Media & Speaking
Cassidie Carmen Bates
Book Cassidie for Conversations on Grief, Work, and Workplace Policy
National Relevance
Why Workplace Grief Is an Urgent National Issue
Death is universal, but bereavement leave is not. Grief affects employees, employers, and the broader economy, yet many workplace policies still fail to reflect the realities of loss.
Estimated annual cost of unsupported employee grief to U.S. businesses.
Estimated annual lost productivity connected to inadequate grief resources.
Of grieving employees report difficulty concentrating at work after a loss.
Of employees may leave their workplace within a year of loss when they feel inadequately served.
Why This Matters Now
A Growing Need for Bereavement Leave
By 2030, every Baby Boomer will be 65 or older, and more than one in five Americans will be of retirement age.
As this generation ages, millions of working adults will navigate the loss of parents and loved ones while continuing to manage careers, caregiving aftermath, family logistics, and estate responsibilities.
Conversations Cassidie Can Contribute To
Your Ideal Subject-Matter Expert
Cassidie Carmen Bates, MPP, brings media a timely national issue, original research, public policy expertise, and a deeply human story. She helps audiences understand what happens when grief, work, family responsibility, and estate administration collide.
The Core Media Hook
Cassidie is naming a workplace gap millions of Americans face each year.
An estimated 17 million working-age Americans become bereaved annually, forcing many to carry grief, estate responsibilities, and workplace expectations at the same time.
Drawing from original research and her experience becoming the sole executor of her dad’s estate at 25, Cassidie examines how grief affects the brain and body and how those insights can inform better workplace policy.
Grief and the brain and body, bereavement leave policy, workplace grief, estate fiduciaries, and lived expertise in policy design.
Cassidie’s sudden loss and experience becoming a sole executor directly informed her research into the systems grieving workers are expected to navigate.
An estimated 28 million Americans become bereaved annually, including approximately 17 million working-age adults, yet bereavement leave remains inconsistent, limited, and often unpaid.
Media Interviews, Podcasts, Panels + Speaking
Topics Cassidie Can Speak To
Cassidie brings together original research, public policy expertise, and lived experience to make complex conversations about grief, bereavement, and the workplace accessible and actionable.
01
Why America Still Treats Grief Like a Private Problem
Why bereavement remains under-addressed despite being a predictable and unavoidable workforce issue.
02
The Hidden Workplace Cost of Unsupported Grief
How grief affects concentration, productivity, retention, employee well-being, and organizational culture.
03
The Science of Grief at Work
How grief affects the brain, body, executive function, and emotional regulation while employees continue meeting workplace expectations.
04
Why Three Days of Bereavement Leave Is Not Enough
Why traditional funeral-leave models fail to reflect the months of grief, administration, and responsibility that can follow a death.
05
Why America’s Aging Population Makes Bereavement Policy Urgent
How the aging Baby Boomer generation will increase the number of employees managing loss, caregiving aftermath, and estate responsibilities.
06
How Employers Can Build More Grief-Informed Policies
Practical approaches to flexibility, nonconsecutive leave, job protection, manager education, and meaningful employee care.
Additional Areas of Expertise
Related Conversations
Explore Her Portfolio
Featured Work
TEDx: Grief, Purpose, and the Power of Lived Expertise
Cassidie’s TEDx Talk presents two of her signature concepts: lived expertise and grief-informed policy. Through relatable, uplifting, and engaging storytelling, she translates qualitative and quantitative research into ideas that resonate across backgrounds and make complex conversations about grief more accessible to all.
01
Published Research
Author of Death Is Inevitable. Grieving Is Universal. Bereavement Leave Is Neither., Cassidie examines the gaps in current bereavement policies and advocates for more equitable, evidence-backed workplace standards that better reflect the realities of grief and loss.
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Research Accolades
Cassidie's grief and bereavement policy research has received multiple awards. She was also named a 2026 Duke Pioneer for her substantial contribution to establishing grief-informed support on Duke University's campus.
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Policy & Advocacy Awards
Named the 2023 California Hunger Fighter, with additional advocacy honors recognizing her leadership in developing effective policy models rooted in food security and lived expertise.
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Lived Expertise as the Foundation
Cassidie’s work in grief and bereavement policy was inspired by the sudden loss of her dad, John, at 25, when she became the sole executor of his estate. This experience deepened an approach she had already spent years developing, integrating lived expertise with subject-matter research to advance evidence-backed policies.
Read About Cassidie05
Education Meets Practice
Cassidie brings nearly a decade of public policy experience to her work in grief and bereavement, alongside earning her master’s at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy and her undergraduate degree in Legal Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.
View Background06
Leading Voice in Grief Policy
Cassidie is a leading voice in grief and bereavement policy, combining lived experience, research, public policy, and workplace advocacy to advance accessible, evidence-backed systems that reflect the realities of loss.
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