Services of Mourning Hope; new building

Carly Woythaler-Runestad, MHA has served as the executive director of the Mourning Hope Grief Center for over 14 years. A music therapist by trade, she received a Masters in Health Administration from the University of Iowa. 

Runestad holds twenty-five years’ experience in nonprofit human service agencies. Prior to Mourning Hope, Carly worked as the recreation therapy director of a 165-bed long-term care facility in Minneapolis, as the director of an Alzheimer's unit in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and as the health policy director for the Nebraska Hospital Association, providing advocacy services at the local, state and federal level for 85 Nebraska hospitals. 

Carly boasts an extensive education and background in organizational leadership, strategic visioning, advocacy, communication, public speaking, fundraising and board engagement. She has a strong record of cultivating relationships, and demonstrated commitment to promoting healthy communities through innovative programs and partnerships. 

During the pandemic, Runestad successfully led Mourning Hope through a $5M capital campaign and managed the design team through the construction of a state-of-the-art, 15,700 square-foot Grief Center. 

Runestad has enjoyed a handful of nonprofit board appointments, including the advisory board for the American Cancer Society, as the President of the Nebraska Rural Health Association, the Area Health Education Statewide Advisory Board, and Blixt Locally Grown. Most recently, she completed a six-year term on the National Alliance for Grieving Children’s Board of Directors, serving as the National Board President in 2019. A frequent speaker on topics of health policy, community health, leadership and children’s grief, Carly also delivered a TEDx Talk titled: “No Child Should Ever Grieve Alone.”