Tender Funerals Canberra Region
Tender Funerals Canberra Staff
Catherine Prosser
General Manager
Adelle Morgan
Funeral Director
Originally from the UK, via Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Vietnam, Adelle settled in Canberra two years ago following time living and working in Darwin, Melbourne and mid-west Western Australia where she managed the Community Resource Centre for five years.
Joining Tender has been motivated by a desire to empower people to participate in their own funeral choices with clarity and confidence, and towards healthy grieving for the broader community.
Jo Malone
Funeral Director
Jo is committed to offering meaningful, authentic, compassionate, and affordable funerals reflecting the person who has died. Grounded in Tender’s core principles of kindness, transparency, and community empowerment, Jo believes in returning the power of choice to families and friends, ensuring they can create farewells without the pressure of conventional constraints. Jo is passionate about demystifying the funeral process and supporting families and friends in taking control of the rites around death and dying. Jo approaches every funeral with deep respect, aiming to create spaces where people feel included and heard. Jo became a Tender funeral director to align her skills and passion with a mission that resonates with her values and allows Jo to merge her professional expertise with her passion for providing inclusive, hands-on, and heartfelt care. Jo brings broad experience in community, public service, tertiary education and the private sector as a volunteer, team member and manager.
Jade Neilson
Funeral Director
Jade has been a dedicated and influential figure in the community sector, particularly as a disability support worker. With a strong value system rooted in kindness, compassion, empathy, and respect, she has consistently contributed to the well-being and development of individuals. Her passion for advocating for the rights and needs of those she supports has been a cornerstone of her career.
Jade’s long standing desire to work in the death care space reflects her commitment to providing compassionate care in all aspects of life. She is pleased to bring her extensive skills and experience to the Tender team to provide the community with empathy and support in a new and profound way.
Bec Curtin
Funeral Director
Originally from Canberra, Bec has lived in London, Melbourne, Geneva and Shanghai before returning to Canberra with her family. She has worked for the United Nations, local government in Victoria and as a magazine writer and editor before retraining as a counsellor.
Bec has worked in counselling private practice, for Marymead CatholicCare working with families and for the Perinatal Wellbeing Centre. She has a specialist interest in perinatal mental health as well as grief and loss. She is passionate about supporting families with rites around death and dying and through the bereavement process.
Tender Funerals Canberra Board of Directors
Catherine Bell
Director
Catherine can be summed up in three words: birth, death and playgrounds. Beginning as a birth doula, Catherine came to Tender after Death Walker training with Zenith Virago. She was drawn to death care after seeing the parallels with birth care. In Tender, Catherine sees the importance of experience embraced, and the options explained and supported. Catherine is an active maternity consumer advocate, currently undertaking a PhD into communication and decision making in maternity services.
And the playgrounds? With the Braidwood Community Association, Catherine helped secure a fabulous new intergenerational playground: a combination of community spirit, diplomacy and grant success. This success was repeated with the Braidwood ‘Respect’ Skatepark, where she took on the treasurer role in her capacity with Braidwood Youth Performing Arts Association.
Tui Davidson
Director
Tui has 32 years paid working experience, mostly in a variety of roles for the Australian public service – project management, governance, policy, stakeholder engagement, secretariat and workplace coaching. Currently taking a sabbatical, she is enjoying being a volunteer on two school committees (with a focus on not-for-profit, out of school hours care), a residential committee and the Tender working group. Giving back, being a part of community building and advocating for important social issues is what makes Tui happy.
Rohan Dayal
Director
Rohan, with a strong background in finance and as the driving force behind Zenova Ventures, brings a unique blend of strategic insight and compassionate leadership to Tender Funerals Canberra Region. With a career rooted in the financial markets and a keen understanding of analytics, Rohan has demonstrated an insightful ability to navigate complex systems and drive innovation. Rohan joined Tender Funerals because he has a genuine desire to help the wider Australian community, emphasising shared values of empathy and respect. He is committed to guiding the way we honour and support each other through the loss of a loved one.
Neel Jain
Director
Neel is a confident and teamwork-oriented senior accountant at RSM. Neel uses his background in corporate finance, combining a deep understanding of accounting and economic principles, to deliver high-quality accounting and advisory solutions. Neel provides insightful advice that considers both business success and operational efficiency.
Neel excels in financial analysis, independently appraising situations, and offering pragmatic solutions while continuously striving for personal and professional growth. His expertise extends to staying informed about advancements in the NDIS sector and developing customized financial models for his clients to identify improvement opportunities. Neel actively contributes to the not-for-profit sector by compiling program reports, and guiding organizations on internal controls and reporting systems for enhanced operational efficiency.
Sarah Leheny
Director
Sarah spent 35 years working in the ‘people’ areas of the Public Service. She now lives in a small country town where she holds many volunteer roles and loves being immersed in, and part of, the community.
Sarah was drawn to Tender Funerals by her strong belief that funerals should be affordable and easily accessible, and that the process should be driven by those who are left to celebrate the life lost. Tender Funerals enables people to be involved in all steps of the funeral process and to craft the unique ceremony their person would have wanted.
Michelle Thinius
Director
Michelle has been working with families in public health sector for over 14 years as a Midwife, leader and Director in Maternity and Neonatal Services in the ACT. Michelle brings experience of system-wide reform and innovation aimed in improving accessibility for all individuals and their families to public health services.
During her career, Michelle has worked with families who have had the unexpected loss of their baby and have had to navigate a funeral.. Michelle was drawn to Tender Funerals as it offers an alternative funeral option for families in Canberra that is individualised, affordable and meaningful.
Stacie Hall
Director
Stacie has spent the majority of her career in the Commonwealth public sector in a variety of roles, with responsibility for policy development and strategic oversight, whole of government program management, leadership of major commercial negotiations, and high-level stakeholder management.
Prior to this, Stacie worked in the NSW energy sector in a variety of roles encompassing finance, taxation, human resources, corporate services and organisational development.
Having recently retired from full-time executive roles, Stacie joined Tender Funerals to continue to be of service to the Australian community and to support others in honouring the passing of loved ones.