Jodi Brown

Chair | Public Officer 

Jodi Brown is a dedicated and accomplished professional, her experience in management, community support, and organizational efficiency is balanced by her personal journey of loss, having experienced the passing of a child, parent, and sibling. This profound personal experience fuels her commitment to ensuring meaningful and affordable funerals are available for everyone in the Far North Queensland region.

Jodi’s career includes roles such as Operations Manager for a Cairns based not for profit as well as within funeral service in Perth, Adelaide and Cairns.  She was also co-owner of several businesses in the Cairns region.

Jodi’s professional journey is marked by significant achievements, including being named Cairns Business Woman of the Year in 2000 and winning the Australian Funeral Directors Association Scholarship in 1998.

Beyond her professional accomplishments, Jodi is deeply involved in community service. She has volunteered for numerous organisations in the Cairns region over the 25 years she has resided here. Her educational background includes certifications in school aged education, finance, mortgage broking, and workplace training. Jodi also enjoys downtime with her family, reading, travelling and riding her bike. Most recently she bike-packed from Cairns to the tip of Cape York.

Jodi’s dedication to supporting and empowering community organisations drives her commitment to establishing the operations of Tender Funerals Far North Queensland.

Leanne Lawton

Director

Leanne has been a Cairns resident since November 1988 having migrated from  New Zealand.  
She has a Nursing background, encompassing general medical/thoracic, private practice (both GP and Specialist) and community aged care within Qld Health. She recently worked as a sole trader in community Aged Care Support Work and office administration.

Leanne’s Māori heritage and nursing background have helped to navigate the deaths of close family members, friends and patients. She experienced financial hardship following the unexpected death of her partner and quickly learned to self-advocate and negotiate ways around reducing costs to provide an affordable farewell; long before Tender Funerals birthed.

This experience has contributed to her alignment with Tender Funerals FNQ and their business model which encourages the empowerment of people and their families during an extremely vulnerable and overwhelming time. No two (2) births are alike and the same is for deaths – we just don’t talk about death as openly or often as we do about births. Let’s get talking about this wonderful ‘community undertaking’ that will provide Cairns and the greater far north region with affordable,
community driven funerals.

Camilla Nicholson

Director

Camilla Nicholson brings over a decade of executive and administrative experience from Queensland Health to her role with Tender Funerals. She has supported senior medical leaders across Emergency Services and Medicine, providing high‑level coordination in areas such as rostering, recruitment, payroll, clinical document processes, and digital system transitions. 

Before working for Queensland Health Camilla worked as an Event Coordinator at the Cairns International Hotel where she was responsible for booking, coordinating, planning and ensuring each of the hotel departments knew exactly what was expected of them for events ranging from intimate VIP private dinners, weddings, school formals, gala events  to large conferences.

With qualifications in Business Administration, Government, and hospitality management, Camilla brings a unique blend of operational discipline, people‑centred communication, and service‑driven values. Her long-standing reputation as a caring, approachable, and highly organised professional now underpins her commitment to Tender Funerals now that she has retired from Queensland Health.

Once retired she did an End Of Life Doula course following a long held belief that more focus and conversation around this area is very important as End of Life is as sacred as birth.

Known for her organisation, warmth, and commitment to improving systems. She now brings this blend of compassion, structure, and community‑focused service to Tender Funerals FNQ.