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

Chika Anueyiagu, DNP, RN, NE-BC
Director of Surgical Services
Yale New Haven Hospital

Dr. Chika Anueyiagu is the Director of Surgical Services at Yale New Haven Hospital with oversight of Inpatient surgical units including, surgical intensive care, trauma, intermediate care, bariatric, general surgery, vascular, and minimally invasive surgery units. She has leadership experience spanning over 20 years in several roles across specialties and settings. In these roles, she had the responsibility of alignment and executing strategic initiatives while ensuring excellent outcomes in nurse-sensitive indicators. Chika earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree from Fairfield University in Executive Leadership. She obtained her Nurse Executive Board certification through the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Patricia Span, PhD, RN, CPHQ, CENP
Strategy & Learning Specialist
Yale New Haven Hospital

Dr. Patricia Span is the Strategy & Learning Specialist at Yale New Haven Hospital Patient Services Administration with primary responsibility for development and oversight of the nursing strategic business plan and nursing communications comprised of the annual report and nursing news. She has extensive experience as a nurse leader in Education, Professional Practice, Quality, Nursing Research as well as organizational customer service strategies. Patricia received her Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing and is Board Certified in Executive Nursing Practice from the Association of Nurse Executives and credentialed in health care quality from the National Association of Health Care Quality.

Speakers

Darci McCall, PhD, RNC-OB, C-EFM
Clinical Associate Professor
Boise State University School of Nursing

Dr. Darci McCall has been a nurse for 13 years, working primarily in the maternal-child setting. She earned her BSN from Idaho State University, her MSN from Jacksonville University, and her PhD in Nursing Education from the University of Northern Colorado. She discovered her passion for nursing education when she became a clinical instructor working with students in OB, NICU, and pediatrics. She was hooked and in 2015, she moved into a full-time faculty role at Boise State University. Having taught in a variety of settings at Boise State, she currently teaches in the RN-BS completion track program, where she is the lead faculty for several courses. Dr. McCall is passionate about nursing education and helping students learn and apply new information in every setting.

Dr. McCall’s research interests focus on substance use, specifically marijuana, during pregnancy and the stigma surrounding its use. Her interest in substance use disorder stems from her work in different hospital systems providing care to patients experiencing addiction and substance use disorder during pregnancy and as a faculty member working with students who care for this vulnerable population.

Dr. McCall has earned certifications in Inpatient Obstetric Nursing, Electronic Fetal Monitoring and is a Fetal Heart Monitoring Instructor. She is a member of the NCC’s Inpatient Obstetric Content Team, Inpatient Obstetric Item Writing Team, and the Inpatient Obstetrics Standard Setting Committee. She strongly advocates for SUD recognition, treatment, recovery, and educating nurses to care for this population compassionately and effectively.

Speakers

Marcia B. Proto, MEd, CAS
Executive Director
Connecticut Center for Nursing Workforce, Inc.

Marcia Proto enjoys a successful career in state and national association leadership, nursing education and workforce development, healthcare fundraising, and statewide coalition building. She is currently Executive Director for the Connecticut Center for Nursing Workforce (CCNW) as well as the owner of Marcia Proto Consulting, LLC.

Her life’s work has involved connecting people through education and targeted skills training toward fulfilling career paths, particularly in the nursing field. In addition to her roles with the CCNW, she has held management positions at the Connecticut Hospital Association, Junior Achievement of South-East Connecticut, Flath & Associates Consulting, and the National League for Nursing.

Marcia has spent the past 25 years ensuring that the nursing workforce will meet the nation’s growing healthcare needs by contributing to and engaging in state and national workforce development activities, including the Center to Champion Nursing in America, a national initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in collaboration with AARP.

Catherine E. Johnson, PhD, RN, CNE, APHN-BC, RA, CPH
Assistant Professor in Nursing
Pacific College of Health and Sciences

Catherine (Kate) E. Johnson has been a registered nurse for 35 years and was the public health nurse in her community for 13 years (2008-2021). Dr. Johnson has taught Community/Population Health for over 8 years in traditional undergraduate and RN to BSN programs. She is certified in Advanced Public Health Nursing by the ANCC and in Public Health by the National Board of Health Examiners in 2022. In 2021, Dr. Johnson was a member of the Education and Professional Development Committee for the Association of Public Health Nurses, which focused on developing the Public Health Policy Cycle content for the New to Public Health (N2PH) Residency Program. She previously served on the Massachusetts Local Public Health Advisory Committee.

Dr. Johnson graduated from Keuka College in New York with a BSN, earned an MBA from Western New England College in Massachusetts, an MSN from American International College in Massachusetts, and a PhD in nursing education from Capella University in Minnesota.