Elizabeth Eddy and Alyssa Ruderman

Liz builds companies that tackle taboo topics. She founded her first social venture (focused on dating abuse and domestic violence education in schools) at age 15, and the organization has now been running on its own for nearly half her life. After graduating with a BBA from Parsons the New School for Design, she ran special projects for DoSomething.org, one of the largest global orgs for teens and social change. Then, she joined the founding team of Crisis Text Line as the Director of Communications where she oversaw brand, PR, marketing, strategic partnerships and business development--- growing the org to 12,000 volunteers and 76 million messages in three countries. She left Crisis Text Line in 2018 to launch Lantern, a venture-backed public benefit corporation on a mission to change the way people talk about and manage end of life and death.

Alyssa Ruderman is Liz's co-founder and COO at Lantern. At her core, she is a problem solver, and is motivated by making a massive impact; that’s why she’s led growth, partnership, and operational efforts with some of the world's largest brands at some of the world's most influential organizations, like DoSomething.org, Upworthy, and Global Citizen. In 2021, she was named one of Forbes’ Next 1000, which recognizes entrepreneurs who are redefining what it means to build and run a business. And by offering roadmaps, resources, and counseling, Alyssa is lighting the way for those grieving the loss of a loved one. 

“We all experience death and loss, but the experience is not equitable. (At Lantern) we get to work every day to change that,” says Liz. “Success to me is creating a positive and meaningful culture in the home and in the workplace. This then allows all of our cups to be filled enough to reach beyond our walls and bring that goodness to others – being love and being loved.”