The Vilomah Conference is first of its kind gathering in the Greater Toronto Area will bring together bereaved parents, supporters, helping professionals, advocates, and community members for a meaningful day centered around grief, healing, education, and connection.
Meet Our Speakers & Facilitators
Meet the speakers and facilitators joining us for The Vilomah Conference on October 24, 2026, at Hilton Garden Inn Toronto/Ajax. Each session brings a different lens to grief, healing, support, remembrance, and community care.
Alexandra Van Tassell Why Everything Feels So Hard: The Grieving Brain and Financial Responsibilities Alexandra brings a practical and compassionate lens to the mental load that can follow loss, including decision-making, financial responsibilities, and navigating life when grief changes how we think, plan, and function.
Andrea Page Heavy Lifting: Grief’s Impact on Health and the Role of Strength Training Andrea explores how grief can affect the body and how strength training can support bereaved parents in reconnecting with strength, movement, and care after loss.
Dr. Andrew L. Blackwood Still Here - The Sacred Tension of Faith, Grief, Guilt & Grace Dr. Blackwood brings a grounded and compassionate perspective to the complicated relationship between grief, faith, guilt, grace, and the questions that can surface after profound loss.
Angelique Benois Holding Space with Care: Strengthening the Capacity to Care Angelique will help create a grounded opening for the day, offering a moment of care, breath, and presence as attendees enter a space built for honesty, remembrance, and connection
Monique Ra Brent Permission to Grieve, Permission to Heal Grief has no timeline, no correct shape, and no finish line. In this compassionate exploration, Monique invites us to release the expectations we place on grief and give ourselves permission to feel what is true. And when healing begins, we can give ourselves permission for that, too. To experience joy, connection and possibility again, knowing that healing does not mean leaving our loved ones behind.
Cola Bennett The Art of Healing: Creative Expression for What We Carry Cola invites attendees to explore creative expression as a way to give shape, language, and movement to the grief, love, memory, and meaning we continue to carry.
Shelby Brown Parenting Beyond Goodbye Shelby explores the reality of parenting after child loss, including love, memory, responsibility, identity, and the ongoing bond that remains beyond goodbye.
Derek Giberson When Purpose Changes Derek brings the voice of a bereaved father to the conference, exploring how loss can reshape identity, purpose, strength, and the way we continue forward with love.
Isabelle Kilkowski Returning to Balance: Reiki, Regulation & Rest Reiki Master Teacher & Massage Therapist Isabelle brings a gentle body-based approach to grief support, exploring Reiki, nervous system regulation, rest, and the ways the body can be supported after loss.
Ian Toomer Self-Care, The Seven Grandfather Teachings & The Medicine Wheel Ian an Aanishnaabe Inini (Ojibway Man), brings teachings rooted in self-care, reflection, and cultural wisdom, offering attendees a grounded approach to healing, balance, and moving through grief with intention.
Sheena Dennise Ewan Where Grief Can Breathe: Psilocybin, Sacred Space & the Journey Toward Relief Sheena brings a thoughtful conversation about grief, sacred space, plant medicine, and the search for relief, care, and meaning after deep loss.
Roxanne Brown Finding the Words After Loss Roxanne brings attention to the language of grief — the words we reach for, the words that fail us, and the ways honest expression can help people feel witnessed instead of silenced.
Natalie Ibrahim When the Heart Hurts: A Heart-Brain Coherence Experience Natalie will guide attendees through a heart-brain coherence experience, offering practical tools for calming the body, supporting emotional regulation, and creating moments of steadiness in grief.
Kiran Bissoon The Body Remembers Love Kiran explores how grief lives in the body and how nourishment, care, and body awareness can support bereaved parents as they move through life after loss
Sandra Colaire Conference MC Sandra will help guide the flow of the day with warmth, presence, and care, supporting a conference experience rooted in connection, community, and respect.
Erica Edwards Co-Founder Normalizing Grief Vilomah | Grief Coach | Community Liaison Erica is dedicated to creating brave spaces, building meaningful connections, and supporting people through community, conversation, and connection.
Melanie Heron Normalizing Grief Co-Founder Vilomah | Grief Coach | Advocate | Author Melanie is passionate about reducing grief stigma, fostering compassion, and supporting others as they navigate grief, loss, and life after loss.
Our VenueHilton Garden Inn Toronto/Ajax
500 Beck Crescent, Ajax, ON L1Z 1C9
We are honoured to welcome bereaved parents, care practitioners, and supporters from near and far as we gather for a day of connection, learning, remembrance, and community care.
Discounted hotel rooms are available for attendees of The Vilomah Conference.