About Lantern

Our Story

Why do we know how hard the end-of-life and death process can be? We've been there. And, we were totally unprepared.

Lantern began in the fall of 2018 with one sentence: “I think we need to do something about death.”

Some background: having lost her dad as a young kid, when Liz’s grandmother (her dad’s mom, pictured right) died in the winter of 2018, she was tasked with all of the planning that ensued. She walked into the nursing home where her grandmother lived and was confronted with two police officers, a nurse, her grandmother’s body, and a question of “what do you want to do next?” Needless to say, the experience was overwhelming, complicated, and pretty much entirely unguided.

Liz started asking questions about why a better option didn’t exist and turned to Alyssa, her go-to person for cracking a difficult challenge. Together they started answering that question with “it should and we should build it.”

Today, we have Lantern. Lantern, a public benefit corporation, is a single source of guidance for navigating life before and after a death.

Liz's Grandmother

Our Team

Liz Eddy

Liz Eddy, Co-Founder + CEO

Liz built her first company at 15 and led communications from inception for the nation's first free, 24/7 crisis support line, Crisis Text Line. She's also a board member of Experience Camps, a free summer camp for grieving kids.

Alyssa Ruderman

Alyssa Ruderman, Co-Founder + COO

Alyssa has built a career on the notion that good product-centric solutions can have massive human-centric impact. She's led growth, partnership, and operational efforts with some of the world's largest brands at some of the world's most impactful organizations (DoSomething.org, Upworthy, Global Citizen).

Shae Smith

Shae Smith, Technical Lead

Shae is an experienced Full-Stack Engineer born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Before starting a 10+ year career in tech at companies like GLAAD, Martha Stewart, DoSomething.org, and Teachers Pay Teachers, she graduated with a degree in Computer Science from Smith College.

Wendy Calderon

Wendy Calderón, Software Engineer

Wendy is a Flatiron School graduate with a rich background in Telecommunications Engineering, focused on Systems Administration. She uses her passion for exploring, learning, and utilizing new technology to build products that are rooted in exceptional user experience.

Adeyemi Ajayi, Senior Engineer

Adeyemi is a Software Engineer with a BSc in Physics (Electronics). His areas of expertise include Fintech, Edu-Tech, and E-commerce.

Ndifreke Friday

Ndifreke Friday, Senior Engineer

Ndie is a self-taught Software Engineer with 3 years of experience, with a focus on industries such as e-commerce, logistics, and construction. Former employers include Afaara and Construct Technology Limited.

Linde Huang

Linde Huang, Product Manager

Linde is a Product Manager with a wide range of tech experiences, from a degree in engineering to program management at Microsoft to data analytics at Epic. Just before joining Lantern, she was a Human-Centered Designer at Michigan Medicine where she strove to craft empathetic and meaningful healthcare experiences.