Speakers

Marta Okoniewski, MPA
Director of Student Engagement
AACN

Marta Okoniewski, MPA, is the Director of Student Engagement at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). She led the development, launch, and growth of the GNSA, a national network providing high value programs, services, and resources to nursing students enrolled in master’s and doctoral programs. Prior to joining AACN, Ms. Okoniewski worked as the Program Coordinator at New York University College of Nursing within the Academic and Clinical Affairs Department. She received her master’s in public administration from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Scranton.

 

Anne Pearson, BA
Student Services Coordinator
AACN

Anne Pearson is the Student Services Coordinator at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). She supports graduate nursing students across the country through the Graduate Nursing Student Academy (GNSA) and Liaison leadership program. She has a background in education equity policy research and received her baccalaureate degree in political science from Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky.  

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 Sena tor 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 Uni versity 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 B lack 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, Nebrask a 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.