INELDA Update – OCTOBER 2021
INELDA Updates Our Training
We spent the summer months welcoming our new trainers and bringing their creativity and insight to the table as we enhanced our end-of-life doula training. These enhancements include an updated manual, new prework videos, and postclass exercises that reflect our commitment to providing the most impactful learning experience for our participants. In September, we successfully welcomed our first cohort since improving our training. The 56 enthusiastic learners joined us from the United States, Czech Republic, Germany, Jamaica, and the Russia Federation. The cohort was thoughtful and receptive and told us how life-changing this experience was for them. The “aha” moments they shared included: gaining a better understanding of grief, becoming more aware of the need for cultural humility, developing a new appreciation for silence, and learning how to include self-care as a regular part of their journey.
INELDA Launches Our New Website
We are pleased to announce the launch of INELDA’s new website. Our overarching goal for this new site has been to reflect the work we are doing and the ways we are evolving as a diverse and inclusive organization, driven to change the face of dying. At the same time, we’ve been working to make it even easier for you to access the information you seek and to take action when ready, whether you’re searching for doula training and support or for doula services.
To these ends, we’ve updated our mission and values statements to express our work around diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice initiatives. We’ve incorporated new imagery and content, navigational modifications, and accessibility features to help visitors find a clear directional path when landing on INELDA.org. We can now present our website in 14 languages. And our site is now compliant with the most up-to-date standards according to the Americans With Disabilities Act and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. We will soon be updating the doula directory to include more searchable fields and biography areas for the listed doulas.
Our team page is improved with each member’s photo and bio, and we will soon add similar pages for our two Advisory Councils and the Board of Trustees. We will be able to make these and additional, ongoing updates with greater efficiency and timeliness, having simplified the backend of the website and trained team members on how to make changes.
We invite you to visit the site and explore for yourself. Any new web launch is a monumental effort involving vision, creativity, smart planning, and diligence. We are grateful for the hard work of Doug Simpson, who spearheaded this project.
Staff Updates
Cloud Conrad recently joined INELDA as our director of marketing and communications. Cloud has spent most of her career in advertising and marketing, working in both ad agency and client-side marketing roles. Most recently, she has been involved with dementia caregiver training work as a private consultant and as a community educator for the Alzheimer’s Association. Cloud is a member of the National Volunteer Advisory Council for the Alzheimer’s Association and chairs one of several technical advisory committees for the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification, a national third-party certifying organization. In her free time, she enjoys creative writing, silversmithing, gardening, and music-making. She lives in Winder, Georgia, near Atlanta. Cloud trained with INELDA in May 2021. She is excited to join the INELDA team and values our organization’s dynamism and dedication to changing the face of dying.
INELDA in the News
Henry Fersko-Weiss was recently interviewed in the Bangor Daily News, in Nick Schroder’s feature on an INELDA-trained doula and her work in that region of Maine.