Hye Kyung (HK) Lee, Director & Chair.
HK was certain that she would spend her adult life saving the world by reversing climate change. During college, she interned at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Air Policy and shaped the rest of her academic experience around this mission. She successfully advocated for her university to create an Environmental Engineering curriculum (despite only one other student joining her in the inaugural 101 class) and studied Japanese in preparation to work at the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Kyoto after gradation.
HK’s plans were unexpectedly derailed during an election year when the U.S. chose to opt out of the IPCC-led Kyoto Protocol, which aimed to establish voluntary greenhouse gas emission limits. After exploring other environmental career paths and taking stock of her efforts, she realized they weren’t the right fit. Shifting her priorities, she focused on finding a first full-time job that would provide travel opportunities and allow her to afford an apartment in Manhattan. With a Chemical Engineering degree from The Cooper Union in hand, she joined the work force as a business consultant, first within the Resources field (chemicals, energy, utilities) but quickly specialized in what was then a niche industry, Private Equity (PE). She was energized by collaborating with some of the brightest, results-driven minds in business, working together to solve highly complex and opaque problems. As the PE industry grew (20x during her participation), she focused on opportunities where others did not: helping firms streamline operations in order to scale, mitigate risk, and for many, prepare for their IPOs.
She started, grew, and sold a PE Operations and Technology Consulting firm—the first of its kind. After selling the business, she moved in-house, leading transformation efforts from within. This included running the Project Management Office at Oaktree Capital Management, and revamping the Investor Services department at Apollo Global Management. She has always loved walking into a complex problem, figuring out short and long term plans to address it, and seeing the transformation through before looking for the next problem to tackle.
While on a business trip several years ago, HK came across an article about Ellen MacDonald, a Stanford-trained neuroscientist with no prior ties to the funeral industry, who founded Eloise Woods Natural Burial Park. This story sparked immediate admiration and a deep sense of connection. After years of the idea simmering in her mind, she decided to pursue it earnestly. What began as a part-time endeavor soon grew to consume nearly all her waking (and some sleeping) hours.
Aeon Woods emerged as a response to both her personal passions and the challenges she observed. It integrates cultural and heritage dialogues at a time when many feel increasingly isolated and aims to disrupt the impersonal, profit-driven norms around death care. Moreover, this complex, multi-faceted endeavor has allowed HK to reconnect with her early dedication to addressing climate change, adding another layer of purpose to her work.
HK currently lives between Manhattan and Queens in NYC with her husband and their two children. She is currently working towards her first pull-up, after which she will commemorate the occasion with her first tattoo (of herself doing a pull-up).
Jason Hall, Director & Secretary.
Jason’s career has been a fun and rewarding ride. After serving in the Army infantry, he decided to test his mettle in financial services as an equity derivatives trader—a pursuit of self-discovery as much of markets. From there, he ventured into the adventures of a frontier markets-focused hedge fund, immersing himself in the arcane world of Southeast Asian markets (and sleep deprivation.)
In keeping with his mantra of doing everything the hard way, Jason then joined Bridgewater Associates, the iconic global macro hedge fund with a famously unique culture. There, he built investment teams before taking on the challenge of helping to manage the firm’s multi-asset beta and benchmark exposure.
Since it’s only fun if the odds are monumentally stacked against you, he is now a serial entrepreneur in the emergent and somewhat perilous world of decentralized finance. After reflecting on his chosen path, Jason has prudently joined Aeon Woods in hopes of crafting a tranquil resting place.
Jason holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Connecticut. Outside of work, Jason is a person of many interests. He’s an avid traveler and counts hiking, blues guitar, freediving, and a host of other pursuits among his hobbies.
John Lee, Director & Treasurer.
John has worn a lot of hats during his career, doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Learning, adapting, and tackling new challenges has been a constant; launching the first conservation cemetery in New York State is certainly going to be both new and a challenge.
John came of age with what is now called Web 1.0 as an intern at Time Warner Electronic Publishing, home of Pathfinder, one of the very first corporate websites and witness to the notorious Time Warner/AOL merger. From there he jumped feet first into web development. It was heady times, working on properties like Kozmo.com and the David Bowie ISP (!) that have been consigned to the dustbin of history.
Being properly chastened when the first bubble burst, John went from Internet publishing to intranet publishing in a nice, stable industry—pharmaceuticals. It was, however, dreadfully boring, especially when Forest Laboratories moved from Manhattan to Jersey City.
John found the excitement he was looking for by joining a small consumer electronics outift based in his hometown of Queens, NY. Coby Electronics had contract manufactured the CD/clock radio that he had just received as a company-wide holiday gift, so it seemed a sign when his friend approached him about becoming a technical writer for them. Coby had been around since 1990, and as an NYC native, John knew them as the low-budget company that ripped him off when he was a kid with their incredibly low-quality headphones that overpromised the value proposition with their marketing copy. However, he found that the company had ambitions to do more so he joined up and started writing (honest) copy for their MP3 players. He became an active participant in the R&D department trying to innovate new interfaces with which to navigate very large libraries of songs. (A Blackberry-inspired scroll and a spring-loaded slider were two that he helped champion to market, only to be crushed by the flashier and easier to market touchkey players…) John trained staff at the factories in Shenzhen, China to streamline the documentation process, and was an annual attendee at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where he barely managed to keep it together while he was being pitched by Levar Burton (!!). His time at Coby delivered lots of hats and lots of excitement.
A personal move to Southern California meant bidding adieu to Coby and learning how to get a freelance business started as a technical writer. It wasn’t very exciting but the weather was amazing. He did some additional time with another consumer electronics company there, establishing a product information database, revamping their website, producing their annual print catalog, and building out a graphics design team.
Returning to NYC after nine years meant shifting gears again. John was recruited to join the executive board of a public school PTA where he served as Recording Secretary and Communications VP, working on the school website and newsletters amongst other things. He also found that California had really left a mark on him, so, despite not having ever played soccer, he kept upgrading his soccer referee certification until he became the head referee of a division in the local youth soccer organization in Manhattan. This last might not have any bearing on starting a conservation cemetery in New York State, but stranger things have happened.
John currently lives between Manhattan and Queens in NYC with his wife and their two children. In his free time, John likes to partake in the cultural offerings NYC has to offer from Broadway to rock shows at small venues. He used to play Ultimate Frisbee with actors and scientists near JPL in California but has returned to a monthly basketball game, at least until his knees beg him to stop.
Jothan Cashero, Marketing
Jothan (not Jonathan) is a designer with a long history of visual communication and a fascination with the cultural objects we leave behind for future generations.
As a creative professional, the majority of his career has been spent crafting strategy, position, and art direction within the rough and tumble world of consumer goods packaging. After co-founding a small boutique agency in the heart of NYC, he spent 15 years directing and supplying creative work for a number of brands you’ve heard of (like Kelloggs, Bic, Cadbury, Topps, Hasbro) and a number of brands you haven’t (Funky Monkey Dried Banana snacks, anyone?)
Near the turn of the pandemic he decided to move away from brand packaging (and the waste it generates) and diversify his portfolio through independent consulting for a wider variety of industries. Simultaneously he stepped up some volunteer efforts for a few beloved organizations. This pursuit eventually brought him closer to death—figuratively. Through a chance meeting at an event at Green-Wood cemetery, he was required by way of an awkward ice-breaker to silently lock eyes with HK Lee for minutes at a time. Upon learning of her passion for starting a green burial cemetery, he quickly sought to hop on band wagon. While hypnotization is not out of the question given their initial meeting, his own long-standing concerns with conservation, memorialization, thanatology, and the funerary arts further compelled him to help Aeon Woods build their brand from the ground up.
Jothan currently resides in Brooklyn with his wife and a small cadre of community garden chickens. He spends a fair amount of his time looking for the profoundly weird and creative experiences he was promised upon his arrival in New York.
Lori Bertazzon, Education & Outreach.
From a family of mortgage brokers in Southern California, it’s no surprise that Lori’s first career as a licensed loan officer and senior loan processor started early. Working primarily in new construction with EPAC Homes and Toll Brothers, her favorite part was helping families move into new homes. At the same time, a love for performing meant little sleep as Lori spent evenings and weekends on various stages across Los Angeles. Performing soon turned into producing short films and theater on black box stages developing her skill for getting projects to the finish line.
Ready for a change post-2008, Lori started a private coaching business supporting others with their creative projects or life event transitions. Focused on building rapport and relationships, Lori developed a workbook for people to uncover limiting beliefs and an introductory workshop, The Living Room Series, helping people get unstuck.
After relocating to Vancouver BC, and a nerd for continuing education, Lori received a Professional Coach Certification from Erickson College. A few years later, she moved to Southwestern Ontario, where she lives now. Lori balances her coaching work with elder care, which has brought mortality to the forefront of her mind. Joining Aeon Woods is a way to share the conversation about death with others while contributing to one of many possible solutions needed to help our planet by bringing people back to the earth.