Our Team

Dr. Heather Mohan is a Registered Clinical Counsellor and Certified Music Therapist with a Master’s degree in Music Therapy and a PhD in Arts Education. With over 30 years of experience in hospice, palliative, and bereavement care, Heather has worked as a therapist, program coordinator, researcher, and educator – in hospitals (Lions Gate), community-based hospices (Canuck Place & Delta Hospice) and educational institutions (UBC, Capilano University, City University and others). She has developed and facilitated family bereavement support and grief education programs that have helped thousands of families and individuals across Canada.

In addition to her full-time role as Executive Director at LUMARA, Heather serves as an Adjunct Professor in the UBC Department of Medicine (Division of Palliative Care). Her clinical work and research on grief and palliative care have been presented internationally in Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Japan, and Europe. In 2012 she was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for her service in the field of hospice/palliative care and in 2022 she was named an Honorary Fellow of Douglas College in recognition of her leadership in the field of bereavement care.

Josh is the proud father of three young adults (Isaiah, Serenity & Harmony) and lives with his wife, Heather, in Port Alberni – located on the unceded territory of the Hupačasath and Tseshaht First Nations. He enjoys boating, swimming, fishing, playing musical instruments, cold-water cleanses, and spending quality time with friends and family.

For almost three decades, Josh has been on a profound journey of personal growth and service to others. His decision to embrace sobriety in 1998 marked the beginning of a remarkable transformation that has seen him become a beacon of hope and support for countless individuals and families across the country.

In 2009, Josh attended Camp Kerry and was deeply moved by the transformations he witnessed – both within himself and the families who participated. This experience inspired him, and together with Dr. Heather Mohan, he co-founded LUMARA, a world-class organization dedicated to supporting those impacted by serious illness, grief, and loss.

Through his work with LUMARA, Josh has received widespread recognition for his leadership, compassion, and advocacy. His passion for serving others is rooted in his own lived experiences of adversity which fuel his commitment to ensuring that others can have access to the care and resources they need to heal and thrive.

Josh currently serves on LUMARA’s leadership team while continuing to champion the creation of a National Bereavement Strategy in Canada—a vision he has been advocating for nearly two decades.

Leah first connected with LUMARA following the death of her cousin, Natasha. After Natasha’s family attended Camp Kerry, her aunt, Fay, began volunteering to help with accounting. When LUMARA later needed administrative support, Fay encouraged Leah to join the team—and she did, in January 2014. Since then, she has grown into her current role as Program Coordinator.

She lives in Coquitlam, on the traditional and unceded territories of the Kwikwetlem First Nation.

Proud to be part of an organization that supports grieving families, Leah is continually inspired by the strength and compassion found within LUMARA’s compassionate community. She hopes her work helps ease the burden of loss for others and reminds every grieving person that they are not alone.

Vernon Williams Jr. (Sgaalanglaay Gaamdaamaay) joined LUMARA in 2021 after being approached by Joshua Dahling to join our Indigenous Wellness Team

He resides in the Haida Nation territory known as Haida Gwaii and belongs to Kuunlaanaas Raven Grizzly Bear of Yakin Point Haida Gwaii. Vernon is Haida Nishga.

Vernon’s work is rooted in traditional teachings passed down from respected mentors. He offers brushings with feather or cedar fan for water cleansing, leads fire ceremonies, and creates handcrafted drums, flutes, rattles, and protection necklaces. He has participated in Sundance in Ministikwan and Sweet Grass, Saskatchewan, and is a brother in Ceremony to many Mayan who are now family.

Through his songs, drum, rattle, and flute, Vernon brings peace and wellness to those in need. He is deeply committed to creating spaces that feel safe enough for people to heal from their grief.

Vernon values sharing the connections we all have as people—especially through the fire ceremony—and honors the traditional teachings of the First Nations peoples in his work.

Shelley Hermer has been part of LUMARA since 2011, guided by a deep belief in the healing power of nature, community, and connection. With a background in family therapy and therapeutic outdoor recreation, she has witnessed the transformative impact that shared experiences of hope and healing can have on children, youth, and families coping with loss.

Shelley lives near Peterborough, Ontario, on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabeg people. Her connection to the land and community continues to shape her approach to healing and relationship-building.

She believes that serious illness, grief, and loss are deeply human experiences—shaped and held together by love. Through her work with LUMARA, Shelley is dedicated to creating spaces where relationships can continue to grow and be honored after a loved one dies.

Shelley remains committed to advancing LUMARA’s mission across Canada East and supporting research that fosters healing, connection, and hope after loss.

Lawrence first connected with LUMARA in 2021 as a volunteer at Camp Kerry BC—an experience that profoundly shaped the direction of his career. Over five transformative days, he found a compassionate and creative community united in supporting those who are grieving. Within six months, Lawrence joined LUMARA’s staff team full-time.

Based in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, on the traditional and unceded territory of the Snuneymuxw people, Lawrence is deeply committed to LUMARA’s core values of love, compassion, and kindness. He believes in the power of community to hold one another through both darkness and light, helping families and youth feel less alone in their grief.

Lawrence hopes to continue strengthening LUMARA’s programs and to help nurture the next generation of leaders who will carry forward the organization’s mission of compassionate support for years to come.

RaeAnne has worked and volunteered in the charitable sector for over 30 years. Her heart has always been with small organizations with big visions – organizations like Lumara where she has helped to plan, create systems and structures, and find funding to help it grow since 2020. She is an advocate for ‘management by values’ and living those values in every corner of our organization. She loves words and puzzling with language to share the Lumara story.

A graduate of Simon Fraser University, RaeAnne has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with a minor in Women’s Studies as well as a Certificate of Fundraising Management from Vancouver Community College. She lives in Surrey, BC with her husband, son (plus a daughter nearby in Vancouver), and her cat ‘M’ – a regular disruptor of Zoom meetings.

Marg resides in Vancouver on the traditional and unceded territory of the Coast Salish speaking people; namely the Squamish, Tsleil Waututh, and Musqueum. She is a proud mother of two adult daughters and a devoted grandmother to two little boys and two little girls.

She is a Registered Clinical Counsellor with over 40 years of experience supporting people who are coping with serious illness, grief and loss. Marg has worked with Lumara since 2012; facilitating grief counselling sessions for individuals and families and adult grief support groups. She is also an accomplished grief educator and has provided many workshops for Lumara’s staff, volunteers and community members

Alexina is an Accredited Music Therapist who has been singing with choirs since she was in elementary school. She currently leads the Society’s Community Choirs in two locations. Alexina began volunteering with Camp Kerry in 2014 and has been an integral part of the Community Choir since its inception in the fall of 2015.

Dr. Catherine Hajnal’s work is rooted in a personal journey that began when a counsellor gently observed that she had grieving to do. As she stepped—cautiously at first—into exploring loss and grief, she realized how little she truly knew about the many forms grief can take or the ways we learn to live with it. This exploration led her to Camp Kerry, where she began volunteering to both support others and deepen her own understanding. Within the LUMARA|Camp Kerry community, she has since contributed in several roles focused on grief education and grief support.

Catherine lives and works in Vancouver, BC, on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Peoples. She is grateful for their stewardship and hospitality and hopes her work contributes to reconciliation and relationship-building.

Through her professional and personal experience, Catherine has come to deeply value the importance of foundational mattering, belonging, and safety – physical, emotional, and mental – to human well-being. She recognizes how often people move through their losses feeling alone, unsure if it is safe to name or express their grief. Her work with LUMARA reflects her commitment to creating spaces where individuals feel supported, acknowledged, and less isolated in their experiences of loss.

Catherine’s ongoing intention is to expand individual and societal capacity to appreciate the universality of loss; to hold space for grief with compassion and without judgment; to foster the ability to sit with discomfort; and to honour both the pain and the possibility that coexist at the heart of grief.

Luke Lee Burton is a music therapist and registered clinical counsellor whose work is grounded in a deep belief that music has the power to alchemize suffering into beauty. Raised on the traditional and unceded territory of the Mississauga people, Luke grew up dreaming of becoming a rock star. Over time, his passion evolved into a commitment to supporting the well-being of others, guided by an understanding that creative expression can open pathways to healing. This led him to pursue music-centred psychotherapy as his life’s work.

Luke now resides on the unceded, shared territory of the Lil’wat Nation and the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation, in what is commonly known as Whistler, BC. His personal interests—self-study, time in nature, and playful connection with friends—deeply inform his therapeutic approach, helping him meet others with presence, curiosity, and respect for their inherent creativity.

Luke was introduced to Lumara after speaking with someone who had volunteered with Camp Kerry for many years and described it as the strongest sense of community they had ever experienced. Drawn by this feeling of belonging, Luke soon discovered that Lumara’s values aligned with his own: recognizing the unique contributions of each person, nurturing mutual appreciation, and creating spaces where grief, growth, and transformation can unfold.

As a volunteer with Lumara Society, Luke contributes to 1:1 counselling and facilitates group workshops for individuals and families living with grief. He is motivated by a profound love for the people he serves and volunteers alongside, and by the belief that this work is both deep and essential. Luke sees every gathering—whether a workshop, retreat, camp, or private session—as an opportunity to participate in the collective tending of life, helping to steer it in a compassionate and life-affirming direction.

Each time he shows up to a Lumara event, Luke hopes to feel nourished by the community and to help amplify the forces of good—wellness, balance, growth, healing, creativity, and connection. His presence reflects a steady trust in the beauty and potential within every moment and every person he meets.

Joe Keesickquayash, is of Ojibway and Cree background from Mishkeegogamang Ontario, and Red Sucker Lake, Manitoba. He is a father of five and has one grandchild. Joe graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in Indigenous Studies and History.

In 2017, Joe and his family experienced the loss of their three year old son, who was born with a rare genetic condition During his son’s odyssey, Joe and his family remained hopeful that a diagnosis would be found to bring understanding to their son’s medical journey, and more so, to help support their grief journey.

Although the path to find a diagnosis was challenging as a father, Joe hopes that by sharing his grief journey, and his traditional approaches to understanding grief, he can help others who are experiencing grief and loss.

Michael Kahn was introduced to Lumara through his friend the late, Jennyfer Hatch, a music therapist whose compassion and insight deeply influenced him. He now volunteers with LUMARA as a bereavement group facilitator, contributing his experience, empathy, and commitment to creating safe spaces for those navigating grief.

Michael lives in Vancouver, BC, on the ancestral and traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), selílwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Peoples.

A counsellor, educator, and former attorney, Michael is the co-founder of ReelTime Creative Learning Experiences, which offers in-person and online continuing education programs on grief, ethics, wellbeing, and DEIB for lawyers, mental health professionals, and other groups across the U.S. and Canada, including the U.S. military. He also serves part-time as a counsellor for the Lawyers Assistance Program of British Columbia, where he supports individual clients and facilitates bereavement and loss groups.

In addition to his work with LUMARA, Michael has facilitated grief groups for many years, including “Empty Arms” groups for parents experiencing pregnancy or newborn loss at KinderMourn in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is also the author of the chapter “Saying Goodbye: Loss and Bereavement” in Cinemeducation, Volume 2: Using Film and Other Visual Media in Graduate and Medical Education.

Michael believes deeply in the power of community during times of loss. He often reflects on the saying, “Joy shared is doubled, and grief shared is halved.” The compassionate support he has received throughout his own life has shaped his desire to help others feel less alone. Through LUMARA, he hopes to contribute to spaces where people can heal together and feel held by a caring, understanding community.

Tara is a registered clinical counsellor with a Masters in Counselling from City University – Dr. Heather Mohan was one of her professors – and a Wilderness Leadership degree from Capilano University.

Originally from Ontario, and a camp-kid at heart, Tara brings vast experience of group facilitation and is excited to be a member of Lumara’s family.

She currently lives and works on the west coast of Vancouver Island on the traditional territory of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations. In addition to her role with us as a counsellor and youth worker she has her own private practice, serves Pacific Rim Hospice Society, and works as an outdoor instructor with Outward Bound Canada.

Lately, her favourite activities are surfing her longboard and reading a good book on a cozy hammock.

Kristen earned her bachelor’s degree from Capilano University and is an Accredited Music Therapist through the Canadian Association of Music Therapy. Her professional practice currently takes her to several settings throughout the lower mainland of British Columbia where she specializes in palliative and hospice care, long-term dementia care, and bereavement care. Presently, she facilitates one of our Circles of Strength Children’s Bereavement Groups.

Brooke Angus lives and works on the unceded traditional territories of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish Nations, the original stewards of this land. She is deeply committed to ongoing learning and reflection on what reconciliation means in her daily life and practice.

Brooke first connected with LUMARA in 2007 when she attended the very first Camp Kerry, and it has held a special place in her heart ever since. Her passion for grief and loss work began years earlier during her music therapy internship in Palliative Care. Drawn by curiosity—and a touch of fear—about death and dying, she discovered the profound beauty of helping others through those deeply human moments.

Having experienced her own losses, Brooke understands how grief touches not only individuals but entire families and communities. Through her work with LUMARA, she helps others find connection, healing, and hope through shared stories and creativity. She is dedicated to creating spaces where families feel seen, supported, and reminded that even in grief, there is room for deep connection and meaning.