From Flowers to Financial Resilience: How Empathy is Transforming Loss Support and Legacy Planning

Grief is a shared human experience, and too few families are equipped for what comes after the death of a loved one. It’s often followed by a cascade of paperwork and financial uncertainty, further complicated by the fact that only 24% of U.S. adults report having a will. After a loss, over two-thirds of executors lack access to essential documents like tax records, and in the past year alone, Americans created more than 200,000 memorial funds to help cover unexpected funeral and end-of-life costs. These unexpected expenses disproportionately impact low-income families and can make the loss of a loved one even harder to navigate.

Enter Empathy: a Citi Impact Fund portfolio company covering over 45 million people in North America¹  in managing the financial, logistical and emotional complexities that follow loss and helping individuals prepare with estate planning tools. Through employers, Empathy’s life insurance partners and their LifeVault and Loss Support platforms, Empathy offers access to a dedicated Care Manager, personalized care plans, on-demand support and digital tools that guide people through estate and benefits processes. 

I sat down with Ron Gura, Founder and CEO of Empathy, to discuss his journey and to learn more about Empathy’s vision to strengthen financial resilience for families at some of life’s most difficult moments.

Arti: Ron, you’ve spoken openly about your own journey with grief and loss, and how these painful life moments sparked the idea for Empathy. You’ve also shared that grief is often exacerbated by tedious and complex logistics. Can you elaborate on how these experiences shaped the creation of Empathy?

Ron: Nobody starts an end-of-life company just for fun. I had my own fair share of loss at a relatively young age, beginning with the loss of my brother, Amir, which really changed my family. Later, as an adult in the workforce, a team member lost his wife to cancer. It was the first time I heard about the administrative aspects of losing a loved one. 

I thought I knew quite a lot about the emotional toll, as I had to deal with that myself and through supporting others, but I had never heard about probate, estate settlement or estate tax. This sparked the idea that technology can help. We can save people time and money and stress. If we streamline the right workflows and automate the mundane things that nobody wants to do, we can help give people more time to focus on getting back on their feet.

Arti:  Empathy’s Care Managers have supported individuals through some of their most challenging times, helping them navigate emotional and logistical hurdles. Can you share a story illustrating how a user was empowered to take meaningful steps forward during their grief journey?

Ron: One great example is Danielle, who serves as the Manager of Employee Benefits and Insurance Management at Wichita Public Schools. She’s responsible for taking care of the well-being of the entire school district staff and was also in a position where she needed personal support.  She was dealing with what we call anticipatory loss. Her father was not well, and she, together with her siblings, tried to plan ahead. She was very overwhelmed with everything she was going through and all the necessary tasks. 

Empathy was able to help her and the entire family prepare for estate planning — not only for the estate settlement, but also emotionally. Danielle runs benefits for one of the largest school systems in the country, and we're very proud that 7,500 employees of the Wichita public school network were, a few months later, added to the Empathy platform.

Arti: Empathy clearly makes a difference on an individual level. How do you envision Empathy transforming society’s approach to grief and end-of-life planning? Can you share your insights on the current landscape and how institutions, like banks, credit unions and insurance carriers are evolving their bereavement practices for employees

Ron: If we do our job right, grief and estate planning will no longer be taboo topics. More people will be talking about them and will leverage their families, communities, financial institutions and employers to join them. Thanks to our recent Series C funding, we’re even better positioned to expand our reach and deepen our support. As employers continue to offer generous leave and ensure they provide accurate benefits and compensation, they can demonstrate their genuine care and build lasting relationships with their employees. Because people will remember how you treat them — especially at other big moments in your life. 

The Citi Impact Fund makes "double-bottom line" equity investments into U.S.-based companies that are developing innovative solutions to address pressing community across four focus areas: Financial Resilience, Social Infrastructure, Future of Work and Climate Resilience.