Team

Brad Wolfe is Reimagine’s founder and executive director. Before becoming a nonprofit, Reimagine was initially inspired by OpenIDEO’s End of Life Challenge, and was led by Brad as part of an OpenIDEO project exploring art and end of life. Brad also founded the Sunbeam Foundation for pediatric cancer research in memory of friend Sara L. He has an MA in Sociology from Stanford and an MBA from UC Berkeley, where he has served as a lecturer on the topics of innovation and design.

Prior to his work with IDEO/Reimagine, Brad served as content and strategy lead for Zappos' CEO Tony Hsieh and his "workplace culture" consulting firm, Delivering Happiness. Brad has also worked on the Clorox Innovation Team and for Monitor Consulting. He is a contributing writer on positive organizational psychology for the Greater Good Science Center and is the author of the young adult award-winner, Breakfast on Mars (Macmillan, 2014). His musical project, Brad Wolfe & the Moon, has garnered airtime on MTV.

Dara has 15+ years of experience developing educational programs, cross-sector partnerships, and large-scale events for nonprofit and for-profit organizations. At Reimagine, she is supporting the local LA team to produce Loss, Life and Love. She’s also developing a program to help people cultivate post-traumatic growth. Prior to the pandemic when Reimagine moved to online programming, she co-produced Reimagine End of Life, their city-wide, community-driven festivals that uses the arts to explore death and celebrate life. Dara is a founding team member of The Dinner Party, a nationwide community of grieving 20-, 30-, and early 40-somethings. There, she developed an initiative to create an inclusive and supportive workplace cultures in times of loss. She’s also a stand-up comedian who has produced and performed comedy shows about grief and loss in San Francisco and NYC. Her interest in working in the end of life and grief space was inspired by the loss of her mom at a young age and the isolation she felt from that experience.

Dr. Jeannie Blaustein is the founding board chair of Reimagine End of Life. Jeannie has spent her professional career as a psychologist, pastoral counselor, and community leader supporting people in the work of having difficult conversations about love, loss, and conflict.

Over the last 15 years, Jeannie’s work has gravitated toward the field of end of life, and in particular, the work of advanced care planning—perhaps the most difficult conversation we must each have with our loved ones, yet by far one of the most important. During this time, she has served as a hospice volunteer and trained at The Open Center NY to become a doula to accompany the dying.

Jeannie serves on the Steering Committee of “What Matters: Caring Conversations About End of Life,” a program dedicated to bringing a spiritually grounded approach to Advance Care Planning. This initiative began through a partnership with the nationally recognized Advance Care Planning program Respecting Choices. She is a certified What Matters Facilitator, Instructor, and provides ongoing supervision and education to the cadre of What Matters facilitators in NYC.

She has also been privileged to work as a chaplaincy intern on the Geriatric and Palliative Care service at Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC. In addition, Jeannie is an adjunct faculty member at Pace University in New York City, where she currently teaches The Psychology of Death and Dying.

Jeannie is a licensed clinical psychologist, with a PhD from City College, CUNY, and holds a Doctor of Ministry degree in pastoral care and counseling from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion. She has also begun chaplaincy training. Jeannie graduated from Brown University with an A.B. degree and holds an M.A. from New York University (both in History).

In addition to her role as Reimagine’s founding chair, Jeannie currently serves on the boards of Auburn Seminary, Jonas Nursing and Veterans Healthcare, The Lilian and Benjamin Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute, and the Morton K. and Jane Blaustein Foundation, where she serves as board president. Her past board service includes the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, and Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, where she served as chair and president.

Corey L. Kennard is Pastor of Amplify Christian Church and also serves as an activist in the field of healthcare. His holistic approach (body, mind, and spirit) serves as the foundation for his desire to see all human beings treated with dignity, honor, and respect in all facets of life. He began his active work in ministry as well as the business sector over 25 years ago.

Corey earned a Master’s Degree from Ashland Theological Seminary and carries out his passion for people as a daring and devoted agent of change. In addition to serving as a Pastor and healthcare activist, Pastor Corey is a Spiritual Life Coach, Motivational Speaker, and Partner/Board Member for several community organizations that seek to uplift the poor and vulnerable in society. As a credit to his work, he has received the Michigan Chronicle’s Men Of Excellence Award as one of the Top 50 Most Influential African-American Men in the Metropolitan Detroit Region.

Corey has been involved in the field of healthcare for over 20 years, with over a decade of experience in the areas of Palliative Care and Hospice. He currently seeks to enhance the patient/family experience in healthcare settings. His work has included leading a spiritual care team at one of Detroit’s largest hospitals and formerly serving as a Faculty Lead for Duke University’s Institute on Care at the End Of Life (ICEOL) national training program, “APPEAL.” In this role, he was instrumental in co-creating a national teaching module for understanding spirituality at the end of life for African-Americans.

He has provided intensive, hands-on consultation, as well as informative and motivational conference presentations to Healthcare Professionals and Faith Community Leaders on the importance and impact of a person’s spirituality while facing illness. He has also served as a National Advisory Board Member for The Hospice Foundation of America, and as a Co-Director of a Community Faith “Advance Care Planning” Project for the University of Virginia.

His thought-provoking and energizing speaking style has made him a sought-after voice for organizations and educational institutions seeking conference speakers, workshop presenters, or inspiring lecturers. Such organizations include the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM), Reimagine End of Life, the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), and the University of Washington’s Cambia Palliative Care Center of Excellence. Corey is becoming one of the most preferred national speakers on the subject of faith and its impact on medical care.

As a writer, Corey is an avid blogger and has been a New York Times contributing columnist. He has been published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine, written motivational columns for the Detroit News, and authored a previous book entitled Goliath Must Fall (2005). His latest release, Hamburgers & A Holy Man (2018), is currently available on Amazon and Kindle.

Nick Jennings is a Vice President in Citigroup's Investment Banking practice, where he works with public and private companies on strategic transactions such as IPOs and Mergers & Acquisitions. Prior to Citi, he worked in the Capital Markets divisions of BofA Merrill Lynch and Stifel. Nick collaborated with IDEO and other organizers on the first Reimagine End of Life Week as co-host of the Memento Mori program, which highlighted the role of art and design in addressing loss.  Nick received a BS from Columbia University and an MBA from The University of California at Berkeley.

Leon Ford, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, born on March 16, 1993, has accomplished so much in such a short period of time. The well-known author, International speaker, and 2019 City Council candidate for Pittsburgh, PA District 9 has devoted his life to the betterment of his community. Leon Ford is a well-respected activist, mental health ambassador, and social advocate of change through his leadership. Ford’s influence in his community has divulged a heroic display of strength, wisdom, faith, and fortitude.

His knowledge of social disparities and injustice comes from personal experience. When Leon was 19 years old, his life drastically changed. November 11, 2012, he was unjustly shot five times by the Pittsburgh Police during a traffic stop. This horrific case of mistaken identity has left him physically paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. Still, Ford hasn’t allowed his circumstances to deter him from positively impacting his community.

Through mentorship, he has sparked a movement cultivating leaders, organizers, and social entrepreneurs by empowering them to use their voices, platforms, and resources to evoke change and reshape their communities for generations to come.

Jonathan Lipps is a technologist, philosopher, linguist, musician, theologian, and photographer. He is the Senior Director of Automation Technologies at HeadSpin and has an academic background in philosophy, linguistics, and theology. When he's not leading the Automation Technologies team at HeadSpin, you can find him writing on the philosophy of technology, recording music, going for a run, doing yoga, or playing nerdy games like D&D. He attended Stanford and Oxford Universities and currently resides in Vancouver, BC.

Susan Moldaw is a writer, chaplain, and spiritual director. She trained and worked as a chaplain intern at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, where she received the ACE Award for excellence in service.

Susan served as Congregation Emanu-El’s first lay Jewish chaplain. She also volunteered at the Jewish Home as a spiritual care partner and supported individuals grieving during the pandemic through the Covid Grief Network.

She served on the board of the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center, where she chaired the major gifts program. Susan holds a master’s degree in Gerontology, with a focus on spiritual issues at the end of life.

She has completed leadership programs at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality and the Wexner Heritage Foundation, and most recently finished a program in spiritual direction at the Mercy Center.

Her writing has been published in literary journals, anthologies, and other publications.

Jeremy leads world-class creative teams for both agency and in-house organizations. He has held senior leadership roles at both IDEO and Pinterest. As a Design Director, his leadership spans multiple industries including technology, transportation, food, fashion, music, arts, finance, and healthcare.

Jeremy has a depth of project experience across brand strategy, identity design, visual systems, type design, packaging, environments, information graphics, experience design, service design, product design, as well as digital and web design.

He is passionate about creating purpose-driven brands that leverage a user-centered approach to foster meaningful connections between people, products, and beyond.

Jeremy’s work has been honored as part of the Smithsonian and AIGA Permanent Collection at the Denver Art Museum. His designs have also been featured in The New York Times, Adweek, Wired, Fast Company, AXIS, CMYK, Dwell, Monocle, Print, AIGA Year in Design, IDSA, IDEA, and World Changing.

Eric Toda is an award-winning marketer with a background in digital, content, social media strategy, and culture/community building. He has helped build the digital brand presence of some of the most iconic brands in the world, including Facebook, Nike, Snapchat, and Airbnb.

Most recently, he built and launched (from scratch) an entire brand and company for Gap Inc. named Hill City, where he led the branding, go-to-market strategy, and built the marketing department.

He has led global teams across the Americas, APAC, and EMEA. His creative portfolio includes work recognized by The Cannes Lions Festival, Webby Awards, Clio Awards, and Shorty Awards. He was also named among the Top 40 Under 40 digital brand marketers.

Eric is a strong believer in talent development and mentorship. He remains active in the marketing community as an Adweek Executive Mentor and a guest lecturer at both UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Sunil Verma is a Co-Founder of Captiv8. Captiv8 helps change the way the world connects to brands. Captiv8 has built a platform that organizes social data and makes it universally accessible and predictable. We provide products and services that connect brands to content creators.

Sunil Verma was previously a Co-Founder of Mobclix. Mobclix is the world's largest ad exchange connecting 30+ demand sources to reach over 100M unique users across 18,000+ iOS, Android, and Mobile applications. Mobclix was acquired by Velti (NASDAQ:VELT) in October of 2010. 

Mr. Verma was previously a Partner in Venus Capital’s Private Equity Group, where he focused on digital media and mobile investments in India and the United States. Prior, he was with Gabriel Venture Partners, a leading growth equity firm, where he assisted with the firm’s investments in India, including Persistent Systems (BSE: PERSISTENT), MakeMyTrip.com (NASD: MMYT), and Tejas Networks; additionally, he supported several of Gabriel’s Indian portfolio companies post-investment including Allsec (BSE: ALLSEC), InvestSmart (BSE: INVSTSMART), and Provogue (BSE: PROVOGUE). 

Before Gabriel, Mr. Verma was with Catapult Advisors, a boutique investment bank focused on cross-border M&A transactions between the United States and India. Prior, Mr. Verma was with SNR Investments based in India, where he led investments across several industries including real estate, agriculture, retail, commodities, and technology. Prior, Mr. Verma worked with Tavant Technologies, where he managed a team of product engineers in India.

Mr. Verma has contributed to case studies regarding Indian investing for Harvard Business School and Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. He has authored numerous articles on various topics, including the private capital markets in India, digital media, and the mobilization of advertising. 

As Executive Director of San Francisco's Department of Disability and Aging Services, Kelly coordinates services to veterans, older adults, adults with disabilities, and their families to maximize health, safety, and independence so that they can remain active in their community for as long as possible and maintain the highest quality of life.

Kelly has more than 15 years of experience developing policies and services to help ensure San Franciscans thrive as they age. Before joining DAS, Kelly was Executive Director of the San Francisco In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) Public Authority, which helps older adults and people with disabilities live independently and participate in their communities. She is also the former President of the San Francisco Human Services Commission. Kelly currently serves on the California Association of Area Agencies on Aging executive board, a member of the USAging Board, co-chair of the San Francisco Aging and Disability Task Force and co-chair of the San Francisco Palliative Care Workgroup.

Kelly has a BA from the University of California, Berkeley, a JD from UC Hastings Law, and an MA in Political Science from Rutgers University. For ten years, she ran a small law practice specializing in elder issues and probate law. Previously, Kelly and her sister operated a real estate company founded by their grandmother more than 50 years ago.

Kelly was born and raised in San Francisco. She lives in the Cole Valley neighborhood with her family, living in the same house she grew up in. She lives with her husband, two children, and her dad.