joining SAGE at the national level, she successfully led the merger of SAGE in St. Louis with the Missouri Statewide Equality Organization, PROMO Fund. Sherrill earned a master’s of social work degree from the Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis and has over 25 years of professional experience in the fields of education, disability, and LGBTQIA2S+ older adult advocacy. 

Karen M. McPhail is the executive director of Eldementals and a professional care manager with over 30 years of experience in the health care industry. She has been working since 2001 as a private health care consultant, care advisor, and care manager in the Washington, DC metro area. Her specialty is managing complex care needs and providing concierge-style care management for private clients. As a care manager and an aging life care professional, she has been educated in various fields of human services, including case management, trauma-informed care, psychology and mental health, nursing, pediatrics, and gerontology. She is trained to assess, plan, coordinate, monitor, and provide services for those with chronic conditions and complex care needs, older adults, those with mental health challenges, and their loved ones and family members. , Long-term care planning and advocacy for high-risk, vulnerable populations is a primary focus for Karen. She has served as the liver transplant program coordinator at the University of Maryland Medical Center, the senior transplant coordinator and program administrator for the Department of Transplantation and for Ancillary Services at Georgetown University Hospital; an assistant director of nursing, a director of nursing and wellness director, and vice president of special project consultant for Manor Care Health Services.

Marady Duran is an INELDA educator and LGBTQIA2S+ INELDA council co-chair. Marady took the INELDA doula training in 2020 and has been using her doula training skills in her current social work career and hospice work. She has more than 15 years of experience in adult learning and development, fundraising, training, education management, and social work. She also facilitated veterans’ employment and disability programs on a national level with several large corporations and agencies, such as Hiring Our Heroes. She served on the AFP Diversity Board as a representative for disability awareness and Latinx outreach issues. She has a master’s degree in training and organizational development and is completing a second master’s degree in social work from Boise State University. Marady is a certified Yoga Nidra instructor and meditation instructor. She is a hospice volunteer for St. Alphonsus Hospice and is part of its”no one dies alone” program. 

Ocean Phillips’ life path has been that of a karmic yogi focused on community-driven service and activism to empower people to drive their own development priorities. Having worked with global educational and international development organizations including the United Nations, their current focus is centered in the work of empowering individuals in marginalized groups, especially LGBTQIA2S+ and ethnic minorities, to develop their own priorities in death education and counseling. Ocean serves as a national educational ambassador with SAGE’s National Resource Center on LGBT Aging, on the diversity and inclusion committee of the Association for Death Education and Counseling, and serves as the LGBTQIA2S+ INELDA council co-chair.