Shekinah Eliassen is a nationally recognized advocate and thought leader advancing pediatric palliative care, caregiver support, and respite services for families navigating a child’s life-limiting diagnosis. Her work focuses on the intersection of caregiving, maternal health, and healthcare systems—amplifying the often-unseen needs of families who are providing complex medical care while holding grief, uncertainty, and love simultaneously. She is a frequent speaker and advisor on the essential role of respite and support services in sustaining families, caregivers, and healthcare systems.
For Ms. Eliassen, this advocacy is deeply personal. In 2012, she and her husband, Peter, spent the final nine days of their infant son Lars’ life at George Mark Children’s House (GMCH), receiving compassionate, family-centered care as they navigated the terminal illness of their son. That experience forged a lifelong connection to the House and shaped her commitment to ensuring that no family must face the complexities of a pediatric serious illness alone. Over the past decade, she has served George Mark Children’s House as a speaker, fundraiser, bereaved parent resource, Board member, and now chief executive officer. As CEO, she is dedicated to expanding access to holistic pediatric palliative and respite care, while helping build sustainable, scalable models that can be replicated nationwide. She works closely with academic and clinical partners, including Stanford School of Medicine and UCSF, to advance research, policy dialogue, and innovative care models that better support children with medical complexity and their caregivers.
Before joining GMCH, Ms. Eliassen built a successful career in business strategy, brand management, and eCommerce, developing marketing teams and leading strategic initiatives at Unilever and The Clorox Company. She has a BA from Williams College, an MBA in Global Business and has completed the Aspen Institute’s First Movers Fellowship (2018) and Stanford’s Executive Program in Nonprofit Management (2023). She has an incredible life partner in Peter and two other children, Finley (12) and Isak (10) who bring her joy, love, and adventure while inspiring her daily commitment to families at George Mark Children’s House.