Imagine, A Center for Coping with Loss is pleased to announce Mayor Shelley Brindle has joined the Imagine Leadership Council, comprised of business and community leaders, both locally and nationally, who are willing to serve as passionate advocates on behalf of grieving children and teens. “We are thrilled to welcome Shelley to the Council because of her leadership and personal understanding and connection to families coping with loss,” said Stuart Arnold, Imagine Board Chair. “We look forward to working with her and the other Council members on ensuring no child grieves alone and on normalizing grief, death, and dying in our society.”
Elected Mayor in 2017, Shelley is the first female Mayor in Westfield’s history. Prior to being elected, Shelley had served as HBO’s Executive Vice President, Domestic Network Distribution and Marketing where she was responsible for the revenue, marketing, and distribution strategy of HBO’s $4.4B domestic subscription business. Having successfully led HBO’s digital transformation with the launch of HBO’s digital streaming services HBO Go and HBO Now, Shelley retired in March of 2016 to pursue public service.
In addition to serving as Mayor, Shelley is a frequent public speaker on how to create growth and innovation cultures, and leading for millennials. She serves on the Board of Philo, a streaming TV tech company in San Francisco, serves as a Global Ambassador for Vital Voices, is a founding member of Plum Alley Investments, is an active member of several women’s leadership organizations, and has been a regular participant at Fortune’s annual Most Powerful Women Summit.
Shelley lives in Westfield, New Jersey with her husband Kip, their three children Grace, a college freshman, Nora a junior at WHS, and Nick, a 7th grader at Roosevelt, as well as their three dogs and any number of foster dogs waiting for a good home.
“I’m so pleased to join and be of service on Imagine’s Leadership Council,” said Mayor Brindle. Its mission is particularly personal to me, as my dad died when I was only six years old. As I have become familiar with the support services that Imagine provides, I reflect upon how much my family would have benefited from the support of an organization like Imagine. Their focus on fostering resilience and healthy coping skills in the youth whose lives have been impacted is essential to enabling them to live healthy and productive lives.
July 27-30th, 2018 volunteer facilitator training session
Imagine peer support groups are the main source of support for grieving children and families in Union County and beyond. Groups are facilitated by trained adult volunteers who attend a 32-hour training and quarterly continuing education programs. Volunteers come from all walks of life and need no special background other than a willingness to listen and the ability to be with children and adults in pain without trying to fix, solve problems, or give advice. No prior experience is necessary. Volunteers must be 21 years or older. Volunteers serve as companions and loving listeners for those who are grieving.
“As our programs continue to grow, so does our need for additional, highly trained facilitators,” said Mandi Zucker, Imagine Program Director. “There is a great need for grief support in our community — over 700 children annually will lose a parent to death in Union County. Over 260 children and adults from almost 50 NJ towns are currently participating in our programs every two weeks at Imagine.” Volunteers say the training is “life-changing” and a wonderful opportunity for learning about themselves and how their own losses have affected the way they grieve and how they support others. People that complete the training also leave feeling empowered to be a supportive person to people grieving any type of loss. If you are interested in learning more about the upcoming training scheduled for July 27-30th, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. daily, or about Imagine, please contact Mandi at Mandi@imaginenj.org.
Imagine is a free year-round peer grief support center located in Mountainside, New Jersey and serving all of Union County and beyond. Imagine serves children, young adults and parents/guardians who have had a parent, sibling or child die. Support groups for caregivers of an adult or child in the family living with a life-altering physical illness are also available. If you are interested in learning more about Imagine please visit our website at www.imaginenj.org or call 908-264-3100.
(above) Mayor Shelley Brindle joins The Leadership Council of Imagine, A Center for Coping with Loss.
