Speakers

Noah Brown, MPA
Jonas Grant Manager
American Association of Colleges of Nursing

Marta Okoniewski, MPA
Director of Student Engagement
American Association of Colleges of Nursing

Speakers

Susan M. Grant, DNP, RN, FAAN, NEA-BC
Executive Vice President, Chief Experience Officer and Chief Nurse Executive
Wellstar Health System

Susan Grant is Executive Vice President, Chief Experience Officer and Chief Nurse Executive (CNE) at Wellstar Health System, a nine-hospital health system headquartered in Marietta, Ga. Grant has operated in healthcare for over 30 years.

Her wealth of experience in various roles, such as executive vice president and chief nursing officer at Beaumont Health in Detroit, MI and Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, GA have led to achievements, including leading the nursing practice of over 10,000 nurses across all care settings and overseeing successful Magnet designation and redesignation of 8 different hospitals. She has spoken nationally and internationally and published on patient safety and patient and family-centered care. Grant is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and received her Bachelors degree in Nursing from the Medical College of Georgia, Masters degree in Nursing from the University of South Carolina and Doctor of Nursing Practice from Vanderbilt University.

M. Lindell Joseph, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAONL
Clinical Professor & Director DNP & MSN Health Systems
Administration/Executive Leadership Programs
University of Iowa College of Nursing

Lindell Joseph has a passion for advancing nursing leadership and innovativeness through thought leadership, research methods, and extensive publications.

She is currently a Distinguished Scholar in Nursing, a Clinical Professor, and the Director for DNP and MSN in Health Systems/Administration/Executive Leadership Programs at the University of Iowa College of Nursing. She co-leads the curriculum redesign for both the undergraduate and graduate programs and recently served as a Councilor and Senator on the Faculty Senate. Dr. Joseph serves as a member of the International Society for Professional Identity in Nursing. Advisory Group. In that role, she co-led the development of the Conceptual Model for Professional Identity in Nursing and now chairs the committee, Nurse as Leader. She serves on the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) Foundation Board of Directors and co-leads the Nursing Leadership and System Science Council a collaboration between AONL Foundation and the Association for Leadership Science in Nursing. From 2016-2018 she was elected to the AONL Board of Directors and served on the American Hospital Association(AHA) Regional Policy Board for Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, and Minnesota. She is both a fellow in both the American Academy of Nursing and the American Organization for Nursing Leadership.

Dr. Joseph’s areas of expertise are leadership effectiveness, innovativeness across academia-practice, and the General Effectiveness Multilevel Theory for Shared Governance (GEMS), the only theory-based program for shared governance implementation in nursing practice. In 2021, she co-published the book, Leadership, and Nursing Care Management.

Nelda Godfrey, PhD, ACNS-BC, RN, FAAN, ANEF
Associate Dean, Innovation
University of Kansas School of Nursing

Nelda Godfrey is Professor and Associate Dean for Innovative Partnerships and Practice at the University of Kansas School of Nursing, Kansas City, KS. A thought leader in nursing innovation and nursing education, Dr. Godfrey writes often on new care delivery models that can be influenced by a stronger emphasis on the nurse within—researching and developing strategies to create the whole person experience in nursing practice going forward.

Her work with the International Society for Professional Identity in Nursing is transforming the way nurses, health care professionals and society understanding what it means to “think, act and feel like a nurse.” This work offers new language and new knowledge for the journey—helping nurses heal, flourish and expertly care for others. Dr. Godfrey received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Missouri, her Masters in Nursing and credential as a Clinical Nurse Specialist from the University of Kansas Medical Center, and her PhD in Nursing from the University of Missouri. Scholarly accomplishments include seminal work in professional identity in nursing and implementing the AACN Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education. Programmatic achievements include creating the KU Community College Nursing Program (KUCCNP) in which community college students dually enroll in their community college and KU simultaneously, allowing them to graduate with an associate degree in nursing and a bachelor of science in nursing at the same time.

Dr. Godfrey currently serves as the chair for the American Nurses Association Ethics and Human Rights Advisory Board and is formerly one of two co-leads for the Missouri Action Coalition supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Speakers

Blake Smith, MSN, RN
Immediate Past-President, American Association for Men in Nursing
Commissioner, Commission to Address Racism in Nursing, American Nurses Association
Communication Chair, Board of Directors, Nurses on Boards Coalition (NOBC)
Accelerated Student Success Coach, Nebraska Methodist College

Blake K. Smith, MSN, RN, serves as a Clinical Documentation Sr. Analyst at Nebraska Medicine in Omaha, NE. He oversees quality improvement/informatics projects specializing in health literacy, plan of care, downtime procedures, and regulatory reporting for five partnered hospital systems across Nebraska. Smith is a visionary thought leader for diversity and inclusion volunteer advocacy work. He has presented globally on men’s health and underrepresented workforce inclusion issues in nursing, including as a leading session speaker at the International Council of Nurses (ICN) 2023 Congress in Montreal.

Smith recently finished his term as the youngest president of the American Association for Men in Nursing (AAMN). He has advocated nationally for workforce inclusion for several years, serving on the national Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Steering Committee for AARP/Center to Champion Nursing in America. Smith serves on the National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing (founding member) and is the national communications chair for the Nurses on Boards Coalition (NOBC) Board of Directors.

Smith holds a bachelor’s in science degree in Exercise Science Research from Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, NE, in 2008, a BSN from Nebraska Methodist College in Omaha, NE, in 2012, and an MSN in Nursing Health Systems Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 2017.

Smith is proud to be a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (UAB Chapter), Golden Key International Honor Society (UAB Chapter), Phi Epsilon Kappa Honor Fraternity for Kinesiology (Nebraska Wesleyan Chapter), Zeta Psi Intercontinental Fraternity (Omicron Chapter), Sigma International (Nurse Leader Member/Tau Tau Chapter), American Association for Men in Nursing (AAMN), National Black Nurses Association (NBNA), American Nurses Association, Nebraska Nurses Association, and the Omaha, NE Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Organization.

He also holds two prestigious recognitions, receiving the Horizon Lifetime Achievement Award from Nebraska Methodist College (2018), the University of Alabama at Birmingham Alumni Society’s Top 25 of Business Excellence (2023), and the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing Visionary Leader Award (2022), given to only 130 other distinguished alumni in the school’s 72-year history.

Speakers

Blake Smith, MSN, RN
Immediate Past-President, American Association for Men in Nursing
Commissioner, Commission to Address Racism in Nursing, American Nurses Association
Communication Chair, Board of Directors, Nurses on Boards Coalition (NOBC)
Accelerated Student Success Coach, Nebraska Methodist College

Blake K. Smith, MSN, RN, serves as a Clinical Documentation Sr. Analyst at Nebraska Medicine in Omaha, NE. He oversees quality improvement/informatics projects specializing in health literacy, plan of care, downtime procedures, and regulatory reporting for five partnered hospital systems across Nebraska. Smith is a visionary thought leader for diversity and inclusion volunteer advocacy work. He has presented globally on men’s health and underrepresented workforce inclusion issues in nursing, including as a leading session speaker at the International Council of Nurses (ICN) 2023 Congress in Montreal.

Smith recently finished his term as the youngest president of the American Association for Men in Nursing (AAMN). He has advocated nationally for workforce inclusion for several years, serving on the national Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Steering Committee for AARP/Center to Champion Nursing in America. Smith serves on the National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing (founding member) and is the national communications chair for the Nurses on Boards Coalition (NOBC) Board of Directors.

Smith holds a bachelor’s in science degree in Exercise Science Research from Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, NE, in 2008, a BSN from Nebraska Methodist College in Omaha, NE, in 2012, and an MSN in Nursing Health Systems Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 2017.

Smith is proud to be a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (UAB Chapter), Golden Key International Honor Society (UAB Chapter), Phi Epsilon Kappa Honor Fraternity for Kinesiology (Nebraska Wesleyan Chapter), Zeta Psi Intercontinental Fraternity (Omicron Chapter), Sigma International (Nurse Leader Member/Tau Tau Chapter), American Association for Men in Nursing (AAMN), National Black Nurses Association (NBNA), American Nurses Association, Nebraska Nurses Association, and the Omaha, NE Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Organization.

He also holds two prestigious recognitions, receiving the Horizon Lifetime Achievement Award from Nebraska Methodist College (2018), the University of Alabama at Birmingham Alumni Society’s Top 25 of Business Excellence (2023), and the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing Visionary Leader Award (2022), given to only 130 other distinguished alumni in the school’s 72-year history.

Speakers

Tami J. Rogers, PhD, DVM, MSN, CNE
Professor of Nursing, Curriculum QA/Course Development
Rasmussen University

Dr. Tami J. Rogers holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Florida State University, a Master’s of Science in Nursing in Nursing (MSN) from the University of Phoenix, a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from Auburn University, and a Ph.D. in Education with a specialization in Nursing Education from Capella University. Tami practiced as a small animal Veterinarian for 12 years before transitioning to nursing, where her clinical background in nursing focused on the adult population in open-heart surgical recovery. Since 2003 Tami has served as Nurse Educator and Curriculum Manager at the Associates, Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral levels. Currently, she manages quality assurance and course development for the School of Nursing Curriculum Team. Dr. Rogers holds a specialty certification as a Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) and has presented findings from research and evidence-based interventions at local and national conferences, including Sigma Theta Tau Annual Research Day, National League for Nursing Summit, and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing BSN and MSN Conferences. Her current research interests include perceived self-efficacy for information literacy among faculty and students and use of embedded information literacy activities in nursing education, alignment of ACRL nursing information literacy competency standards to EBP competencies at undergraduate and graduate levels, meaningful evaluation strategies and feedback for the DNP specialty clinical practice experience, and cognitive and emotional impacts of graduate competency-based education.

Becky Costello, EdD
Director of Instructional Design
Rockford Public Schools

Dr. Becky Costello has been designing online learning for adults for over ten years. Her research area of interest is the impact of online faculty training on learning communities. In her current role, she designs professional learning opportunities for teachers and other certified staff at a large, urban public school district in Northern Illinois. She takes great pride in the collaborative relationships she builds with stakeholders in the instructional design process. Though she is not a nurse, she is invested in understanding the regulatory challenges, student and faculty experience, and other key aspects of online nursing course and program quality.