Who is Involved

Rumay Alexander, EdD, RN, FAAN, noted presenter and consultant, is currently a professor in the School of Nursing, Assistant Dean of Relational Excellence at the Adams School of Dentistry and formerly the Associate Vice -Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion/ Chief Diversity Officer of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At the end of 2019, she completed her presidency of the National League for Nursing, the voice for nursing education which has over 40,000 nurse educators and 1200 schools of nursing.

As one of nursing’s prominent thought leaders, guiding individuals in academic, corporate, health care and religious organizations in the exploration of marginalizing processes and lived experiences of difference, her expertise has and continues to be frequently sought.  She has been appointed to transformative healthcare initiatives including the Commission of Workforce for Hospitals and Health Systems of the American Hospital Association, the Tri-Council of Nursing, and the National Quality Forum’s steering committee which developed the first national voluntary consensus standards for nursing-sensitive care.  As the Senior Vice President for Clinical and Professional Services at the Tennessee Hospital Association and their first vice president of color for 2 decades, she designed and executed one of the nation’s first minority health administrators’ program, Agenda 21, which exists to this day. As a result, over 250 minority health care executives are serving and stewarding healthcare in the nation.  Her passion for equity of opportunity and penchant for holding courageous dialogues to steward and promoting human flourishing is evident in all her encounters and characteristically describes her as a prophetic and caring leader.

Dr. Lydia Albuquerque currently serves as an Assistant Professor at William Paterson University and as an acute care Nurse Practitioner at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Barnabas Health. She brings in over three decades of experience in nursing education, research, and administration. At William Paterson, she teaches at both the undergraduate, and graduate levels. As a faculty member in higher education, she has a robust research agenda and has partnered in grants close to $4 million, with the goals of providing scholarships for disadvantaged students and promoting cardiovascular health among men and women. Dr. Albuquerque has presented at national and international conferences. She has been published in peer-reviewed journals and is currently collaborating with international researchers to conduct studies relevant to student behaviors and online learning during the pandemic. She serves on the Publication Committee of the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses and is Vice President of Sigma Theta Tau International Iota chapter. Dr. Albuquerque has received the DIVA award from the Institute for Nurses (IFN), a New Jersey State Nurses Association (NJSNA) which recognizes leaders for their contributions to nursing research, nursing education or administration. In 2020, she was named a finalist for the Nurse of Year award through the March of Dimes organization. She was inducted to the Who’s Who in American Nursing by the Society of Nursing in 2018. Dr. Albuquerque is the founding president of the American Association of Indian Nurses of America, New Jersey chapter. She has also served within the National Association of Indian Nurses of America (NAINA) since its inception as a Secretary, Advisory Board member, Election officer, founding chair for the APN forum committee, and recently, the Executive Vice President. Dr. Albuquerque has been inducted as the President of NAINA for 2021-2022 with a strong determination and commitment to take this organization to a higher level. Dr. Albuquerque graduated from the College of Nursing, Armed Forces Medical College, in Pune, India and completed her post-graduate in Nursing from Shreemati Natibhai Damodar Thackersey Women’s University in Mumbai, India. She received her post-master’s degree as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner from Rutgers University and her Doctorate in Nursing Practice from William Paterson University, New Jersey. A fun, but interesting, fact about Dr. Albuquerque is that she has served as a special duty nurse to the Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, during the Commonwealth Nations Head of the Governments meeting in 1980. Dr. Albuquerque has also airlifted Mrs. Mugabe, wife of Robert Mugabe, the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe for emergency dialysis to All India Institute of Medical Science, New Delhi. Dr. Albuquerque is a retired Indian army officer who places service before self and will do the same for NAINA.

Rhonda Anderson, DNSc(h), MPA,BS,RN FAAN, LFACHE,FACHT is a Healthcare and workforce consultant and a surveyor and consultant for Global Healthcare Accreditation. She is currently President of ANCC, and is on many professional, nonprofit and venture capital boards including Chamberlain University, Make a wish, and Healing the Children.  She has been CNO, COO and CEO in Healthcare organizations and University faculty.

Kenya V. Beard, EdD, AGACNP-BC, CNE, ANEF, FAAN, is the Associate Provost for Chamberlain University and a 2012 Macy Faculty Scholar. She is a diversity science expert who has propagated research to strengthen diversity in nursing. Her equity workshops have been facilitated by the National League for Nursing and the Harvard Macy Institute Program for Educators in Health Professions. She serves on the New York State Board for Nursing and the editorial board for the American Journal of Nursing.

Dr. Bridgette M. Brawner is the Richard and Marianne Kreider Endowed Professor in Nursing for Vulnerable Populations in the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing at Villanova University. Prior to this, she was on faculty at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing from 2012 to 2021. She is the Immediate Past Chair of the National Advisory Committee for the Minority Fellowship Program at the ANA/SAMHSA. She is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Dr. Bridgette Executive Consulting, LLC where she works with individuals and organizations to promote racial and ethnic minority engagement and retention in health-related fields.

Karen Daley, PhD, RN, FAAN, served from 2010 to 2014 as the president of the American Nurses Association, the nation’s largest nursing organization representing the interests of the nation’s 3.1 million registered nurses.  She is a past president of the ANA Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Center for Nursing and has served on the boards of ANA, the American Nurses Credentialing Center, and the ANA-PAC.  She is a current member of the Board of Trustees of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, the American Nurses Foundation, the International Safety Center and the Barnstable Land Trust and has been appointed an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve University.

Daley spent more than 25 years as a front-line caregiver and staff nurse at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston.  She practiced for more than 22 years in the BWH emergency department until January of 1999 when she left due to a needlestick injury that resulted in her infection with both HIV and hepatitis C.  Since that time, she has been actively engaged on state, national and international levels as an advocate for use of safer needle devices in health care practice settings.  Daley has traveled to more than 30 US states as well as Europe, Australia and Asia in her ongoing campaign to educate nurses, students, health care administrators and legislators on the importance of needlestick injury prevention.  In recognition of the integral role she played in the passage of federal legislation to update the 1991 OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, Daley was among those invited to the Oval Office to witness President Clinton sign the “Needlestick Safety Prevention Act” into law on November 6, 2000.

During her four-year tenure as ANA president, Daley led and served as the spokesperson for the organization, which represented the interests of 3.1M registered nurses and included three subsidiaries with a $50M budget.  During that time, she also spearheaded a major organizational transformation, initiating the most substantive changes made to ANA in over three decades that have resulted in significant overall growth for the organization.  In 2011, while serving as ANA president, she was listed among Modern Healthcare’s “100 Most Influential People in Health Care” and, in 2013, was selected by Modern Healthcare as one of the “Top 25 Women in Healthcare.”

Daley has been recognized with numerous awards for her outstanding leadership and excellence in practice.  Daley was honored as the recipient of the ANA Nursing Practice Award in 2000 and the Essence of Nursing Award at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 1999.  In 1999, she was also honored by physician colleagues in the Brigham Emergency Department as recipient of the first annual Karen A. Daley Emergency Medicine Residents’ Nursing Appreciation Award.  In 2003, she was awarded the Gail Lenehan Award from the Emergency Nurses Association in recognition of her national advocacy on behalf of nurses.  In 2006, she was recognized as a living nursing legend by the Massachusetts Association of Registered Nurses, and was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Nursing.  In 2015, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Rivier University in Nashua, New Hampshire in recognition of her global public health advocacy and leadership and in 2017, received her second honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts.

Daley holds a diploma in nursing from Catherine Labouré School of Nursing, a bachelor’s of science in nursing from Curry College, a master’s in public health from Boston University School of Public Health, and a master’s in science and PhD in nursing from Boston College.

Dr. DeWitty is a transformational leader with a vision for advancing diversity, equity and inclusion for the nursing profession and serves as the Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at AACN where she advises top academic nursing leaders on building consensus around a strategic DEI approach. Her previous background encompasses nursing education, practice, and healthcare administration.

I am the Director of Professional Services at the Oregon Nurses Association. I have been in this role for 5 years. I am also an adjunct faculty member at the University of Portland, in the DNP program. I am a Nurse Practitioner and also maintain a clinical practice working on-call in urgent care.

Laura Fennimore, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN serves as the Immediate Past President of the Oncology Nursing Society and as the Organizational Affiliate Liaison to the ANA Board of Directors. She a professor of nursing at the University of Pittsburgh where she teaches and mentors DNP students in the Health Systems Executive Leadership Program. Related to the issues to be addressed in this Commission, she teaches a first-year student seminar on Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity.

AONL President, VP of Patient Care and System Chief Nurse Executive.

Willa Fuller, BSN RN is the Executive Director of the Florida Nurses Association (FNA). She has been a nurse for 37 years graduating from Daytona State College and University of Central Florida. She is currently a doctoral student at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. She has worked as a medical-surgical nurse and a clinical nurse educator before leaving clinical practice to work for the FNA. During her career and her studies, she has focused on culturally competent care, workplace incivility, and nursing advocacy. She speaks frequently to the nursing community in Florida on multiple nursing topics.

Mary Joy Garcia-Dia is the President of the Philippine Nurses Association of America, Inc. She is the Immediate Chair of Kalusugan (Health) Coalition and was a member of the National Advisory Council on Research for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Health. She chairs the Advocacy Committee, Co-Chairs the Diversity Committee and sits on the Board for the Health Information Management Systems Society New York State Chapter.

Marcus Henderson, MSN, RN is a Lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing where he teaches in the undergraduate psychiatric mental health and community health nursing courses. Marcus practices as an acute care child/adolescent psychiatric nurse. In 2019, he was elected to ANA Board and appointed to serve on the Future of Nursing 2030 Committee at the National Academies. Marcus holds a BSN and MSN in Health Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

Senior Associate Dean of Research and Innovation & Edith Folsom Honeycutt Endowed Chair, Emory University.

Dr. Eun-Ok Im is currently the president of the Asian American Pacific Islander Nurses Association. She has gained national and international recognition as a methodologist and theorist in international cross-cultural women’s health through over 400 papers, abstracts, and chapters (over 200 refereed journal articles) and over 400 international and national multi-disciplinary presentations. Dr. Im has been on more than 50 research review panels of the NIH and has served the PCORI, AHA, STTI, and ONF as a reviewer. Dr. Im is a senior editor of the Journal of Transcultural Nursing, is on the editorial boards of 8 journals, and is on 13 editorial review boards. She has numerous national and international awards including the 2020 CANS Outstanding Nurse Scientist Award and the 2014 STTI International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame Award. Dr. Im has conducted research projects on breast cancer survivorship, cancer pain, menopausal symptoms, and physical activity through a series of NIH-funded R01 awards. Over the past 25 years, she has conducted over 60 funded studies (including 4 R01s as the PI). She is also well known as the co-founder of Situation Specific Theory.

I am Tina Johnson from the State of Mississippi.  I became a nurse almost by mistake. I worked in Business Finance for the Federal Government for many years before I grew weary and wanted a career change. I have always enjoyed helping others so becoming a nurse was a no brainer.  I have been a nurse for 30 years and I find it the most rewarding career for me.  I have worked in OB at Darnall Army Hospital, I also worked as a Vascular Nurse, I am also CPI (Certified Professional Instructor), Mental Health First aid certification, and Gerontology certified.  I have served as President of Mississippi LPN Association, currently I am the Treasurer. I served on the Mississippi Board of Nursing for 5 five years, while there I served on the executive committee as chair of the finance committee.  I have lobbied at the state legislature on behalf of Mississippi Nurses.  I have served on several committees at NCSBN (National Council of States Board of Nursing) I am a past president of NALPN (National Association of License Practical Nurses).  I am dedicated to serving and supporting nurses all over the world.

Dr. Killian is a registered nurse and board certified as a Nurse Executive, Advanced (NEA-BC). She spent the majority of her nursing career in the practice setting as a nurse administrator and nurse educator. She served patients across the life-span.

Dr. Killian’s research interest is formal mentoring of nurses in the practice, academic, and professional organization settings. She focused on mentoring of nurses and retention in the three settings. Formal mentoring programs have been established under her encouragement and leadership.

Dr. Killian also has a special interest in global health nursing. She has participated in healthcare delegations to the former Soviet republic of Georgia, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. The delegations focused on assessing and implementing healthcare practices to improve healthcare delivery systems and outcomes. The Dominican Republic delegation was coupled with a student nurse group immersion experience.

Elizabeth R. S. Markham, PhD, RN is currently the President of the Wisconsin Nurses Association. Having moved to Wisconsin in Fall 2006, Dr. Markham became an active member of the then District 1 of WNA. She served from fall 2009-October 2012 as KRNA District 1 President. Dr. Markham was asked to join the Board of WNA in 2013. Dr. Markham has served as System Dean at Herzing University and Nursing Program Directors at Ashworth College and the Milwaukee Market of Bryant and Stratton College, and interim program director at Fayetteville State University. In addition, she has served in faculty positions at Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), Fayetteville State University, and North Carolina Central University. She worked clinically and as a nurse manager at Duke University Medical Center and has held other clinical positions. She has a background in and consults in nursing program planning, curriculum development, program accreditation, and faculty development. In 2013, she was selected by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) as a Wharton Executive Leadership Fellow. Dr. Markham is a member of the ANA, National Black Nurses Association, and NLN. In 2002 she was selected to Who’s Who Among American Teachers. She holds a BA in Natural Sciences from Erskine College, BSN-Emory University, MSN and PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is active in community and organizational service including serving as the Conference and District Health Commissioner in her church organization, advocating and speaking on areas of interest such as aging healthfully and gracefully, suicide in black children, and bullying in children. Most recently she has worked within her home community through the RKNBNA and Racine Interfaith Coalition to meet the needs of the underserved and to provide information on Covid and Covid Vaccinations as well as other health issues. She has always maintained an active role in community-based organizations advocating enhanced support for health and health information, community relations, and other opportunities while promoting diversity always with an eye on future trends and needs in health and the profession of nursing.

Donna Meyer is the CEO of the Organization for Associate Degree Nursing (OADN) and is an executive Leader in the National Education Progression in Nursing Collaborative (NEPIN). She is very engaged in numerous organizations, holding appointments and offices in both state and national organizations. She has published in numerous journals on various nursing topics and presented at both national and international conferences on nursing leadership, innovative clinical practice, and education. She is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, the National League of Nursing.

Dr. Beverly Patchell is currently performing clinical contract work for the State of Minnesota, providing direct care services to the seriously mentally ill. She also teaches graduate nursing courses and mentors advanced practice students during the school year.

She has taught graduate nursing in nursing schools around the country, has maintained a private practice focused on trauma and transformation, and has worked on grants focused on mental health and substance abuse issues for Native Americans in various tribal areas across the country.  She is a twice past president of the National Alaska Native American Indian Nurses Association.

Dr. Janice Phillips has extensive experience as a clinician, researcher, educator, nurse regulator, author, and public policy advocate in the health care arena.  In 2011, Dr. Phillips completed the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship working in the office of Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (D-VA) where she analyzed complex data in support of implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and garnered support for prescription drug abuse legislation. From 2013-2017, Janice assumed the role of Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at CGFNS International where she helped positioned the organization in receiving their 5-year reauthorization from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to issue Visa Screen ^® certificates to foreign educated health care professionals and securing first time NGO Consultative Status with the United Nations. As the Director of Nursing Research and Health Equity at Rush University Medical Center, Dr. Phillips serves as a system wide leader in supporting health equity as a shared goal integrating health equity across Rush Health System’s training, research, and clinical endeavors.  She is the author of over 100 publications and five edited texts. She also serves as a health policy columnist for Minority Nursing Magazine.

Blake K. Smith, MSN, RN, practices as a Clinical Documentation Sr Analyst at Nebraska Medicine in Omaha, NE. In his position, he leads all projects on Patient Education/Health Literacy, Plan of Care, Business Continuity Access, and Promoting Interoperability for the health system enterprise. Smith advocates for clinicians to be successful in delivering efficient and quality information to improve health outcomes in the Omaha community.  He is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Careers in Nursing Scholar alum (2011-2012) and served as the first Chair of the New Careers in Nursing (NCIN) Scholars Network as a founding member. He locally serves as a member of the Nebraska Action Coalition (NAC) Diversity Task Force and Leadership Committee and president of the Omaha Chamber of Commerce Emerging Professionals Program at Nebraska Medicine/University of Nebraska Medical Center. Smith is a leader in men’s health and male inclusion issues in the nursing profession and currently serves as the youngest president for the American Association for Men in Nursing (AAMN) in its 46-year history. 

Smith started his advocacy for nursing and our communities as a nursing student and was selected twice to attend the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Student Policy Academy to speak with congress on health-related issues from a student’s perspective for undergraduate and graduate work. Smith has presented internationally on the importance of diversity and inclusion in the nursing workforce as well as developing the first chapter of the American Association of Men in Nursing (AAMN) in the state of Nebraska and is a proud member of the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA). He serves nationally as a member of The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion National Steering Committee and board of directors for the Nurses on Boards Coalition (NOBC). 

Smith's educational degrees include a Bachelors in Science in Exercise Science Research from Nebraska Wesleyan University, BSN from Nebraska Methodist College, and an MSN in Nursing Health Systems Administration from The University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has received honors as a “40 under 40” Nurse Leader of Nebraska from the Nebraska Action Coalition, a two-time recipient of the “Daisy Award” from The DAISY Foundation for direct patient care, and life-time “Horizon Award” recipient from Nebraska Methodist College in Omaha, NE for his work in volunteerism.

Eileen M. Sullivan-Marx, PhD, RN, FAAN is dean of the NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing and the Erline Perkins McGriff Professor. She is the current President of the American Academy of Nursing, becoming a fellow in 1997, and has been a member of the American Nurses Association since the mid-1970s. Dr. Sullivan-Marx became a nurse practitioner in 1980 at the University of Rochester. Her areas of specialty are community based older adult care and Medicare payment for nurses/nurse practitioners.

I am the Executive Director of ANA Massachusetts. I have a DNP focused in Education and served as an Assistant Dean and Associate Professor for undergraduate programs and a Director of Nursing for a diverse community college program. I was the co-author of African American Nurses' Perspectives on a Leadership Development Program, published in JONA in July 2020. Funded research includes being co-investigator of the Sayre Memorial Scholar and Mary Elizabeth Carnegie Grant from the ANF.