Featured Speakers
Featured Speakers
During the seminar, you will have the opportunity to hear from national experts in grief, trauma, health and wellness and more. Below is a list of the speakers and presenters who will be in attendance.
Bonnie Carroll
Bonnie Carroll is the President and Founder of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, the leading national Military Service Organization providing comfort, care, and resources to all those grieving the death of a military loved one. Ms. Carroll founded TAPS following the death of her husband in an Army plane crash. She is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a retired U.S. Air Force Reserve Officer, and she has served in the White House under three Presidents.
Audri Beugelsdijk
Audri Beugelsdijk serves as the Vice President of Survivor Services for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), overseeing immediate and long-term survivor support and outreach, and survivor programming. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology. She came to TAPS as a survivor in March 1997 after her husband CTRSN Jason Springer, USN, was lost at sea in the Pacific from the USS Kinkaid. As a Navy veteran as well, Audri is passionate about supporting our military families. Her work in honor of her late husband is a testament to her passion for the TAPS mission and her desire to offer safe places of hope and healing for all those grieving a military loss.
Frank Campbell, PhD, LCSW, CT
Dr. Frank Campbell is the Executive Director Emeritus of the Baton Rouge Crisis Intervention Center, where he is developing the first National Training Center for Suicidology. He is also Senior Consultant for Campbell and Associates Consulting where he consults with communities on Active Postvention efforts and Forensic Suicidology cases. During his more than thirty years of working with those bereaved by suicide he introduced his Active Postvention Model (APM) in 1997 it is most commonly known as the LOSS Team (Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors). His work with survivors and victims of trauma has been featured in three discovery channel documentaries, multiple professional journals, and several book chapters. Frank has been a consultant to TAPS for years, beginning with the very first National Military Suicide Survivor Seminar in 2009.
Sarah Conlon-Pernick, PhD
Sarah Conlon-Pernick is the Principal Consultant at Conlon Coaching and Consulting and is the surviving mother of United States Air Force (USAF) Special Agent Nathan Schuldheiss, KIA in 2007 in Iraq. Sarah was born into a military family and spent most of her childhood and adult life as a military dependent. She started her professional career as a family therapist for the USAF. She continued her career working with DOD, NASA, and the National Park Service supporting and coaching leaders as they adapt to change, build trust, develop cultural competencies, and facilitate dialogue in difficult situations. Her passion is coaching individuals facing life challenges and supporting their transition from “survivor” to “thriver."
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Erin Jacobson
Erin serves as the Director of Adult Programs for TAPS. Within the past decade, Erin has built transformative programming within the retreat and seminar programs with an emphasis in women's empowerment, art, mindfulness and nature based healing. At the heart of her workshops and programs is the desire to create spaces where survivors can feel safe to explore the difficult questions surrounding identity and purpose after loss. Erin resides in the Pacific Northwest and is the surviving partner of Army Ranger Corporal Jason Kessler. Along with a degree in counseling, her educational background includes nonprofit leadership, religious studies and art history.
Jason Stout
Jason serves as a TAPS Youth Programs Advisor. Jason is passionate about helping youth and adults find their inner strength, form meaningful connections, and experience personal transformation through challenges. This is rooted in the losses of his sister, grandmother, and father — all before Jason was 15 years old. He struggled to deal with these losses as a teen and adult, but he found purpose and healing after completing a 78-day Winter Wilderness Leadership Expedition. In honor of his dad and sister, Jason created a national wilderness program for at-risk and grieving teens, which was featured in Backpacker Magazine, The Denver Post, and the Associated Press. He provides presentations to high schools, universities, and conferences on grief and finding resilience. He previously served Judi's House as Outreach and Education Manager and Outward Bound as the National Outreach Director. Through his work at TAPS, Jason helps grieving children and teens heal through connection and nature.
Jesse Tubb
Jesse Tubb served 28 years in the U.S. Army and is the founder and creator of GRIT Adventures, an experiential learning outdoor program that utilizes adventure racing as a vehicle for teaching valuable life skills. Through this program, teams and organizations gain a greater understanding of their own capabilities, develop resilience, perseverance, conflict resolution skills, mindfulness, self-awareness, and learn to work effectively with others. Jesse is a certified Life and Engagement coach, ACC ICF certified coach, a Mental Fitness coach through the Positive Intelligence program, served as a Master Resiliency Trainer in the Army and is an endorsed mental fitness coach with the U.S. Adventure Racing Association. He holds a Resilient Building Leadership Professional-Trainer (RBLP-T) Certification, trained with the University of Pennsylvania Resilience Program, and completed the Mindfulness Mentor Training program through Cloud Sangha with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield. As a member of the advisory board for TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors), he provides workshops on developing emotional and mental resilience for the families of fallen service members. He has spent the last 17 years competing in various endurance sports around the world. His accomplishments include competing in the 2019 Eco Challenge, an 11-day race in Fiji filmed on Amazon Prime, winning both the 2018 U.S. Adventure Racing Association National Championship and the 2022 24-hour Adventure Racing National Solo Championship, and numerous podium finishes in ultra marathons and triathlons.