Neshia
Neshia Alaovae (she/her) cares deeply about connecting cultural wisdom, ancestral resilience and BIPOC joy to create authentic, empowered possibilities for how we live and how we die. Some of Neshia’s earliest memories are of watching her Samoan and Black elders create loving bedside experiences for dying family and community members.
Her first professional experiences of what many refer to as death doula work was in 2012 as a “Compassionate Companion” at a residential hospice in Washington, DC, that serves homeless or housing-insecure people dying of AIDS or cancer. Neshia has been a death companion ever since. Neshia has worked as a DEI trainer for faith organizations and institutions such as the Washington Department of Health. She is a licensed mental health counselor who spent over a decade serving people navigating trauma, grief and cultural identity. In addition to BVDC, Neshia is affiliated with NEDA (National End-of-Life Doula Alliance), ADEC (Association for Death Education & Counseling), the Home Funeral Alliance, and A Sacred Passing: Death Care Education based in Washington.
Currently Neshia runs A Thoughtful Death, a deathcare practice in Seattle, WA, offering end-of- life consultation and support for people wanting a more intentional experience with death and grief.
To learn more about A Thoughtful Death and how to work with Neshia, you can check out her website here: