Tashel Bordere, PhD, CT

Tashel C. Bordere, PhD, CT, is an internationally known scholar, author, speaker and a grant-funded researcher at the Center for Family Policy and Research at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is certified in thanatology (death, dying and bereavement). Dr. Bordere is vice president of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief (NACG) and serves on the boards of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) and the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). She recently completed a Forward Promise Fellowship through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) focusing on the promotion of healing, growth and thriving among boys and young men of color. She is a mentor and career coach to developing health equity scholars through Johns Hopkins (RWJF). Dr. Bordere’s research is contextually based focusing on cultural trauma, stigmatized loss (homicide loss, assaultive violence-sexual assault), suffocated grief (a term she coined), and black youth and family bereavement and mourning rituals. She developed the S.H.E.D. Grief Tools Training Program for Early Childhood Professionals and programs and K-12 schools. Dr. Bordere has received numerous awards including the Ronald K. Barrett National Award (ADEC), 2022 Excellence in Engagement in Outreach Award (MU), and the CASE Award for Outstanding Faculty Mentorship to underrepresented college students (MU). She is a Grief Reach grantee funded by the New York Life Foundation. Dr. Bordere has done numerous workshops, keynotes, and published research relating to inequities (social, educational) and culturally relevant practices, including her co-edited book, Handbook of Social Justice in Loss and Grief (Routledge). She is a grief and health expert and advisor on documentary films related to bereavement in multicultural families and disenfranchised losses (child loss, homicide survivorship). Dr. Bordere has been featured in multiple media outlets including USA Today, New York Times, Legacy.com, Psychology Today, Houston Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquirer, and NPR. She is a proud New Orleans native.