Dr. Lepaine Sharp-McHenry possesses a unique mix of experience in higher education, nursing practice, and nursing regulation. She has gained recognition as a leader in her field who actively supports mentorship and leadership development. She is an enthusiastic advocate of branding your professional image among her colleagues and has gained the respect of industry leaders across the country. She is known for her extraordinary service in the policy arena, academia, and the community. Dr. Sharp-McHenry is committed to volunteerism and making a difference at the local, state, and national level.

Dr. Tayyeb is a U.S. Navy Veteran, Jonas Veterans Healthcare Scholar, and Assistant Professor at California State University, Los Angeles. He is also the creator and host of the RN-Mentor podcast. Though Dr. Tayyeb’s research is primarily veteran centric, he is also greatly invested in nursing professional development, role development, and pushing the boundaries of the nursing profession through diversity of people, thought, advocacy, and the arts. For a full bio and link to Dr. Tayyeb’s body of work, please visit www.alirtayyeb.com.

Dr. Mensik earned a PhD in Nursing from the University of Arizona College of Nursing with a major focus in health systems and a minor in public administration from the Eller College of Management.

She has authored numerous publications including the books, "Lead, Drive, and Thrive in the System" and "The Nurse Mangers Guide to Innovative Staffing." She is a co-author for "A Nurse's Step-By-Step Guide to Transitioning to the Professional Nurse Role" and "The Power of Ten” (2nd edition), and contributed a chapter to the book "The Career Handoff: A Healthcare Leader's Guide to Knowledge & Wisdom Transfer Across Generations."

Dr. Mensik has extensive leadership experience, including employment as Administrator for Nursing and Patient Care at a Magnet-designated health system, Executive Director of Quality and Patient Safety, and System Director of Clinical Practice and Research. She has served as president of the Arizona Nurses Association as well as nationally for the American Nurses Association as Second Vice President and Director at Large on the Board of Directors. Dr. Mensik has published and presented nationally and regionally on quality, staffing, and professional practice and is an article reviewer for Nursing Outlook, World Views on Evidence Based Nursing, and Nursing Economic$.

With more than thirty years of diverse healthcare leadership experience, Jane has expertise in executive leadership, search, and consulting. An executive leader for Kirby Bates since 2007, Jane previously held senior executive search positions with regional and international search firms.

Prior to her current role, Jane served in leadership positions as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Nursing Officer in Massachusetts and Michigan. In these roles, she led the redesign and revitalization of operations and patient care services to achieve strategic outcomes. As the Vice President for Patient Care Policy for the Massachusetts Hospital Association, she worked directly with cabinet-level policy makers and provided leadership on state and federal policy and healthcare initiatives.

Jane is actively involved in professional associations including the American Organization of Nurse Leaders (AONL), the Organization of Nurse Leaders MA, RI, VT, CT & NH, and the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration (ASHHRA). Jane has a passion for promoting greater diversity among healthcare leadership.

Jane was awarded a Master of Science in Nursing from Boston University and received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Rhode Island. She completed a post-graduate program in Health Policy at Harvard University and received certification in Health Care Mediation through Boston University School of Public Health. She also serves as an Adjunct Faculty member at Emmanuel College School of Nursing.

Dr. Mensik earned a PhD in Nursing from the University of Arizona College of Nursing with a major focus in health systems and a minor in public administration from the Eller College of Management.

Kathy is a nationally recognized nurse leader, entrepreneur, author, and award-winning filmmaker. She has been on the executive team of several healthcare start-up companies. She is the author of numerous published articles on the healthcare workforce. Kathy wrote and directed the film, NURSES If Florence Could See US Now, an intimate look into the world of nursing today. She is co-author of the book The Dance of Caring – A Caregivers Guide to Harmony and the recently published book NURSES Cry Too, a look at loss and grief in the world of nursing. She was recognized by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses with their Pioneering Spirit Award and featured on the cover of Nurse Leader magazine, as a leader to honor. Find her at Kathy.douglas@prolucent.com.

Adele Foerster, MSN, RN, CPNP-PC/AC is PNCB’s Chief Credentialing Officer. She oversees exam development including job task and role research for all four PNCB certifications, currently held by over 50,000 RNs and CPNPs. She is also responsible for a variety of CE products that strengthen lifelong learning for pediatric nursing professionals. A 1977 graduate of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Nursing and the University of Maryland, she served as an Army Nurse in pediatric settings until 1998 including roles in management and education. After completing a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Post-Master’s Certificate from Johns Hopkins University in 2000, she worked full time in a local emergency department in Maryland until joining PNCB in 2010. Over the past three decades, she has enjoyed a variety of nursing experiences including pediatric home care, research data collection at Baltimore’s Shock Trauma Units, nursing staff development, and teaching in the Family Nurse Practitioner program at Uniformed Services University. She has past affiliation with the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) and has served as leadership with the Maryland Chesapeake Chapter of NAPNAP.

Karen S. Kesten, DNP, APRN, FAAN, CCNS, CNE, CCRN-K, is director of Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Scholarly Projects and is an associate professor of nursing in the Acute and Chronic Care Community. She is licensed as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, a certified Acute and Critical Care Clinical Nurse Specialist and a Certified Nurse Educator. Dr. Kesten most recently served as the Director of Faculty Initiatives at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and as the liaison for the work of the APRN Clinical Training Task Force, the AACN Competency-based Education for Doctoral Prepared APRN Work Group, the Implementation of the DNP Task Force and the Task Force on Defining the Scholarship of Academic Nursing. She also designed and implemented innovative and engaging learning experiences for members of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing to include faculty development conferences, webinars, toolkits, community collaboration and leadership development programs. Academically, Dr. Kesten was an associate professor at Georgetown University and was the program director for the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Nurse Specialist program. She played a critical role in the design, development, and launch of the graduate distance learning programs and the DNP program at Georgetown University. Dr. Kesten currently serves as Immediate-past Chair on the Board of Directors for the Certification Corporation for the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. Dr. Kesten’s research and publications focus on advanced nursing practice, competency-based education and innovative educational methods.

JoAnne Konick-McMahan is a Certification Practice Specialist with AACN Certification Corporation. She works with volunteer subject matter experts and psychometricians to maintain the validity and reliability of APRN and specialty certification exams through rigorous studies of practice. The results of the studies of practice are the foundation for certification exams for acute care nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists as well as progressive and critical care nurses.

JoAnne has worked in direct care and clinical education in progressive and critical care units as well as providing transitional care. She is certified as a progressive care nurse or PCCN. JoAnne’s graduate degree focus was nursing education and she has taught in graduate and undergraduate nursing programs. JoAnne is the AACN Certification Corporation’s representative on the APRN LACE network and she enjoys answering questions about certification and the APRN Consensus Model. She appreciates the mentors in clinical practice, education and certification who have provided guidance and wisdom.

JoAnne telecommutes from Pennsylvania and loves hiking the mountain trails and gardening.