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.

Speakers

Holly J. Humphrey, MD, MACP
President
Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation

Holly J. Humphrey, MD, MACP, is the eighth president of Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation. Immediately prior to her appointment, she served for 15 years as the Ralph W. Gerard Professor in Medicine and Dean for Medical Education at The University of Chicago.

In 1989, Dr. Humphrey and a colleague delivered the country’s first White Coat Ceremony address at The University of Chicago. The Gold Foundation later adopted and formalized this ceremony and today supports similar events in medical and nursing schools across the country. During her tenure as Dean for Medical Education, her signature programs focused on equity, diversity and inclusion, mentoring, and professionalism. She led efforts to increase diversity and belonging by developing pathway programs and co-founding the Bowman Society, which explores issues of health disparity and provides mentoring for those underrepresented in medicine. She was the founding dean of the school’s Identity and Inclusion Committee, which advances civil discourse in the medical school. She is also the founding dean of the Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators and of the MERITS Fellowship program for faculty pursuing research, innovation, teaching, and scholarship in medical education.

She is Chair of the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine’s Board of Directors. She is Chair Emeritus of American Board of Internal Medicine and of the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation and a past President of the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine (APDIM).

Dr. Humphrey earned her MD degree with honors from The University of Chicago. Following an internal medicine residency, pulmonary and critical care fellowship, and Chief Residency all at The University of Chicago, she served a 14-year tenure as Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program, which provided the foundation for her career in medical education. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. Crain’s Chicago Business featured her as one of their “Women to Watch,” and the NorthShore University Health System created the Holly J. Humphrey Medical Education Fund with a one-million-dollar gift to The University of Chicago in recognition of her leadership in medical education. The Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine honored her with the Dema C. Daley Founders Award for national excellence as an educator, innovator, and leader. Graduating medical students at The University of Chicago honored Dr. Humphrey five times with the Gender Equity Award and more than 25 times with the Favorite Faculty Teaching Award.

Brigit Carter, PhD, RN, CCRN, FAAN
Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer
American Association of Colleges of Nursing

Dr. Brigit Carter, Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer joined American Association of Colleges in Nursing (AACN) February 2023. She is Professor Emerita at the Duke University School of Nursing where she served as the Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion from 2018-2023. From 2015-2018 she served as the Director of the DUSON Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program.

Brigit earned her BSN at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) in 1998, a Master of Science in Nursing Education from University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2002 and PhD in Nursing from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2009. Her current educational research is focused on understanding experiences of students with microaggressions and development of strategies to mitigate the impact of microaggressions. She also has a focus on strategies to increase historically marginalized students in nursing and understand individual level social determinants that are barriers to achieving nursing education.

Brigit is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, an Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity, and a Duke Teaching for Equity fellow. She retired from the U. S. Navy as a Commander after 28 years of service in January 2018.

Speakers

Holly J. Humphrey, MD, MACP
President
Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation

Holly J. Humphrey, MD, MACP, is the eighth president of Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation. Immediately prior to her appointment, she served for 15 years as the Ralph W. Gerard Professor in Medicine and Dean for Medical Education at The University of Chicago.

In 1989, Dr. Humphrey and a colleague delivered the country’s first White Coat Ceremony address at The University of Chicago. The Gold Foundation later adopted and formalized this ceremony and today supports similar events in medical and nursing schools across the country. During her tenure as Dean for Medical Education, her signature programs focused on equity, diversity and inclusion, mentoring, and professionalism. She led efforts to increase diversity and belonging by developing pathway programs and co-founding the Bowman Society, which explores issues of health disparity and provides mentoring for those underrepresented in medicine. She was the founding dean of the school’s Identity and Inclusion Committee, which advances civil discourse in the medical school. She is also the founding dean of the Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators and of the MERITS Fellowship program for faculty pursuing research, innovation, teaching, and scholarship in medical education.

She is Chair of the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine’s Board of Directors. She is Chair Emeritus of American Board of Internal Medicine and of the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation and a past President of the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine (APDIM).

Dr. Humphrey earned her MD degree with honors from The University of Chicago. Following an internal medicine residency, pulmonary and critical care fellowship, and Chief Residency all at The University of Chicago, she served a 14-year tenure as Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program, which provided the foundation for her career in medical education. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. Crain’s Chicago Business featured her as one of their “Women to Watch,” and the NorthShore University Health System created the Holly J. Humphrey Medical Education Fund with a one-million-dollar gift to The University of Chicago in recognition of her leadership in medical education. The Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine honored her with the Dema C. Daley Founders Award for national excellence as an educator, innovator, and leader. Graduating medical students at The University of Chicago honored Dr. Humphrey five times with the Gender Equity Award and more than 25 times with the Favorite Faculty Teaching Award.

Cassandra Godzik,PhD, MS
Director of Nursing Education
American Association of Colleges of Nursing

Cassandra Godzik is a practicing psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) 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.

Godzik’s nursing journey began in high school when she worked as a nursing assistant in a memory care unit and older adult assisted living facility. During her undergraduate (University of Vermont) and master’s degrees (Regis College), Godzik engaged in research that focused on populations with mental health disorders, while simultaneously working as a psychiatric nurse. All these research and clinical experiences compelled her to earn a doctorate degree in nursing from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where she graduated in 2020. Throughout her doctoral work, she focused on sleep medicine and mental health symptoms and conducted a trial of an online cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) program.

Godzik’s nursing journey began in high school when she worked as a nursing assistant in a memory care unit and older adult assisted living facility. During her undergraduate (University of Vermont) and master’s degrees (Regis College), Godzik engaged in research that focused on populations with mental health disorders, while simultaneously working as a psychiatric nurse. All these research and clinical experiences compelled her to earn a doctorate degree in nursing from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where she graduated in 2020. Throughout her doctoral work, she focused on sleep medicine and mental health symptoms and conducted a trial of an online cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) program.

Speakers

Holly J. Humphrey, MD, MACP
President
Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation

Holly J. Humphrey, MD, MACP, is the eighth president of Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation. Immediately prior to her appointment, she served for 15 years as the Ralph W. Gerard Professor in Medicine and Dean for Medical Education at The University of Chicago.

In 1989, Dr. Humphrey and a colleague delivered the country’s first White Coat Ceremony address at The University of Chicago. The Gold Foundation later adopted and formalized this ceremony and today supports similar events in medical and nursing schools across the country. During her tenure as Dean for Medical Education, her signature programs focused on equity, diversity and inclusion, mentoring, and professionalism. She led efforts to increase diversity and belonging by developing pathway programs and co-founding the Bowman Society, which explores issues of health disparity and provides mentoring for those underrepresented in medicine. She was the founding dean of the school’s Identity and Inclusion Committee, which advances civil discourse in the medical school. She is also the founding dean of the Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators and of the MERITS Fellowship program for faculty pursuing research, innovation, teaching, and scholarship in medical education.

She is Chair of the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine’s Board of Directors. She is Chair Emeritus of American Board of Internal Medicine and of the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation and a past President of the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine (APDIM).

Dr. Humphrey earned her MD degree with honors from The University of Chicago. Following an internal medicine residency, pulmonary and critical care fellowship, and Chief Residency all at The University of Chicago, she served a 14-year tenure as Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program, which provided the foundation for her career in medical education. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. Crain’s Chicago Business featured her as one of their “Women to Watch,” and the NorthShore University Health System created the Holly J. Humphrey Medical Education Fund with a one-million-dollar gift to The University of Chicago in recognition of her leadership in medical education. The Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine honored her with the Dema C. Daley Founders Award for national excellence as an educator, innovator, and leader. Graduating medical students at The University of Chicago honored Dr. Humphrey five times with the Gender Equity Award and more than 25 times with the Favorite Faculty Teaching Award.

Lisa M. Meeks, PhD, MA
Associate Professor, University of Michigan Medical School
Executive Director, Docs with Disabilities Initiative

Dr. Meeks is an expert in disabilities in medical education. As an administrative leader and researcher, she is helping to inform policy and best practice in the area of disability inclusion for medical education, training and practice. Her research interests include: Improving access to medical education for learners with disabilities, medical student and resident well-being, reducing health care disparities in patients with disabilities, and the performance and trajectory of learners and physicians with disabilities. Her work has been published in the NEJM, Lancet, JAMA, and Academic Medicine and featured on NPR, in the Washington Post, CNBC, Bloomberg Law, Time Magazine, and AAMC News.

Dr. Meeks is the co-founder and Past President of the Coalition for Disability Access in Health Science and Medical Education, co-developer of both the AAMC Disability Webinar Series and edited and authored the leading books on the topic, including Disability as Diversity, the casebook companion, and Equal Access for Students with Disabilities: The Guide for Health Science and Professional Education, Second Edition. She is also the lead author of the AAMC Special Report: Accessibility, Inclusion, and Action in Medical Education: Lived Experiences of Learners and Physicians with Disabilities, co-creator of the social media campaign #DocsWithDisabilities, co-host of the Docs With Disabilities Podcast, and director of the DocsWithDisabilities Initiative.