About Good Grief

Good Grief builds resilience in children, strengthens families, and empowers communities to grow from loss and adversity.
“Without Good Grief, I’d probably be lost and so would my family.” Clara, 16-years-old

WHO WE ARE

Good Grief started in 2004 with a group of concerned volunteers who believed grieving children lacked advocates. In those early days, we began by educating teachers and community groups. In 2007, Good Grief started providing direct programming to children and their families. The need and response was tremendous, requiring Good Grief to grow our programs each year. In 2012, Good Grief responded to the emerging need of families traveling long distances to Morristown by bringing Good Grief programs to Princeton. In 2017, we launched our first satellite location for urban youth through our In Community program in Jersey City, which expanded to include Newark programs in 2019. In 2017 we also launched Routes to Resilience,  a social-emotional learning program that is based on over 15 years of education and programs. In 2020, Routes to Resilience became part of a larger offering, Good Grief Schools, which consists of four programs developed specifically to create a healthy and supportive environment for students, educators, and parents. While we are best known for the thousands of lives we have impacted through our direct programming, our comprehensive education and advocacy efforts throughout New Jersey and across the nation have acquired notoriety and prestigious partnerships, including Sheryl Sandberg’s Optionb.org, KIPP NJ, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Big Brothers Big Sisters Essex, Union, and Hudson county, Arizona State University, Duke University, Scholastic, National Funeral Directors Association, Outward Bound Adventures, the National Alliance for Grieving Children, and more.


Take a Tour

Members of the community can get an introduction to our mission, programs, and facilities by attending one of our impactful open houses. If you are considering finding a way to get involved with Good Grief, whether as a volunteer, donor, or advocate in the community a tour of our center is the best way to find out more, ask questions, meet staff, and become a part of our community. Open houses are approximately 75 minutes long and offer a quick, but thorough introduction to all things Good Grief!

To sign up, visit our calendar!

Individual and group tours can also be arranged by contacting [email protected] or 908-522-1999.

 NOTE: This tour is not for interested peer support program participants. Please contact one of our Family Coordinators to learn more about enrolling in our programs.


Staff

Mark Durham

Mark Durham
Executive Director
Email: [email protected]

As the Director of Development, Joanna works with the team to move Good Grief’s mission forward by connecting with our community and raising funds through a variety of different avenues. Joanna’s non-profit career has been centered around mental health where she believes passionately about building resiliency through growing programming for children navigating adversity. Joanna is excited to be a part of such a dedicated team working to change the lives of so many children experiencing grief.

Joanna Green
Director of Development
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 908.522.1999 x2010

Evelynn is responsible for Good Grief's education programs in the external community. Through education and advocacy, Good Grief is working to transform the environments that grieving children inhabit on a daily basis like schools, community and faith organizations, other nonprofits, and more. Good Grief uses workshops, curriculum, and coaching to increase community awareness and competency in providing support to grieving children and their families.

Evelynn grew up in New Jersey and she is a third generation Rutgers graduate where she studied Anthropology. She received her MA in Educational Theatre from New York University. Prior to arriving at Good Grief, Evelynn worked in the creation, training, and implementation of Social Emotional Learning, Mentorship, and Comprehensive Sexual Education programming in schools throughout the state of New Jersey and beyond. When not at work, Evelynn can be found spending time with her partner and their daughter or working on her parenting podcast.

Evelynn Moon
Director of Education
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 908.522.1999 x2013

Pam Sullivan

Pam Sullivan
Head of Family Centers
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 908.522.1999 X 2007

Ariana has a B.A in Family and Child Studies with a concentration in Family Services from Montclair State University. Ariana is a Certified Child Life Specialist and comes to Good Grief with experience in the hospital setting and mental health setting. Ariana was a previous facilitator at Good Grief and holds a safe space as she welcomes all new families to Good Grief.

Ariana Locascio
Sr. Family Services Manager
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 908.522.1999 x2012

Jeremy Schiff
Director of Strategic Development
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 908.522.1999 X 2014

Kim Burrows
Sr. Program Manager
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 908.522.1999 X 2004

Lynne Delade
Media & Design Manager
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 908.522.1999 X 2003

Annette Mendez
Training & Curriculum Manager
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 908.522.1999 X 2002

Mrittika Sen, Ph.D.
Head of Research & Evaluation
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 908.522.1999 X 2015

Christina Verdesca
Program Manager, Princeton
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 908.522.1999 X 2008

Marion Wells
Family Service Coordinator, Princeton
Email: [email protected]

Gina Kornfeind
Community Outreach & Training Manager
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 908.522.1999

Beth Tomblin
Community Outreach Manager
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 908.522.1999

Christina Liparini, PhD, LPC
Program and Curriculum Advisor
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 908.522.1999

Special Thanks to our 200+ Nights of Support Volunteer Facilitators

Board of Directors

Each member of Good Grief’s Board of Directors commits to funding our organization each year by making a personal contribution significant to them. As such, we also consider our board members as individual donors. Therefore, we do not share their personal contact information.

All Directors can be reached by contacting them at Good Grief’s main address: 38 Elm Street, Morristown, NJ, 07960.
Thank You.

2024 Board of Directors

Guy Langford – Chair 
Partner, M&A Transaction Services, Deloitte

Dr. Jody Stowe, Pharm D – Vice-Chair
with two decades of experience in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Paul Rosica, – Treasurer
Former Managing Director and Head of Corporate Sales & Structuring, BMO Capital Markets

Jean Frydman, Esq. – Secretary,
Associate General Counsel, Aquestive Therapeutics

Andrew Dinnhaupt
Portfolio Manager/Research Analyst Global Financial Services, Franklin Mutual Advisers, LLC

Conor Dolan
Commercial Real Estate Advisor, CBRE

Paul Pinero, Ed.D
Supervisor, Montgomery Township School District

Alex Shahidi,
Partner, Strategy and Transactions, Ernst and Young

Simone Sloan,
Leadership Executive and Coach, Your Choice Coach

Alain Van Loo,
Founder, Assetive

Reverend Samuel Yenn-Batah,
Director of Spiritual Care and Wellbeing, Penn Medicine Princeton Health

A Little Hope Foundation
Andrea and Victor Richel Family Foundation
Bayer Foundation
Christine’s Hope for Kids Foundation
Church & Dwight
Community Foundation of NJ
E. F. Harris Family Foundation
E.J. Grassmann Trust
F.M. Kirby Foundation, Inc
First Data Foundation
George A. Ohl, Jr. Charitable Trust
Glen Ridge Community Fund
Green Family Foundation
Healey Family Foundation
Jennifer Swift Fieldman Foundation
Jewish Community Foundation
Leen Foundation
MCJ Amelior Foundation
New York Life Foundation
NJ Association of Student Councils
O’Toole Family Foundation
Overlook Hospital Foundation
Pioneer Boys of America Inc.
Princeton Area Community Foundation
The Provident Bank Foundation
PSEG Foundation
Rite Aid Foundation KidCents
Sanofi
Santiago Abut Foundation, Inc
Selective Insurance Group Foundation
Summit Area Public Foundation
TD Bank
The Allstate Foundation
The Alpine Foundation
The Berk Foundation
The Greater Cincinnati Foundation
The Hyde and Watson Foundation
The John Bickford Foundation
The Steven M. Rothbard Foundation
The Willis Foundation
Thomas Glasser Foundation
Union Center National Bank
Union Foundation
United Way
United Way of Northern New Jersey
Walter and Adi Blum Foundation
Weil, Gotshal & Manges Foundation, Inc
William and Catherine Krame Family Foundation
William E. Simon Foundation
York Children’s Foundation

Where You Can Find Us

Morristown, NJ

Princeton, NJ

Where You Can Find Us

Morristown, NJ

Princeton, NJ