Speakers

Margaret P. Moss, PhD, JD, RN, FAAN
Professor and Associate Dean for Nursing and Health Policy
Katherine R. & C. Walton Lillehei Chair in Nursing Leadership
University of Minnesota School of Nursing

Dr. Margaret Moss is an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation in North Dakota. She is the first and only American Indian to hold both Nursing and Juris Doctorates. She has been a nurse for 35 years and an academic for 24 years across 4 universities including the University of Minnesota (twice) where she has returned as Professor in Nursing and Associate Dean of Nursing and Health Policy, Yale University, SUNY Buffalo and the University of British Columbia (UBC). Just prior she was at UBC 2018-2023, as a Professor, School of Nursing, Interim Associate Vice President Equity & Inclusion for the University, and Director of the UBC First Nations House of Learning, a strategic Indigenous leadership position under the Provost. She co-led the development and launch of the UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan (2020) one of the only comprehensive plans in No. America. Dr. Moss was named to the inaugural Forbes 50 over 50 Impact List, 2021. She was elected to the American Academy of Nursing’s Board 2021 and has been elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) (2022). She sits on a Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. She has contributed to 2 NAM consensus studies- Federal Policy to Advance Racial, Ethnic, and Tribal Health Equity (2022), and currently The Use of Race and Ethnicity in Biomedical Research. Dr. Moss wrote an award-winning text, American Indian Health and Nursing (2015) followed by Health Equity and Nursing (2020). In other experiences, Dr. Moss was a RWJF Health Policy Fellow and staffed the Senate Special Committee on Aging. She was a Fulbright Research Chair at McGill University on Indigenous Life Across the North American Context. She is asked to speak often on Indigenous, health, aging, diversity and policy issues with academics, health professionals and other groups nationally and internationally.

Speakers

Margaret P. Moss, PhD, JD, RN, FAAN
Professor and Associate Dean for Nursing and Health Policy
Katherine R. & C. Walton Lillehei Chair in Nursing Leadership
University of Minnesota School of Nursing

Dr. Margaret Moss is an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation in North Dakota. She is the first and only American Indian to hold both Nursing and Juris Doctorates. She has been a nurse for 35 years and an academic for 24 years across 4 universities including the University of Minnesota (twice) where she has returned as Professor in Nursing and Associate Dean of Nursing and Health Policy, Yale University, SUNY Buffalo and the University of British Columbia (UBC). Just prior she was at UBC 2018-2023, as a Professor, School of Nursing, Interim Associate Vice President Equity & Inclusion for the University, and Director of the UBC First Nations House of Learning, a strategic Indigenous leadership position under the Provost. She co-led the development and launch of the UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan (2020) one of the only comprehensive plans in No. America. Dr. Moss was named to the inaugural Forbes 50 over 50 Impact List, 2021. She was elected to the American Academy of Nursing’s Board 2021 and has been elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) (2022). She sits on a Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. She has contributed to 2 NAM consensus studies- Federal Policy to Advance Racial, Ethnic, and Tribal Health Equity (2022), and currently The Use of Race and Ethnicity in Biomedical Research. Dr. Moss wrote an award-winning text, American Indian Health and Nursing (2015) followed by Health Equity and Nursing (2020). In other experiences, Dr. Moss was a RWJF Health Policy Fellow and staffed the Senate Special Committee on Aging. She was a Fulbright Research Chair at McGill University on Indigenous Life Across the North American Context. She is asked to speak often on Indigenous, health, aging, diversity and policy issues with academics, health professionals and other groups nationally and internationally.

Speakers

Christy Haas-Howard, MPH, BSN, BA, RN, AE-C, NCSN
Program Director, Health
National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF)

Christy Haas-Howard oversees the development, execution, and evaluation of health initiatives related to the environment. She collaborates with the conservation and K-12 education teams to identify priority areas of common interest to maximize resources and impact. As an experienced health care provider, she tracks emerging trends in the health and environment space, recognizing and amplifying the opportunities to create greater health equity and environmental justice. Christy comes to NEEF with over 17 years as a registered nurse in the school setting. She has been asthma educator-certified since 2009 and has led various school-based asthma programs at the local and state level. She has also worked at the national level to cultivate an increase in school nurse’s knowledge and skills related to asthma care. Christy has presented and published on asthma and the upstream benefits of addressing environmental exposures and climate change. Her other previous projects include supporting a pilot air quality sensor network and health literacy project in Denver, CO, and implementing an air quality and asthma literacy Environmental Health Nurse Fellowship. Christy holds a BA in Economics from Claremont McKenna College, a BS in Nursing from Metropolitan State University, Denver, and a MPH from the Colorado School of Public Health. She enjoys gardening, playing games with her family, walking her dogs, and hiking in the beautiful Rocky Mountains.

Speakers

Andrea Novak, PhD, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, FAEN
Field Experience Coordinator/Adjunct Faculty
Aspen University

Dr. Andrea Novak is currently the Field Experience Coordinator and Adjunct Faculty for Aspen University. Her history in adult education spans over 30 years with most recently serving as an AHEC Nurse for about 23 years. Dr. Novak is a member of the NCNA Council on Gerontology and serves as a peer reviewer for NCNA’s CEAU Task Force as well as a Peer Reviewer for the Emergency Nurses Association Education Committee.

Her nursing background began as many of us did as a med-surg nurse which expanded to working in the emergency nursing arena and later as a nurse educator for a high-volume emergency department. Andrea is one of the North Carolina’s 100 Great Nurses, as well as a Fellow in the Academy of Emergency Nursing. She has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Emergency Nursing, the National AHEC Organization and currently on the Aspen Journal. A published author and national speaker, Dr. Novak also received training as a health literacy consultant through UNC Chapel Hill and developed a strong interest in both helping healthcare providers meet the literacy needs of their patients, especially those most vulnerable; the elderly. Dr. Novak holds a PhD in Public Health; community health and education from Walden University, two Masters Degrees, two bachelor degrees, and an ADN.

Speakers

Sharon L. Colley, PhD, DNP, RN, ACAC, CNE
Professor
Ferris State University School of Nursing

Dr. Sharon Colley has been a nurse for 34 years, working for many years in mental health as well as med-surg, rehab, and ambulatory care prior to moving into a faculty position in 2006. She earned a PhD in higher ed leadership and a DNP in nursing leadership. Dr. Colley has a passion for education and preparing nurses to be educators. She has earned certification as a nurse educator, as an advanced autism specialist, and as a neurodiversity professional. She has also earned several awards for her teaching, including the Ferris State University Distinguished Teacher Award in 2016.

Sharon’s interest in providing information sessions for healthcare professionals stems in part from her own experiences as the parent of a child with autism as well as her DNP project work that focused on improving healthcare environments for those with autism.