12/22/2014

NFDA expands meet the mentors program 2015

NFDA Expands Meet the Mentors Program For 2015

Funeral directors under 40, enter for your chance to participate today

Brookfield, Wis. – The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) Meet the Mentors program will be bigger and better than ever in 2015. Meet the Mentors, which is planned exclusively for young funeral professionals, will take place March 16-18 at the Emory Conference Center Hotel, located on the campus of Emory University, in Atlanta, Ga. Meet the Mentors is held in cooperation with the Funeral Service Foundation.

During Meet the Mentors, 50 licensed funeral directors and embalmers under the age of 40 have an opportunity to meet, learn from and talk with innovative and successful funeral professionals.

Meet the Mentors kicks off on March 16 with a reception and dinner for the mentees and mentors. On March 17, mentees spend the day with three of the country’s most respected funeral professionals:

•          John McQueen, owner and president of Anderson-McQueen Funeral Home in Saint Petersburg, Fla.
•          Jan Smith, the vice president of funeral operations for Flanner and Buchanan Funeral Centers in Indianapolis, Ind.
•          Ken Varner, the president and CEO of Cypress Lawn Funeral Home in Coloma, Calif.

During the program, each mentor gives a presentation during which they share lessons they have learned while building fruitful and fulfilling careers in funeral service. Following a panel discussion featuring McQueen, Smith and Varner, participants have an opportunity to personally engage with each mentor in small group discussions.

That evening, attendees will relax and enjoy “pub grub” and bowling at Wisteria Lanes, the bowling alley at Emory Conference Center.

On March 18, mentees spend a half-day learning from an additional mentor, Randy Anderson, owner of Radney Funeral Home in Alexander City, Ala. Anderson is a first-generation – and second career – funeral director who will discuss his funeral home ownership journey and what it took to start his businesses.

There is no cost to participate in the Meet the Mentors program itself; the 50 individuals selected to attend only pay for their transportation to the program. The registration fee; exclusive access to four mentors; two nights lodging; select meals (reception and dinner on March 16; continental breakfast, lunch and dinner on March 17; breakfast and lunch on March 18) – a value of at least $799 – has been generously covered through a grant from the Funeral Service Foundation.

The names of the 50 participants will be randomly drawn from among all who enter via the NFDA website, www.nfda.org/mentors. Entries will be accepted through midnight January 16, 2015. Entrants must be NFDA members in good standing, licensed funeral directors and/or embalmers, and under 40 years of age.

The names of the 50 participants will be drawn the week of January 26, 2015, from among all entries received. Each day, Monday through Friday, a member of the NFDA staff will draw 10 names. The drawings will be available for viewing on NFDA’s website, social media sites and YouTube channel at 2 p.m. CST each day.

Complete details about the NFDA Meet the Mentors program, including eligibility requirements, can be found on the NFDA website, www.nfda.org/mentors. Members can call NFDA at 800-228-6332 with questions.

NFDA is the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, serving 19,700 individual members who represent more than 10,000 funeral homes in the United States and 39 countries around the world. NFDA is the trusted leader, beacon for ethics and the strongest advocate for the profession. NFDA is the association of choice because it offers funeral professionals comprehensive educational resources, tools to manage successful businesses, guidance to become pillars in their communities and the expertise to foster future generations of funeral professionals. NFDA is headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., and has an office in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.