Founder and CEO, AfterLight

Rachel Donnelly is the founder and CEO of AfterLight, a pioneering firm assisting clients in managing the intricate administrative tasks of legacy planning and estate administration, offering solace and support in times of grief. Her mission is to help the living deal with dying. 

Donnelly created her organization as a service that she wishes had been available to her. Years ago, her mother and uncle died within a short period of each other, leaving her as the Executor of both estates. She was soon overwhelmed with five houses to clean, as well as a litany of administrative tasks and paperwork. She attempted to balance all of these activities on top of being a full-time professional and raising two children. 

As the CEO of AfterLight, she has been pivotal in developing unique services, such as the Legacy Building Formula™, a 6-step coaching program aiding clients in preserving their stories and safeguarding their families' futures. Her expertise extends to managing complex cases involving digital assets and cross-border estates, testament to her comprehensive approach in estate administration.

Donnelly's upcoming book, set to be released in early 2025, is about loss, death, and dying from her unique perspective as an after-loss professional. Donnelly poignantly writes about surviving loss in her own life, and provides readers with additional, at times colorful, insight about  estate administration and the business of death. Throughout the book, she outlines a useful methodology for legacy planning (i.e. getting affairs in order). 

Prior to her ventures in the after loss sector, she worked in fundraising and development for a number of prestigious institutions, including Emory University, Georgia Tech, and the Shepherd Center Foundation. Donnelly is a graduate of Agnes Scott College and lives in Decatur with her husband Zack and two children. She also serves on the board of Momento Foundation, founded by fellow Ripples author Ashley Jones.