We’d like to preserve and protect Ontario’s natural landscape. We also want, for ourselves and others, an end-of-life option that helps, not harms, the earth.
The Natural Burial Association is a non-profit organization, independent of the funeral industry. It’s run by a group of nature-loving volunteers who really want to see natural burial grounds in Ontario. We’re grateful to the donors who help us with our efforts.
Kim is a life-long environmental advocate and enthusiastic and successful fundraiser. She has worked to achieve the goals of not-for-profit organizations and their supporters, including full time for WWF-Canada and Pickering College, and for many others during her time as a development and communications consultant. While living in Singapore she was an active volunteer for Jane Goodall Institute, Helping Hands, and many community organizations, and had the opportunity to learn about cultural perceptions of death and remembrance in SE Asia. Back in Canada now, Kim is working with Birds Canada and GrandTrees/Trees for Life, and volunteering with local organizations to save nature.
My favourite places are southern Ontario's rich (and threatened) wetland ecosystems. I love a swamp!
Michael was founder and chairman of Key Publishers which published Toronto Life, Canadian Geographic, Canadian Business, Owl and Chickadee. He is also co-founder and director Investeco Capital, one of Canada’s first environmental investment companies. Honoured with the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada, he continues to find ways to improve the planet, including co-founding the Highway of Heros Tribute, an initiative to plant 2 million trees in honour of Canadians who died or served in our wars.
My favourite place in Ontario is a small bay off Georgian Bay, but I’m not telling where it is.
Susan worked for years in marketing, at Toronto's top ad agencies, and with Gravity Inc, a wonderful design agency that does work for the non-profit sector. (Thank you Gravity for all the pro-bono work you do for NBA!). Susan served on the board of the Green Burial Council (US) and is a member of the Conservation Burial Alliance.
My favourite place in Ontario is a spectacular island campsite on Clear Lake in Massasauga Provincial Park.
David has been raising money for 51 years and currently helps environmental and social justice organizations create legacy programs. For 20 years, David worked for WWF-Canada where he helped establish their successful legacy program. He now occasionally works at his daughter’s direct response company, Agents of Good, where he is affectionately known as “The Godfather of Good.” His new book Green Green (available at Hilborn-Civil Sector Press) summarizes lessons learned in 51 years of fundraising.
My favourite place in Ontario is The Love Mountain Nature Reserve in The Happy Valley Forest.
Janet is Head of Communications and Sustainability at Prince’s Trust Canada, overseeing programs that help equity-deserving young people and Veterans explore, prepare for and gain access to purposeful good green jobs. Previously, Janet offered strategic communications and project management to companies in the environmental sector and was the founding Executive Director of the Natural Burial Association. She began her career in corporate communications.
My favourite place in Ontario is the Bruce Trail, a footpath that runs from the Niagara River to the tip of Tobermory.
Madison has often been described by her loved ones as a Student of Life and, as such, has found herself joyfully enveloped in the study of what comes after. When she is not putting her theatre degree to work as a bartender, Madison spends her time marvelling at the bees and trees and mulling over how to give back - to nature and its humans. She feels emboldened by the compassion and dedication of those involved with the Natural Burial Association and is excited to learn from and grow with those who dig the way.
Heather is an occupational therapist who has worked in hospitals and in the community with many palliative care patients. Her years of patient engagement and her concern for the future of our planet have combined into a desire to ensure that each of us has the opportunity, when we reach the end of our lives, to be buried in a manner which preserves an ancient and restorative ecological process.
Kristy is happiest outdoors, and tries to live her life as naturally as possible. She homeschools and shares her love of nature with her children, especially within their seven acre Muskoka home, where they forage, photograph, and propagate only native trees. Everyone at NBA loves nature, but Kristy helps us deepen our appreciation by defining and providing insights into the flora and fauna.
Hayden is a Field Biologist. Through his work to conserve sensitive habitats he has seen the degradation of natural areas and wants to contribute to the growing movement of protecting our native species and spaces through environmentally responsible end of life options. As a volunteer with NBA, Hayden’s our scientific go-to, providing research into how natural burial can strengthen the local ecosystem.
Michael is president of the Environics group of research and communications consulting companies which he co-founded in 1970. In 2006 he founded and serves as president of the non-profit Environics Institute for Survey Research whose mission is to sponsor original public opinion and social research on issues of public policy and social change. Michael is also the author of seven books, and was awarded the Order of Canada for his contributions to public opinion research and his work in helping Canadians understand who they are as a country and a people.
Mary Anne Brinckman was an exceptionally knowledgeable and passionate environmentalist. An extraordinary practical result of her environmental mission was her creative role in establishing three green magazines: she was the co-founding editor of Owl and Chickadee, the co-founding editor of Toronto Life Gardens (subsequently Gardening Life) and the founding editor of Green Living magazine. Her belief in Green Burial led to the formation of this Association.
Michel has championed the cause of natural burial grounds in his role as superintendent of the beautiful Cobourg Union Cemetery. He has been a long-term advocate of the use of earth-friendly processes, including the avoidance of pesticides and herbicides.
Rosemary died in 2022. She was a former newspaper columnist and feature writer for Toronto Star and Globe and Mail. Rosemary has served 10 years on the Board of Directors of Ontario Nature, including two years as President of the Board. She is a life member of Pickering Field Naturalists and a member of Toronto Field Naturalists, and the founding chair of Equal Voice, a national organization for the election of more women to political office, for which she received a Governor-General’s award for service to Canadian women.
James is a retired media executive who was the one-time publisher of The Financial Post and Maclean’s magazine, President of Maclean Hunter Publishing Company and former-president of the Canadian Club of Toronto. He is a Toronto resident who cares about the city and our country and wishes to devote time to their future health.