Selected Independent Funeral Homes held its 2024 NextGen Seminar January 28-February 1 at the Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas. The event provided educational opportunities, networking and leisure for NextGen members in a resort setting. During the event, Quinn Haisley-Wheeler, director of funeral service operations at Haisley Funeral & Cremation Service in Fort Pierce, Florida, received the 2024 NextGen Professional of the Year Award. The award highlights the career achievements and community involvement of funeral professionals under age 50.
“I am incredibly honored and grateful to have been awarded the 2024 NextGen of the Year Award. This achievement would not have been possible without the support of my family, my incredible staff and my many mentors,” said Haisley-Wheeler. “I am thrilled and inspired to continue pushing the boundaries of excellence within our industry in the years to come.”
In addition, event participants enjoyed “What the Tech?” presented by John Meyer, vice president of information technology at Buchanan Group. The session addressed how technology can be used to retain client families and build trust, even when day-to-day software management and processes seem overwhelming.
NextGen Advisory Group co-chairs Allison Lee of Bryan-Lee Funeral Home in Garner, North Carolina, and Will Haben of Haben Funeral Home & Crematory in Skokie, Illinois, facilitated the Next Practices Exchange to round out the meeting’s agenda. This fast-paced session gave participants an opportunity to share ideas and lessons learned in funeral service. selectedfuneralhomes.org
Selected Educational Trust recently announced that Cassandra Koukios and Emily Murman, both enrolled at Worsham College of Funeral Service in Wheeling, Illinois, were recipients of Second-Career Scholarships for the Fall 2023 cycle. The scholarships are awarded to individuals who have chosen funeral service later in their career journey and currently attend a mortuary school.
Said Murman: “Winning the scholarship is important to me not only because it alleviates some of the financial pressure I face as a student with loans from previous degrees, but it reaffirms that the hard work I did in my previous career as a writer and teacher has not gone unnoticed. I believe that it will carry my teaching skills into my mortuary science career, and I cannot wait to see what the future holds.”
In addition, the trust recently announced that, going forward, it has removed the full-time enrollment requirement from its application requirements for its Second-Career Scholarship Program. With this change, part-time students are now eligible to apply for the scholarship, which grants at least four $1,500 awards each year. The application period for the Spring 2024 program closes at midnight on May 31. selectedtrust.org