Learn More — The BUILD Coalition

We anchor our initiatives across four distinct areas, supporting the bereaved as employees, customers, users, and members of the community.

There are zero days of federally protected bereavement leave in America.
To fight for material improvements in bereavement policies by working with institutions and policy leaders
To overhaul America’s bereavement policies to better reflect the unique challenges the bereaved face. This includes securing & increasing paid leave; protecting employment; expanding coverage beyond “immediate family” for loss that reflects modern relationships; permitting leave to be used non-consecutively; developing support systems within institutions.

Americans have between 20-150 accounts - financial, insurance, utilities, subscriptions, memberships, loans, etc - to be closed upon their death.
To create and enforce industry standards for closing, managing, or transferring the accounts of deceased account holders.
To decrease the “administrative” burden placed upon the bereaved by making the processes easy, sensible, and compassionate. This includes making instructions publicly accessible and straightforward; moving more processes online and away from phone and mail; reducing repetitive steps; eliminating marketing efforts aimed at the bereaved; training dedicated support teams to address needs.

Emerging technology creates openings for the misuse of user data by malicious parties.
To advocate for the protection of the deceased’s data and new standards that put the deceased wishes over corporations or other interested parties
To convene experts across the tech and cultural landscape, to lead the conversation on the future best practices of data protection. Should online profiles exist as memorials for the bereaved in perpetuity? Should family be entitled to see private online behavior? Whose rights triumph? The living or the dead? We intend to move the culture forward by asking and answering these questions and more

You have lost a parent, a spouse, a sibling, a friend, but you have also lost your trusted confidant, your financial planner, your “call in a pinch”, your connection to your heritage. Losing a loved one can mean losing so much more than just the person.
We will explore and develop novel resources to help the bereaved for life after loss
We will ally with institutions in the development of community groups that will bridge the gap of resource loss. In the years to come, we launch BUILD Campus chapters at institutions of higher learning and collaborate with institutions embedded in communities across the country, meeting the bereaved where they are.