Heidi Snow

Heidi Snow’s world was forever changed on July 17, 1996 when her fiancé Michel Breistroff died aboard TWA Flight 800. This single event drastically shifted the course of her life. Her grief following the loss was overwhelming. She found that most people expected her to move on and leave the tragedy behind after the funeral. Heidi discovered however, as many do following a sudden loss, that she did not need to move on from the grief, but through it. She realized that what was missing was a long-term, non-political, non-denominational peer grief support network for victims and survivors of air disasters. She wanted everyone to have the opportunity to find support, and more importantly, hope for the future. So shortly after Michel’s death, in the fall of 1996, Heidi founded the non-profit organization AirCraft Casualty Emotional Support Services (ACCESS).

Heidi was the "New Yorker of the Week" on the NY1 news channel in New York City, and has been featured in many news publications and appeared on major television networks including: The New York Times, People Magazine, Larry King Live, The Ananda Lewis Show,National Geographic Channel, A&E, CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox. Heidi has prepared and trained crisis response teams around the world including Southwest Airlines, Air New Zealand, Qatar Airways, The National Transportation and Safety Board, The New York City Medical Examiners Office, the American Red Cross, and also gave presentations at The Sixth World Congress on Stress, Trauma and Coping sponsored by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation and the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) Annual Seminar.

Heidi earned her B.A. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin where she was a member of the Sociological Honors Society and Alpha Kappa Delta. She studied business administration and marketing and participated in continual education at Harvard University, Tulane University, and Mount Holyoke College. Prior to founding ACCESS, Heidi worked on Wall Street as a hedge fund trading assistant.