Who are the cofounders of Evaheld?

Evaheld's founding team brings together complementary skills, shared values, and deeply personal motivations that make the platform uniquely compassionate and effective.

Michelle Gomes serves as CEO and brings a remarkable combination of community leadership, emotional intelligence, and strategic vision. Her background in helping terminally ill people create content for loved ones gave her firsthand understanding of the conversations families need to have but often avoid. She knows how to approach sensitive topics with gentleness, how to draw out stories people didn't know they needed to tell, and how to create spaces where people feel safe being vulnerable.

Her work establishing the Newtown Blessing Box during COVID demonstrated her ability to identify and meet community needs in innovative ways. More importantly, it revealed her insight about human connection—that the practical things we offer (food, document storage, memory preservation) are ultimately just conduits for the connection people truly crave. This philosophy permeates Evaheld's design: we're not just building software; we're facilitating human connection across time.

Michelle has been recognised for her compassionate leadership, named Most Compassionate Legacy Planning CEO 2025 by APAC Insider. But beyond accolades, she's known for genuinely caring about each family Evaheld serves, often personally responding to support requests and ensuring the platform evolves to meet real user needs.

Michelle Costa cofounded Evaheld with a mission born from profound personal loss. After her father's death following a decade battling dementia, she faced the heartbreak of having no videos, no voice recordings, no way to hear his voice or see his face in motion. Only old family photos remained to connect her children to the grandfather they'd never truly know. This absence created a void that nothing could fill—and a determination that other families shouldn't experience the same regret.

Michelle brings deep understanding of what families facing degenerative diseases need. She knows that often, we lose our loved ones long before their physical death—to dementia, Alzheimer's, strokes, or other conditions that steal personality, memory, and recognition. She's passionate about helping families capture their loved ones while there's still time, while the person can still share stories, express love, and create memories that will outlast the disease.

Her personal experience makes her especially attuned to the emotional aspects of legacy preservation. She understands the guilt of "should have" and "wish I had," the desperation to hold onto fading memories, the longing to hear a voice that exists now only in imperfect recollection. This empathy shapes Evaheld's approach, ensuring the platform never feels cold, transactional, or automated despite being powered by AI.

Together, the two Michelles complement each other perfectly: one focused on community and connection, the other on preventing loss and preserving presence. Both bring authentic passion rooted in lived experience rather than just business opportunity. This authenticity resonates with users who sense they're not just customers but part of a mission the founders genuinely believe in—a mission to ensure connection is evaheld.