• ​Founder & Executive Director of William’s Be Yourself Challenge (WBYC)

• Writer

• Advocate

• Bereaved Mother

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Susie Shaw is the founder and Executive Director of William’s Be Yourself Challenge (WBYC), a nonprofit she created in honor of her son William after his death in 2019. WBYC empowers individuals to embrace their authentic selves and supports grieving families through programs, community partnerships, and its flagship initiative, The Green House—a planned retreat home in Falmouth, Massachusetts, offering cost-free, restorative stays for families navigating loss.

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Her work blends personal experience with professional training. She is certified in Claire Bidwell Smith’s Conscious Grieving Training and has completed Meghan Riordan Jarvis’s Grief Mentor Method. For more than six years, Susan has sat in support circles listening to hundreds of bereaved parents and children, experiences that shape her compassionate, open approach to grief support.

In addition to leading WBYC, Susan writes the Substack newsletter Dear William, where she pens heartfelt letters to her son reflecting on grief, memory, and ongoing connection. She has spoken about grief on podcasts and in lectures, and wrote the preface to her husband Nick Shaw’s book My Teacher, My Son. Through her writing, speaking, and leadership, Susan offers a raw and hopeful vision of how life can be rebuilt after loss, leaving room for the many different ways each of us grieves.