Who We are
Our Team
Amanda Drews | Founder, Board President
Amanda established Buzzy’s Bees in the wake of her son Hudson’s sudden and unexplained death. Her vision and professional background in event planning and production have helped the organization grow quickly. She obtained her MSW from Pacific University in 2023 with honors and authored a published thesis titled Children: The Most Forgotten Grievers – The Need for In-School Support.
Amanda works full-time as a school social worker at a Title I middle school in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon. She currently chairs the Give Grief a Voice Committee, works closely on publishing the collection of Give Grief a Voice stories, and serves on the golf, communications, retreat, and financial gifts committees.
Through all the growth Buzzy’s Bees has experienced, its mission remains deeply rooted in Amanda’s personal loss of her son, Hudson—affectionately called Buzzy.
Julie Schneider | Board Secretary
Julie has been part of the Buzzy’s Bees organization since inception, taking care of many of the operational needs behind-the-scenes for Buzzy’s. She chairs the development committee and participates on many of our remaining committees. Julie has years of experience in professional services marketing and business development. She also serves on the board of PNW Parent Education, focused on providing parent education events and her kid’s PTO. Julie lives with her family in Seattle, WA and enjoys getting out on the water, playing pickleball, crocheting, and bringing people together.
Nate Drews | Board Member
Nate has been part of the Buzzy’s Bees organization since the beginning and is Hudson’s proud father. He served as Buzzy’s treasurer for a number of years, but now focuses his contribution on chairing the golf committee. Nate has been in the financial services industry since 2009 and Is a financial advisor with M25 Advisors.. Music has been a huge part of his grieving and healing process, especially listening to the Zac Brown Band. Nate rewrote the opening to Go Rest High On That Mountain by Vince Gill to be sung at Hudson’s Memorial. Nate lives in Beaverton, Oregon with his family and enjoys golfing, traveling and relaxing in his spare time.
Kelly Tilford | Board Member
Kelly Tilford joined Buzzy’s Bees as a committee volunteer in 2021, handling key details of Give Grief a Voice family communication and eventually became its project management. She is also active on the Outreach and Development Committees. In 2022 she was appointed to the board. An attorney, Kelly has always been interested in the nonprofit sector. She’s enthusiastic about governance and strategy. Her nickname at her last position was “Bylaws.”
Andrew Smidt | Board Member
Andrew is grandpa, affectionately known as Gpa, to Hudson and his siblings, Calvin and Brooklyn. He has always offered great support for Buzzy’s Bees, especially helping out with the golf event and generally lending a hand where needed. Since he has recently retired he is able to offer more focused time and energy, which led him to apply to serve on the board.
Andrew’s interests are varied. He’s an outdoor enthusiast, avid cyclist, and snowboarder. He enjoys camping and hiking. Spending time with family and grandkids tops the list. Also, you’ll often find him helping with home and yard projects.
Gina Kornfeind | Advisory Board Member
Buzzy’s Bees was introduced to Gina Kornfeind in 2020 as we were planning the third year of the Give Grief a Voice project. At the time Gina was the support and bereavement coordinator for the Pediatric Pain and Palliative Care Program at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital. Gina sent us amazing families to participate that made up about 40% of the 2021 cohort.
Since then Gina has served as a member of our outreach committee, a member of the 2023 Event Planning Task Force, and an incredible liaison between families and the project. Gina is currently the Group Coordinator for Good Grief in Princeton, NJ. While picking Gina’s brain for potential board members, she mentioned if asked it’d be hard to say no. We love that Gina is a part of our team. She is an incredible Social Worker, family advocate, and now team member.
Amy Drews | Artist Liaison & Web Designer
Amy has been with Buzzy’s Bees since the beginning. Her artistic strength simply makes everything better. Amy designs and maintains our website and print collateral. She also serves as the artist liaison for the Give Grief a Voice project, ensuring that the pieces produced are within project parameters.
Amy lives in Portland, Oregon with her family and two dogs. When not in her studio creating art of her own, she can be found gardening, hiking and skiing on Mt. Hood.
Lisa Reit | Lead Writer, Give Grief A Voice Project
Lisa Reit is a writer living in Portland, Oregon. She received a fellowship to the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing and attended the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop. Her fiction has appeared in the Tahoma Literary Review. She works as the Developmental Editor and Lead Writer for the Give Grief a Voice project.
Abraham Schroeder | California Gallery Tour Coordinator, Publishing Consultant
Abraham joined Buzzy’s Bees in 2023 to be part of the Give Grief a Voice gallery tour and book teams. He has a background in art and museums, and works freelance in graphic design and publishing. In addition to helping other people make books he has two published picture books of his own, The Gentleman Bat and Too Many Tables. He lives in Petaluma, California with his family and two cats.
Danielle Halbert | Administrator
Danielle Halbert is Amanda’s longtime friend. Having met in high school, Amanda and Danielle have developed a special friendship and important places in one another’s families and lives. Danielle has much pride in watching her dear friend (along with her family) bring life to Buzzy’s Bees. She is glad to join the team as the Administrator and plans on supporting Buzzys’s Bees in any way she can!
Danielle’s family has the fondest memories of Hudson and have watched the growth of Buzzy’s Bees from the beginning! She lives in Sandy, Oregon with her husband Dan, and their three kids, Cora, Kennedy, and Colton. They all love adventures and the great outdoors. They spend their free time camping, hiking, boating, and exploring the Oregon dunes on their quads and side by side.
Nancy Petrie | Director of Operations
Nancy has been a volunteer with Buzzy’s Bees from the beginning. She has committed to supporting the mission in various ways through the years in memory of her grandson, Hudson. She brings with her experiences from two careers – education leadership and financial planning. Now retired from professional pursuits, she appreciates the Buzzy’s Bees team of dedicated volunteers and continues to be inspired by them to participate where helpful. As Buzzy’s Bees has grown, the need for some operational focus presented an opportunity for Nancy to bring her list-making, coordinating, and communicating tendencies to the team.
Retirement has not been boring for Nancy. She doesn’t claim to be creative but calls herself a “maker” – fabric and yarn are her medium. She and her husband, Dave, are experimenting with being snowbirds between Oregon and Arizona. She is always game for a travel adventure. It is spending time with her “kids” and grandkids that really fills her heart with joy.