Our Board

Shannon is Chair of HELD Australia and Director of Your Path Guide Pty Ltd, an Adelaide-based practice specialising in end-of-life planning and non-clinical support. A qualified End of Life Doula, he supports people and families through serious illness and end-of-life transitions, providing practical guidance, emotional support and continuity of care in home and community settings.

With more than 30 years’ experience in operational and corporate leadership, Shannon brings governance and strategy expertise to his work. He is active in national advocacy and volunteers with Central Adelaide Palliative Care Service, promoting social, emotional and practical supports as essential to quality end-of-life care.

Andrea is a passionate advocate for compassionate care, choice and agency at the end of life. She is a social scientist with over 25 years’ experience working in policy research and evidence-based advocacy, with a focus on community engagement and empowerment. She has worked in Australia and across the Asia-Pacific, learning from different cultures, customs and worldviews.

Andrea is a trained End of Life Doula and palliative care volunteer. She works independently and as part of a small group of local End of Life Doulas in Melbourne’s inner northern suburbs to increase knowledge, confidence and capacity to support people approaching the end of life and their loved ones.

With a background in finance in the health sector and international banking, Catherine brings corporate experience to her role as Treasurer of HELD. She is the Chief Finance Officer and co-Director of Preparing the Way and has had a lifelong interest in holistic healing and wellbeing.

Candace is the principle of Journease end-of-life services. She is a home funeral provider, funeral celebrant and end-of-life doula that has worked with people in transitions of many kinds, from addiction recovery, through family turmoil, to end-of-life care and families in grief. She sees her role as helping individuals plan for and have their preferred death and helping families embrace and support the dying person and each other to the greatest extent possible.
Candace holds a BA in Human Development and a MSc in Transpersonal Psychology. She is also a committee member of Natural Death Advocacy Network (NDAN), and a member of the Australian Home Funeral Alliance (AHFA) and Palliative Care Victoria (PCV).

Karin is an End-of-Life Doula serving the Perth Metropolitan Area. She began her compassionate path supporting individuals and families through the dying process in 2021 and has since dedicated her life to this meaningful work.

In addition, she is a trained trauma intervention responder. Over the past two years, she has provided immediate on-scene and post-incident emotional care and practical support to people affected by traumatic events involving fatalities.

Prior to this, Karin worked in the corporate sector, where she specialised in business development, management systems, change and project management.

Nicky is the owner of Lilies At Sunset and has been immersed in the end-of-life doula space since 2019. In 2025, she completed her Certificate IV in End of Life Doula Services, further strengthening her commitment to compassionate, informed support.

Additional to her being a Doula she is also a Funeral Celebrant, Nicky is deeply passionate about community engagement and empowering individuals and families with knowledge about the choices available to them around death and dying. She is enthusiastic about connecting with fellow doulas through HELD to help elevate awareness, recognition, and understanding of the vital role doulas play within the broader professional and community landscape.