The National Home Funeral Alliance is a 501(C)3 educational nonprofit that runs on volunteer fuel. Board work takes time and energy, inspiration and follow-through, but those who answer the call ensure that the organization doesn’t just continue to exist, but that it thrives. Can you see yourself stretching just a bit to join this part of the effort to spread the word about home funerals? Contact the President for information about throwing your hat into the ring when board seats are filled annually. Bring your mad skills!
Our Board Members 2023-24
Isabel Knight, President
she/her
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
[email protected]
Isabel is a human-centered designer in the deathcare space. She is also an INELDA-trained death doula, a home funeral guide, and a member of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Pennsylvania. She helps doulas and death-positive businesses create a more inclusive and accessible experience for their clients through human-centered design workshops and also creates online courses and offers freelance graphic design work for death-positive businesses and organizations. Her primary goal is to make death a more equitable experience for all, and one day hopes to open a real-life "death cafe" and death education space in Philadelphia! You can find her on Instagram at @thedeathdesigner.
[email protected]
Isabel is a human-centered designer in the deathcare space. She is also an INELDA-trained death doula, a home funeral guide, and a member of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Pennsylvania. She helps doulas and death-positive businesses create a more inclusive and accessible experience for their clients through human-centered design workshops and also creates online courses and offers freelance graphic design work for death-positive businesses and organizations. Her primary goal is to make death a more equitable experience for all, and one day hopes to open a real-life "death cafe" and death education space in Philadelphia! You can find her on Instagram at @thedeathdesigner.
Izzy Jackson-Rhodes, Vice President
they/them
Layfayette, Indiana
[email protected]
Izzy is a recent Mortuary Science graduate in the midst of their state required funeral internship. Izzy’s interest in deathcare came after experiencing a death in the family in their youth, and seeing the shortcomings of the funeral industry firsthand. This event would lead Izzy to enter mortuary school with a passion for affordable and accessible alternative deathcare and leave it assured of the need for culturally literate deathcare practitioners.
On top of their Indiana Funeral Intern license, Izzy is a trained Celebrant & End-of-Life Doula, as well as being a certified Crematory Operator in both flame and water cremation. Izzy hopes to use their time in the Midwest to ensure that more people know about their end-of-life and after-death options, and is currently working to volunteer their doula services with a local hospice.
[email protected]
Izzy is a recent Mortuary Science graduate in the midst of their state required funeral internship. Izzy’s interest in deathcare came after experiencing a death in the family in their youth, and seeing the shortcomings of the funeral industry firsthand. This event would lead Izzy to enter mortuary school with a passion for affordable and accessible alternative deathcare and leave it assured of the need for culturally literate deathcare practitioners.
On top of their Indiana Funeral Intern license, Izzy is a trained Celebrant & End-of-Life Doula, as well as being a certified Crematory Operator in both flame and water cremation. Izzy hopes to use their time in the Midwest to ensure that more people know about their end-of-life and after-death options, and is currently working to volunteer their doula services with a local hospice.
Anna Jordan, Secretary
she/her
Everett, Washington
anna@homefuneralalliance.org
Anna is a funeral celebrant and licensed funeral director who graduated from Wesleyan University as an Art Studio major with a minor in Environmental Science. But it was in her many years in hospitality that Anna found great satisfaction in creating, facilitating and holding space for quality human connection. As event coordinator for a restored, gigantic barn in Vermont (lots of weddings), she felt a strong urge to change her focus to funerals. Anna received her certification as a Funeral Celebrant and started Ritual Arrangements in 2020. When the pandemic put a stop to gatherings, she decided to pursue the intern track offered by the State of WA to become a licensed funeral director, where she found her life's calling in tending to the body with reverence and care, holding space for grief in its many faces, and creating ceremonies and crafting rituals that help process the passing.
anna@homefuneralalliance.org
Anna is a funeral celebrant and licensed funeral director who graduated from Wesleyan University as an Art Studio major with a minor in Environmental Science. But it was in her many years in hospitality that Anna found great satisfaction in creating, facilitating and holding space for quality human connection. As event coordinator for a restored, gigantic barn in Vermont (lots of weddings), she felt a strong urge to change her focus to funerals. Anna received her certification as a Funeral Celebrant and started Ritual Arrangements in 2020. When the pandemic put a stop to gatherings, she decided to pursue the intern track offered by the State of WA to become a licensed funeral director, where she found her life's calling in tending to the body with reverence and care, holding space for grief in its many faces, and creating ceremonies and crafting rituals that help process the passing.
Sara Brogden, Treasurer
they/she
Asheville, North Carolina
[email protected]
For nearly a decade, Sara has focused their professional career in supporting the LGBTQIA+ movement through local and state advocacy and non-profit administrative support. Currently, she manages all day-to-day and long-term finance and HR operational needs for the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Sara became inspired to learn more about death work and deathcare when she found how few resources LGBTQIA+ people had access to when planning end-of-life care and burial wishes. In 2023, Sara completed the Going with Grace Death Doula and End of Life Planner Training. Sara currently volunteers in her local community as a Death Doula providing hands-on support to those in hospice care. They earned her bachelor’s degree in Sociology with a concentration in social welfare from the University of North Florida.
[email protected]
For nearly a decade, Sara has focused their professional career in supporting the LGBTQIA+ movement through local and state advocacy and non-profit administrative support. Currently, she manages all day-to-day and long-term finance and HR operational needs for the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Sara became inspired to learn more about death work and deathcare when she found how few resources LGBTQIA+ people had access to when planning end-of-life care and burial wishes. In 2023, Sara completed the Going with Grace Death Doula and End of Life Planner Training. Sara currently volunteers in her local community as a Death Doula providing hands-on support to those in hospice care. They earned her bachelor’s degree in Sociology with a concentration in social welfare from the University of North Florida.
Winx Goll
she/they
Portland, Oregon
[email protected]
Growing up in a family involved with end-of-life care, Winx (she/they) has always had a strong calling to community deathcare and service. In 2020, they trained as an end-of-life doula, specializing in LGBTQIA2S+ deathcare, pet deathcare, eco-friendly body disposition options, home funerals, and end-of-life planning. Paired with their work in social media, web programming, and customer success, Winx works to educate and support their community in exploring ways to inhabit the mysterious, beautiful, difficult, and transformative spaces around death.
[email protected]
Growing up in a family involved with end-of-life care, Winx (she/they) has always had a strong calling to community deathcare and service. In 2020, they trained as an end-of-life doula, specializing in LGBTQIA2S+ deathcare, pet deathcare, eco-friendly body disposition options, home funerals, and end-of-life planning. Paired with their work in social media, web programming, and customer success, Winx works to educate and support their community in exploring ways to inhabit the mysterious, beautiful, difficult, and transformative spaces around death.
Patrice Horton
she/her
Chicago, Illinois
[email protected]
Hey! I’m Patrice. I go by the name Lady P. 3rd Eye! I was born and raised in New Jersey. I currently reside on the west of Chicago in the Lawndale Community. I also wear many hats… I am a mother of our beautiful children. I’m a Spiritualist, Hypnotist, End-of-Life Doula, Integrative Healing Arts Practitioner, and Mortuary Science Student! I love art, comedy, nature, traveling, music, dancing, singing, and food!
[email protected]
Hey! I’m Patrice. I go by the name Lady P. 3rd Eye! I was born and raised in New Jersey. I currently reside on the west of Chicago in the Lawndale Community. I also wear many hats… I am a mother of our beautiful children. I’m a Spiritualist, Hypnotist, End-of-Life Doula, Integrative Healing Arts Practitioner, and Mortuary Science Student! I love art, comedy, nature, traveling, music, dancing, singing, and food!
Penny Waugh
she/her
San Diego, California
[email protected]
Penny was drawn to the natural death care industry as she began to contemplate her own mortality. As she gained a deeper understanding of the standard funeral processes we often default to in Western society, she was alarmed at the lack of natural options that were available. Penny soon found herself on the road to becoming a UVM certified end-of-life doula and a new-found passion for creating conversation about dying on our own terms. Along with volunteering for TIP (Trauma Intervention Programs) and hosting Death Cafe gatherings, she's the founder of The Death Network, an online death-positive community that inspires honest, creative conversation around grief, dying and death. Join the conversation on Instagram @thedeathnetwork.
[email protected]
Penny was drawn to the natural death care industry as she began to contemplate her own mortality. As she gained a deeper understanding of the standard funeral processes we often default to in Western society, she was alarmed at the lack of natural options that were available. Penny soon found herself on the road to becoming a UVM certified end-of-life doula and a new-found passion for creating conversation about dying on our own terms. Along with volunteering for TIP (Trauma Intervention Programs) and hosting Death Cafe gatherings, she's the founder of The Death Network, an online death-positive community that inspires honest, creative conversation around grief, dying and death. Join the conversation on Instagram @thedeathnetwork.
Our Staff
Melanie Monteclaro Pace
she/hers
San Francisco, CA
[email protected]
Mel is currently our part-time admin and our only paid staff member! She helps support our work behind the scenes by managing our social media, helping organize and promote our special events, producing our newsletter, and providing general administrative support. In her life beyond NHFA, Mel is a hospice chaplain with a special interest in companion animal deathcare.
[email protected]
Mel is currently our part-time admin and our only paid staff member! She helps support our work behind the scenes by managing our social media, helping organize and promote our special events, producing our newsletter, and providing general administrative support. In her life beyond NHFA, Mel is a hospice chaplain with a special interest in companion animal deathcare.
View Previous Board Members.
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