Kris walks alongside people at life's thresholds. Those transformative moments when everything shifts, and we find ourselves standing between what was and what will be. Her own journey taught her about these powerful and sacred moments where our deepest emotions rise to the surface, and healing and growth become possible. With gentle attentiveness, Kris works at the level of the soul and creates a container for people that is spacious enough to hold the raw discomfort and the unexpected gifts these passages offer.

This calling to soul work was formed early in her life. Growing up in a Midwestern Catholic household where service to others was the family's love language, Kris's life trajectory was forever altered at sixteen when she began volunteering at the AGAPE home, a sanctuary for men dying of AIDS. During many quiet moments at bedsides she learned that being truly present is often the most profound gift we can offer. Witnessing both deep suffering and unexpected grace, she discovered her ability to see people in their wholeness and stay fully present when others might turn away.

Decades later, life would deepen her understanding of this calling. In 2023 at 45, Kris—a mother of three, nonprofit coach, and active community member—received a stage 4 cancer diagnosis, plunging her into the very isolation and vulnerability she had witnessed with others. During a particularly difficult hospital stay, a chaplain sat with her, offering nothing but authentic presence yet somehow making her feel truly seen in her suffering. This experience made real the profound truth: that even in our most uncertain and difficult moments, we can find unexpected pathways to deeper connection, renewed faith, and personal transformation.

Today her work as a grief counselor, transitions coach and end-of-life doula is guided by an unshakable belief that there is no single right way to live, grieve, or die. She honors that our lives unfold along countless worthy paths, each shaped by the unique constellation of our experiences, identities, choices, and environments. Having been both anchored and unmoored in her own cancer journey, she understands that life can be exquisitely beautiful and terribly painful in the very same moment—a complexity she honors in every aspect of her practice.

Kris's work is enriched by both personal experience and professional qualifications. Currently pursuing interfaith chaplaincy studies at the Graduate Theological Union, she holds a Master of Social Work from UC Berkeley and brings extensive experience as an executive coach for nonprofit and educational leaders, in addition to more than two decades advancing greater equity and inclusion across the sector.

Kris creates spaces where people feel affirmed and know they belong. Where they uncover meaning amid loss and recognize unexpected moments of joy in sorrow. Whether accompanying someone navigating the grief of a diagnosis or the loss of a loved one, facilitating intimate and difficult family conversations, or bearing witness to life's final moments, Kris honors each person's unique journey. Through this sacred work, she embodies her deepest belief: that within our most tender and uncertain moments, when we allow ourselves to be truly seen and held, we can find an innate capacity for healing and transformation.