Albuquerque Business First Recognizes 20 Women in 15^th Annual Event

Gail Rubin, Certified Thanatologist, is being recognized as one ofthe 2019 Women of Influence by the AlbuquerqueBusiness First business news outlet.

While the 20 honorees include women from many spheres of business, including health care, higher education, and law, Gail Rubin is the only honoree who is a death educator. Known throughout the U.S. as The Doyenne of Death®, a doyenne is a woman who’s considered senior in a group who knows a lot about a particular subject. She’s an expert on “the party no one wants to plan.."

Through her company, A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die, she helps people plan ahead for end-of-life issues using humor, funny film clips, and outside-the-box activities.

“My motto is, talking about sex won’t make you pregnant, and talking about funerals and end-of-life issues won’t make you dead,” said Rubin.

Rubin is a public speaker, a published author of three books, host of a TV interview series and podcast, a blogger, a funeral industry trade journalist, a Certified Funeral Celebrant, and an innovator in the funeral business. She created a conversation-starting game called The Newly-Dead Game®, introduced the Death Café movement in the United States, and held the first Before I Die Festival west of the Mississippi in 2017.

Rubin’s contributions to the community

Rubin gives back to the Albuquerque community in a number of ways. She is:

• A board member of Fathers Building Futures, a nonprofit social enterprise that gives jobs and skills to previously incarcerated parents, reducing recidivism. Their clients make caskets and urns in their woodworking shop.
• A volunteer with the Chevrah Kadisha, the Jewish burial society, those who wash and dress the bodies of Jews in the traditional tahara ritual.
• A member of the cemetery committee for Congregation Albert synagogue.
• A past president and board member of the New Mexico Interfaith Dialogue, which holds an annual Spring Colloquium that facilitates meaningful conversations among Christians, Jews and Muslims.
• President-elect of the National Speakers Association New Mexico Chapter and an officer of Albuquerque Challenge Toastmasters International Club.

Theawards selection process began with an open call for nominations from thecommunity. Nominees submitted a detailed application, which was evaluated by apanel of judges who are leaders in the business community and alumna of theaward. Thejudges evaluated applicants based on theirprofessional achievement, community involvement and leadership. 

Rubin and the other 2019 Women of Influence will be honored at the 15^th annual awards luncheon on Monday, February 25, at Sandia Resort and Casino. Awardees will also be featured in a special edition of Albuquerque Business First, along with the more than 300 women who have been honored over 15 years.

Learn moreand download a planning form and Executor’s Checklist from Rubin’s website, www.AGoodGoodbye.com.