Keynote Speaker: Cal Cates
Cal Cates is an award-winning writer, published researcher, international speaker, and the founder and Executive Director of Healwell, a non-profit whose mission is to teach massage therapists how to work effectively with people affected by serious illness, to provide that care and to advocate for a broader role for the discipline of massage therapy in serious illness care.
Cal is an inspirational change facilitator.
They have trained thousands of healthcare providers in skills of resilience, self-awareness, communication, and forgiveness. They have dedicated their career to advocacy in healthcare, massage therapy as social justice, and to revolutionizing education for healthcare providers. Cal has trained with Roshi Joan Halifax, Ram Dass, Frank Ostaseski, and other leaders in the field of contemplative care and has created curriculum and written for trade journals on topics ranging from end of life care to interdisciplinary education to racism and the endless ways that humans make it hard to live in successful, equitable harmony.
Raianne Melton, RN, BSN, CHPN
Raianne Melton is the Director of Clinical Services of Professional Services for Axxess, the fastest-growing home healthcare technology company. In this role, she serves as a hospice and palliative care content expert and assists in creating hospice and palliative care training and certification courses. Raianne also serves as director of operations for Axxess’s CAHP Solution, an ANCC Nurse Planner, and a My Alliance Ambassador.
Raianne has 20 years of hospice experience with various companies. In one of her recent roles, she served as the Director of Clinical Strategy for Banner Health, where she was responsible for developing strategic education to support current and future business opportunities and redefining the delivery model for palliative care programing to improve patient outcomes.
Raianne earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Phoenix and is certified by the Hospice and Palliative Care Association as a Certified Hospice and Palliative Care Nurse (CHPN).
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Elena Prendergrast
Dr. Elena Prendergast is a healthcare leader with expertise in palliative and end of life care. She holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice and is nationally certified as a nurse practitioner in both family and advanced hospice and palliative care nursing. She currently serves a palliative care consultant at a local teaching hospital and is a part-time Assistant Professor of Nursing. In addition to her palliative care expertise, she has sought training as an End-of-life Doula, functional medicine, and trauma/resilience. Her dedication to improving the healthcare experience extends to serving in her local community and on the national stage as a clinician, educator, and advocate. A natural storyteller, she is a sought after speaker, drawing from her experiences to relate to her audience As the owner of Tree of Life Health Consultant, she assists clients in navigating the complexities of serious-illness with a focus on defining and achieving their individual quality of life goals.
Dan Morrow
My name is Dan Morrow. I graduated from Midwestern University School of Pharmacy in Chicago in 2014. I am a pharmacist that has been working in the hospice space for 10 years. I have been in my current role with Enclara for 6 years as a clinical manager that includes educating nurses and physicians on medication topics that affect hospice patients. I am also a member of the NHPCO Next Gen Leadership Counsil to ensure our future healthcare providers are educated on important topics involved in hospice and palliative care.
Andrew J. Vitale
Andrew is a globally recognized Thanatologist and Spiritual Counselor, specializing in death, dying and bereavement. Coauthor of impactful books, including “Children Surviving Traumatic Death,” “Promoting Resilience,” and author of “Grief Work Activities.” As a certified Thanatologist, he plays a key role on the steering committee for the International Conference for Death, Dying and Bereavement. In 2022, Andrew received the Dr. Robert Fulton Founder’s Award for his exceptional contributions. Invited to join the prestigious International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement (IWGddb), Andrew collaborates with global leaders to shape international discourse. His commitment to excellence and compassion makes him a sought-after figure in the field.
Maggie Schingel
Maggie Schingel is a first-year graduate student at the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, where she has spent the past year interning at the Supporting Healthy Aging Resources and Education Network. During this time, she has focused on listening to underserved communities in the South Side of Chicago, helping design an advance care planning intervention, and executing on this project. Maggie is deeply passionate about the intersection of aging, medicine, and social work, and plans to pursue a career in this field.
Sara Tonini
Biography coming soon.
Renee Kroplewski
Biography coming soon.
Lisa Phillipson
Lisa Phillipson, a lifelong resident of the metro-east region in southwestern Illinois, started her leadership journey as a young adult by assuming a managerial role at McDonalds, proudly graduating from Hamburger University. She furthered her education at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, earning a degree in communication. Her career path led her to work with children with speech disorders in the St. Louis Public Schools, followed by serving as the executive director of Easter Seals Southwestern Illinois. For the past 22 years, she has been the Community Relations and Education Director for Hospice of Southern Illinois. Recently, Lisa launched her own brand, Positively Speaking with Lisa, where she shares insights learned from her leadership career, including the triumphs, setbacks, and invaluable lessons learned along the way.
Dr. Margaret Putman
Dr. Putman is a board certified Hospice and Palliative Medicine physician and Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago. She is also an Emergency Medicine Physician, which she practiced for 9 years before completing her HPM fellowship, and a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator
Kelly Kalseth
Kelly Kalseth is the founder of Momma Gourmet, a company specializing in nutritious and delicious pureed meals for individuals with swallowing difficulties. Her journey began with her premature son, whose early challenges with feeding inspired her to create balanced, appealing purees that were both medically appropriate and loved by her son. What started as a deeply personal mission grew into a broader passion for helping families facing similar challenges.
Kelly’s experience deepened when her father was placed on a pureed diet following neck surgery. Her ability to provide flavorful, nourishing meals for his recovery highlighted a critical gap in adult nutrition care—and sparked the next evolution of Momma Gourmet. Today, the company delivers thousands of pureed meals across the United States and supports organizations like Meals on Wheels of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools.
With a degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition and a background in hospitality sales and marketing, Kelly combines scientific knowledge, culinary creativity, and heartfelt care to elevate the puree experience. She also offers consulting services to hospices and care providers, training staff to prepare in-house purees that are customized, safe, and satisfying.
From her kitchen to your care team, Kelly’s mission remains the same: to nourish with dignity, one delicious spoonful at a time.
Dawn Jelley
Dawn is a distinguished certified hospice nurse with over 35 years of experience, spanning from bedside care to EMR product strategy. Originating from England, she now excels as a Product Strategist at Curantis Solutions in the US, where she leverages her extensive hospice and palliative care background to innovate hospice software.
Dawn’s unique perspective is informed by her varied roles in patient care, program management, and software development, alongside her firsthand experience with the challenges clinicians face. She has presented at many hospice and palliative conferences at both regional and state level. Among her speaking engagements in 2025 she presented at the NHPCO conference in Denver Colorado and was the closing keynote speaker at the Massachusetts Federation Hospice and Palliative Conference.
An author of three books inspired by her hospice work, Dawn’s writings reflect her deep engagement with life, death, and bereavement, including pet loss. Her career in the US began in 1994 in Boston, Massachusetts, evolving into roles that significantly contributed to her expertise in hospice care technology and patient support.
Her passion for making hospice and home care work less burdensome through improved technology defines her mission. Dawn continues to be a guiding force in reimagining hospice care, striving to blend empathy with innovation for better patient and caregiver experiences.
Rev. Joe Green
Rev. Joe Green, MABS, is Corp. Director of Spiritual Care and Bereavement at Unity Hospice and Palliative Care. Joe completed his Clinical Pastoral Education at Rush University Medical Center. He has since had extensive experience in Hospice and Palliative care with a focused interest in improving the care of those with ALS.
Judith Wood Mintz
Judith Wood Mintz, MSW, LCSW is the Director of Social Work for Unity Hospice and Palliative Care, providing support and guidance to Social Work teams in seven offices across five states. She is also Core Faculty and Head of the Social Work Division for the Coleman Palliative Medicine Training Program, an interdisciplinary, city-wide endeavor training health care professionals in the provision of quality primary and specialty level palliative care. Judith has a key leadership role in a fast-growing hospice caring for patients in urban, suburban, and rural communities. She is the author of a chapter in the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Social Work 2nd edition, addressing the role of social work with ALS patients. Her specific areas of expertise are the treatment of ALS patients in palliative and hospice care and in the provision of quality hospice and palliative care to an underserved, marginalized, urban population.
Laura Supanavongs
Laura Supanavongs is the Director of Clinical Education at Lightways Hospice. Before this position, Laura was a hospice case manager for eight years, participating in numerous IDT meetings. She truly believes that each interdisciplinary team member’s role is integral to the successful care of each patient in hospice. Laura is currently working on her master’s in nursing at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, with an anticipated graduation in August 2025. Laura lives with her husband, Deo, 15-year-old son, Max, 11-year-old daughter, Maia, and their two dogs, Oreo and Wheatie.
Matt Wolf
Matt Wolf is a Field Chaplain at Lightways Hospice. Previously he served as a church minister and continues to work part-time as a hospital chaplain. He attends and participates in weekly IDT meetings. Matt highly values every person’s input and believes that the voice of each discipline blends with the others to form a unified team. He also wants to answer the question, “Who takes care of the caregivers?”
Patrice Martin
Patrice Martin has 21 years of experience working in the hospice field, and 9 years of experience in foster care system, facing multiple circumstances when children and families experience separation and loss. Patrice earned her LCSW in 1999 and has provided counseling and clinical supervision to both interns and Social Workers and Counselors since that time. Patrice Martin is currently the Director of Grief Support at Lightways Hospice and Serious Illness, which provides a comprehensive grief support program to both hospice and community families before and after a death in the family.
Allison Gunnink
Allison Gunnink, MBA, LPMT, MT-BC (she/her) received her undergraduate degree in Music Therapy from Western Illinois University in 2010, and a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Health Services from the University of St. Francis in 2013. She obtained the Hospice & Palliative Care Music Therapy certificate in 2015. Allison has worked in hospice for 15 years and is passionate about keeping humanity at the center of the work.
Dr. Michelle Mikus
Dr. Michelle Mikus is a 2013 graduate from the Duquesne University school of pharmacy and since then, she has worked at Dragonfly Health (formerly Delta Care Rx), joining the team as one of the first hospice consultant pharmacists. In 2019 she was promoted to her current role of Vice President of Pharmacy Operations for a team that has grown to over 60 pharmacists and hundreds of hospice partners. In this role, Dr. Mikus oversees both the clinical consulting and dispensing operations of the company and serves as an information resource for pharmacists at both Dragonfly Health and client hospices. She also travels to client hospices to train nurses and providers on evidence-based drug information and interdisciplinary teamwork. Dr. Mikus has presented for the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation, Project ECHO, numerous state hospice and palliative care organizations, the Pennsylvania Pharmacist Association, Duquesne University and a number of hospitals. She is working on a Masters Degree in Public Health from the University of Massachusetts and is an adjunct faculty member at Duquesne University as well as a field instructor, helping to ensure the success of the next generation of pharmacists.
Tiffiney Hill, MDiv, MBA
Tiffiney Hill served as a Chaplain at VITAS Healthcare for 7 years and recently promoted to Bereavement Services Manager at VITAS Healthcare for two Programs, Chicagoland South and LaSalle Regions. Additionally, she has served as a Chaplain in various setting, Level I Trauma Emergency Room, hospital and hospice. As well as an Administrator of Pediatrics at Cook County Hospital in Chicago.
Rev. Hill holds the following degrees: a Bachelor of Arts in Healthcare Administration from Robert Morris University, a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) with a minor in Leadership from Morris Graduate School. As well as a Master’s in Divinity from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Rev. Tiffiney has served as Assistant Pastor for 20 years where she journeyed with the Bereaved Congregants and Local Community providing pastoral and grief support.
She has led a homeless ministry, “Shelter from The Storm,” for over 25 years serving the homeless community within the Chicagoland area.