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Dr. Lepaine Sharp-McHenry possesses a unique mix of experience in higher education, nursing practice, and nursing regulation. She has gained recognition as a leader in her field who actively supports mentorship and leadership development. She is an enthusiastic advocate of branding your professional image among her colleagues and has gained the respect of industry leaders across the country. She is known for her extraordinary service in the policy arena, academia, and the community. Dr. Sharp-McHenry is committed to volunteerism and making a difference at the local, state, and national level.

Dr. Tayyeb is a U.S. Navy Veteran, Jonas Veterans Healthcare Scholar, and Assistant Professor at California State University, Los Angeles. He is also the creator and host of the RN-Mentor podcast. Though Dr. Tayyeb’s research is primarily veteran centric, he is also greatly invested in nursing professional development, role development, and pushing the boundaries of the nursing profession through diversity of people, thought, advocacy, and the arts. For a full bio and link to Dr. Tayyeb’s body of work, please visit www.alirtayyeb.com.

With more than 26 years in the transplant nursing/community, and 34 years in nursing education, Dr. Taylor has earned national and international recognition as a strong leader who shapes practice, policy and education.

Dr. Taylor’s scholarship integrates pioneering technology-based innovations, rigorous scientific methods, inter-professional collaboration, and focused orientation on the advancement of global transplant care and education. Dr. Taylor embodies the innovative and evidence-based approach to contemporary nursing education, practice and healthcare delivery meeting the needs of patients in increasingly complex healthcare environments.

Dr. Taylor established an educational pathway, The Guiding Initiative for Doctoral Education program (GuIDE ™), a program providing advanced practice nurses informational and problem solving opportunities regarding PhD, EdD, and DNP education. GuIDE™ is preparing nurses, to be competitive for admission to doctoral programs with the goal of increasing the diversity of doctorally prepared nurses.

Dr. Godzik is a practicing psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and postdoctoral research fellow in the Departments of Psychiatry and Community and Family Medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC), Centers for Aging at Dartmouth, and Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Her long-term research focus is the impact of the home sleep environment on older adult health outcomes (both psychological and physical aspects of health).

During her undergraduate education, Dr. Godzik worked alongside psychological researcher, Dr. Jamie Abaied in her family development laboratory at the University of Vermont (UVM). This laboratory experience fueled her interest to pursue a research-focused career. During this time, she also worked as an emergency medical technician, responding to 911 calls in the community, which often involved psychiatric emergencies, providing valuable insights into patients' home environments.

As a predoctoral research fellow, Dr. Godzik worked with Dr. Jacqueline Sperling in the anxiety disorders clinical laboratory where she learned to generate quantitative research hypotheses, plan and conduct data analyses, and present to a lay audience at McLean Hospital and also to professional audiences at the national American Psychiatric Nurses Association Conference.

During her doctoral education at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Dr. Godzik’s work focused on telehealth services, where she published her first, first-authored paper entitled Gateless communication: A concept analysis. Throughout her education and research endeavors, she practiced as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner in older adult psychiatric units at McLean Hospital where she was mentored by Miles Cunningham, MD, PhD, to develop treatment plans for older adult patients that included psychopharmacologic and psychotherapeutic interventions.

These experiences as an undergraduate research assistant, predoctoral research fellow, and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner have provided her with clinical insights into the challenges patients experience, particularly in older adulthood when there are significant changes in psychological and physical health including sleep (most often, insomnia or difficulty falling and staying asleep). For her postdoctoral research fellowship training, she is continuing to build on her nursing experiences to better understand the home sleep environments in older adults with insomnia. This will allow her to build a knowledge base so that she can eventually identify modifiable factors within the environment that she can intervene on in future research studies.

Dr. Varilek is an Assistant Professor with the South Dakota State University College of Nursing. He graduated in May 2020 with a PhD in Nursing and currently serves as the Chair of the GNSA Leadership Council.

He began the BSN to PhD program at South Dakota State University in August 2014 while working full time as a Transplant Coordinator. In that role, he worked primarily with post kidney and pancreas transplant recipients as well as worked to coordinate transplant surgery. During this time, Dr. Varilek participated in research exploring transplant outcomes of the center’s Indigenous population to see if there are areas where they can improve care delivery.

Dr. Varilek’s passion for research began as an undergraduate student where he co-authored his first peer-reviewed publication entitled Insights from Health Care Professionals Regarding Palliative Care Options on South Dakota Reservations. During his doctoral education, he worked with faculty mentors and other students to publish his second peer-review publication entitled A Willingness to Go There: Nurses and Spiritual Care. This research with palliative and hospice care nurses fostered a desire to pursue improving access to palliative and hospice care in rural settings. Since graduation, Dr. Varilek has had two more publications accepted for publication. He is in the process of securing grant funding to research in palliative and hospice care in rural settings.

Dr. Dailey graduated from Missouri State University and Saint Louis University with a bachelor of science in business, a master’s degree in Student Affairs, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration respectively. Currently she is spearheading the development of Kindred Healthcare’s new Nursing Student Program and Career Accelerator Registered Apprenticeship Program. Previously, she served as the Assistant Director for the Saint Louis University Pre-Health and Pre-Law Program and Director for the Utah Valley University School of the Arts Advising Office. Her professional and personal studies focus on the impact of mindfulness and resiliency among students and professionals in healthcare. As a manager with Kindred, she has incorporated mindfulness and resiliency training into her work across the United States.

Ana McCorkhill-Jones is a graduate of Maryville University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Nursing Practice (DNP) from Saint Louis University with a minor in Education. She is an 8 year Seabee combat veteran as a Hospital Corpsman and Construction Mechanic. Currently, she is the hospital's nurse educator over all staff at Kindred St Louis South and previously served as floor nurse and nurse supervisor at each of Kindred's hospitals in Missouri. She is instrumental in providing education on all resources available to help increase mindfulness, productivity and time management skills. She is also instrumental in reducing staff's caregiver stress and compassion fatigue due to emotional investments which naturally occur when caring for patients much longer than the national average length of stay.

Dr. Mensik earned a PhD in Nursing from the University of Arizona College of Nursing with a major focus in health systems and a minor in public administration from the Eller College of Management.

Hillary Harrison is a graduate of Texas Christians University in Fort Worth, Texas with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). After graduation she began working as a staff RN at Texas Rehabilitation Hospital (TRH) of Fort Worth. Continuing at TRH Fort Worth, she transitioned to the role of Hospital Educator and Outcomes Coordinator. After becoming a Certified Rehabilitation Registered Nurse, she became the Infection Control Nurse and Hospital Educator for TRH Fort Worth. In 2018, she went to work for John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth as an Infection Preventionist RN and earned her Certification in Infection Control and Epidemiology. Last year she returned to Kindred Healthcare to work as part of the student programs team to connect with nursing programs and students around the country. Due to the pandemic she became an Infection Control resource for the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities and recently moved into the role of Director of Infection Control and Prevention for Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services.

Dr. Mensik earned a PhD in Nursing from the University of Arizona College of Nursing with a major focus in health systems and a minor in public administration from the Eller College of Management.

She has authored numerous publications including the books, "Lead, Drive, and Thrive in the System" and "The Nurse Mangers Guide to Innovative Staffing." She is a co-author for "A Nurse's Step-By-Step Guide to Transitioning to the Professional Nurse Role" and "The Power of Ten” (2nd edition), and contributed a chapter to the book "The Career Handoff: A Healthcare Leader's Guide to Knowledge & Wisdom Transfer Across Generations."

Dr. Mensik has extensive leadership experience, including employment as Administrator for Nursing and Patient Care at a Magnet-designated health system, Executive Director of Quality and Patient Safety, and System Director of Clinical Practice and Research. She has served as president of the Arizona Nurses Association as well as nationally for the American Nurses Association as Second Vice President and Director at Large on the Board of Directors. Dr. Mensik has published and presented nationally and regionally on quality, staffing, and professional practice and is an article reviewer for Nursing Outlook, World Views on Evidence Based Nursing, and Nursing Economic$.

With more than thirty years of diverse healthcare leadership experience, Jane has expertise in executive leadership, search, and consulting. An executive leader for Kirby Bates since 2007, Jane previously held senior executive search positions with regional and international search firms.

Prior to her current role, Jane served in leadership positions as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Nursing Officer in Massachusetts and Michigan. In these roles, she led the redesign and revitalization of operations and patient care services to achieve strategic outcomes. As the Vice President for Patient Care Policy for the Massachusetts Hospital Association, she worked directly with cabinet-level policy makers and provided leadership on state and federal policy and healthcare initiatives.

Jane is actively involved in professional associations including the American Organization of Nurse Leaders (AONL), the Organization of Nurse Leaders MA, RI, VT, CT & NH, and the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration (ASHHRA). Jane has a passion for promoting greater diversity among healthcare leadership.

Jane was awarded a Master of Science in Nursing from Boston University and received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Rhode Island. She completed a post-graduate program in Health Policy at Harvard University and received certification in Health Care Mediation through Boston University School of Public Health. She also serves as an Adjunct Faculty member at Emmanuel College School of Nursing.

Dr. Mensik earned a PhD in Nursing from the University of Arizona College of Nursing with a major focus in health systems and a minor in public administration from the Eller College of Management.

Kathy is a nationally recognized nurse leader, entrepreneur, author, and award-winning filmmaker. She has been on the executive team of several healthcare start-up companies. She is the author of numerous published articles on the healthcare workforce. Kathy wrote and directed the film, NURSES If Florence Could See US Now, an intimate look into the world of nursing today. She is co-author of the book The Dance of Caring – A Caregivers Guide to Harmony and the recently published book NURSES Cry Too, a look at loss and grief in the world of nursing. She was recognized by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses with their Pioneering Spirit Award and featured on the cover of Nurse Leader magazine, as a leader to honor. Find her at Kathy.douglas@prolucent.com.

Dr. Pérez is Senior Philanthropic Advisor and Executive Consultant to national foundations, federal grant making entities, and higher education. She has been a leader in advancing equity and accountability for three of the nation’s leading foundations and higher education organizations. Dr. Pérez has served on multiple committees and received multiple awards. At the National Science Foundation Educative Human Resources Advisory Committee, she led the subcommittee on Broadening Participation. In addition to her professional achievements, she has been recognized for her outstanding work mentoring underrepresented and emerging leaders as well as supporting others succeed in advancing equity. Dr. Perez has received multiple community awards including the 2019 Latinx Amplify Award, the 2015 Hispanics Inspiring Student Achievement Leadership in Mentoring award, the 2016 Hispanics in Philanthropy HIPGiver, the 2011 YWCA Women of Industry Award and the 2010 Latino Trendsetter Award. In 2015 she received an Honorary Doctorate from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. She was also featured in Latina Style Magazine as one of the Latina leaders in philanthropy.

In her work in professional private philanthropy, Dr. Pérez previously served as Chief Measurement and Evaluation Officer at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. She also served as Vice President of Research, Evaluation, and Learning at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Interim Vice President at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Throughout her career, she has been responsible for bringing diverse perspectives to the table of research and policy decision-making. She has been responsible for developing many initiatives to foster high-quality multidisciplinary research and expanding various dimensions of diversity.

Dr. Pérez is the first in her family to go to college. She earned a bachelor’s in communication from Rutgers University/Douglass College; a Master’s in Social Science and Women’s Studies from the University of Kent in Canterbury, England; a Master of Public Administration from Baruch College, City University of New York; and a PhD in health policy from Harvard University.