Grief, Purpose, and the Power of Lived Expertise, TEDxDuke

Did you know you’re a subject-matter expert based on the experiences you’ve lived through? In this uplifting and inspiring talk, Cassidie Carmen Bates, grief researcher and lived expertise advocate, explores how to identify your most aligned passion and effect resonating change by grounding your pursuits in the expertise only you possess. Cassidie Carmen Bates, MPP, is a grief researcher, a certified grief support specialist, and public policy practitioner. Her work explores how bereavement policies are strengthened when informed by the lived expertise of grievers, in combination with subject-matter data. With nearly a decade of public policy experience, she transitioned into grief policy following the sudden passing of her dad, John. At 25, Cassidie served as the sole executor of her dad’s estate, an experience that demonstrated how little infrastructure exists to support grieving workers. Cassidie spent over five years in nonprofit leadership within the Feeding America network, developing and implementing award-winning legislative advocacy models nationwide. Cassidie is an alumna of UC Berkeley and earned her Master's of Public Policy from the Duke Sanford School of Public Policy. She is the Founder of Soul Executor, which provides 1:1 estate settlement navigation to those with fiduciary roles to their loved one’s estates, in a grief-informed manner. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.