The continuing growth of Women’s Leadership opportunities in Death Care

April 8, 2026/Business/

Back in 1990 or 1991 I was invited to an event hosted by the late Tom Johnson for funeral profession leaders. With rare exception, I have continued to attend the annual event for the past 35 years and much of what I was able to learn about the greater Death Care world came from the people I met through this event.

I didn’t learn embalming or funeral directing at this event — which centers around golf and camaraderie. . . . .but I was able to “network”. And, it was that network of people who I met at this event over the years that greatly influenced the business and operational decisions that I implemented to make my funeral home much more successful.

As I continue to write for Funeral Director Daily that networking continues to be important to me as I continue to call on my friends from the event, many whom are now national industry leaders, for their opinions and thoughts on articles I’m planning to publish.

I thought of how important that network of colleagues has been to me last week when I received press releases on three events with what I see is a new network of leaders coming into funeral service purview. That new network is “Women” in the funeral service profession. At the time I received those press releases I thought about the networking event I attend and how important it has been for my professional development.

I also thought with the much publicized 75% or more of mortuary school graduates now being women, it is time for them to be involved in events of this type that will greatly enhance their careers. You see, I’m old enough to remember when there were very few females in funeral service — at least as licensed professionals and business leaders. . . . .It’s why I see such opportunity in the recently announced Women’s Conference with the moniker “Momentum: A Women’s Leadership Accelerator” that is being sponsored by Homesteaders Life. You can learn more about that conference here.

In the same week I received a press release about the women’s professional group Funeral Women Lead and their opportunities for networking including at their Women’s Leadership Academy coming up in late September. You can learn more about Funeral Women Lead and their activities here.

Finally, I received information on the National Funeral Directors (NFDA) 2026 Professional Women’s Conference. According to that press release, which you can access here, that “. . . conference is intentionally designed to be personal, collaborative and impactful. It brings together women at all stages of their careers to share ideas, build connections and return home with renewed confidence and practical tools they can put to work immediately”.

Funeral service has been changing for some time with a greater number of females entering the profession and becoming leaders in the profession. It’s interesting, but when you think about it, Christine Pepper has been the Executive Director of NFDA since 2001 and Barbara Kemmis has been Executive Director of CANA since 2011. So, the trailblazers are not necessarily new, but their success is leading to more and more opportunities for women. And now, two of the largest funeral home/cemetery consolidators are led by females with Jennifer Hay the CEO of Park Lawn Corporation and Lilly Donohue the CEO at Everstory Partners.

For whatever reason, funeral service work was predominantly a male role in United States society. However, that is rapidly changing and the opportunities for females are continuing to grow and attending one of these leadership conferences which provides opportunity for networking can, in my opinion, greatly enhance one’s opportunity for finding leadership roles within the profession.

And, the information and events provided by these organizations should give women from all across Death Care the opportunity to network like I did and, hopefully, move their career forward.

For What it is Worth: The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) has never, to my knowledge, had a female President. Here is a listing of the Presidents since 1882. That same listing shows the current make-up of the NFDA Board of Directors. It should be noted that Ellen Wynn McBrayer of Georgia is currently the Board Secretary. Might she, in the near future, be the first?

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