Inaugural Dean and Chief Nursing Officer
Open Keynote and ANA Commission on Racism Panel Dr. Kenya Beard, EdD, AGACNP-BC, ANEF, FAAN is the Inaugural Dean and Chief Nursing Officer at Mercy University School of Nursing and past chair of the New York State Board of Nursing. As a 2012 Macy Faculty Scholar committed to strengthening workforce diversity and advancing health equity, she founded the Center for Multicultural Education and Health Disparities and propagated research and best practices to improve health outcomes. She later served as a Senior Fellow at the Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement and co-produced healthcare disparity segments on WBAI-FM for over 400,000 listeners. More recently, she co-authored and established the nation’s first Nurse Faculty Fellow’s program.
Dr. Beard’s diversity efforts span over 30 years and resulted in her being invited to co-create the Josiah Macy Foundation’s 2018 ground-breaking document, Improving the Environment for Learning in the Health Professions. Dr. Beard is an innovative thought leader who has never withdrawn from the challenge of mitigating disparities in healthcare. She co-authored the Commission to Address Racism in Nursing’s 2022 foundational report titled, Racism in Nursing and continues to serve as a commissioner. Her discourse Leading in a Race-Conscious Society is supported by the Harvard Macy Institute’s Program for Educators in the Health Professions. To address racism in research, she co-authored the National Academy of Medicines’ Perspectives, Dismantling Systemic Racism and Advancing Health Equity throughout Research. She recently co-edited The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Global Applications to Advance Health Equity book to support the operationalization of health equity.
Whether serving as a reviewer for the Future of Nursing’s 2020-2030 report, co-creating the New York State Action Coalition’s Diversity and Inclusion Toolkit for NY State, or advancing equity as an Advisory Board Member for the NY Academy of Medicine’s Health Equity Scholars, she has continuously amplified the ideals of DEI and its role in improving health outcomes. She serves on the editorial board for the American Journal of Nursing and is a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Nursing, and Academy of Nursing Education.
Associate Faculty and Associate Dean for Community Engagement
AACN Diversity Award Panel Dr. Stacciarini is an associate faculty and the Associate dean for community engagement at the College of Nursing, University of Florida. She is an innovative leader with strong record of strengthening a large university’s goals of diversity, equity, and inclusivity. Dr. Stacciarini is passionately dedicated to using unique educational, research, and global leadership skills to spearhead culture transformation. She has been actively involved in various interdisciplinary health mentorship programs, which allow underrepresented students to explore health careers, including nursing, with over $1 million of internal and external grant funding.
Globally, Dr. Stacciarini has continually collaborated with Latino American nurses and other health professionals to raise the profile of nursing internationally, improve global health, and tackle challenges related to social justice. She is a recognized health disparities researcher for promoting community engagement and mental well-being in underserved rural communities with 1) Latino immigrants, 2) LGBTQIA+ adolescents, and 3) HIV in international vulnerable and diverse populations. Her DEI work and advocacy and research success has been translated into several awards, including selection/induction as a Fellow in the AAN.
Diversity, Equity, and Civility Council
AACN Diversity Award Panel Kristi Miller has been teaching for almost 30 years, though she didn't become a nurse until 2006. She has 4 kids and a husband who is a physical therapist. They love to bike and hike in the mountains of Western North Carolina. She has been involved in social justice work for many years, having attended the Racial Equity Institute many years ago. Marching and writing letters didn't feel like enough, so when her dean asked her to spearhead a Diversity, Equity, and Civility Council at the Mary Black College of Nursing, she jumped at the chance to put her values into action.
In the past three years of the council, they have created a wide variety of opportunities to support diversity, equity, civility, and inclusivity in their program, on their campus, and in their community. Miller's research passions lie in the work she is doing with the AACN DEILN, the academic nurse educator shortage, and patient safety. She is also writing a textbook on nursing informatics which will be out in October 2024.
Assistant Professor
AACN Diversity Award Panel Teri Harmon is an Assistant Professor at the Mary Black College of Nursing at the University of South Carolina-Upstate. She has been a nurse for 14 years with experience in long-term care, medical- and surgical-care, cardiac PCU, and nursing education. She has been a nurse educator for over 5 years teaching Health Alterations II at the senior level and Nurse Leadership. She loves teaching because she gets to share her knowledge and potentially improve the lives of her students and their future patients.
She has always served on either the Diversity and Inclusion Committee or the Diversity, Equity, and Civility Committee at her university, the latter of which she is the current chair of. Harmon is a Doctor of Education with a leadership concentration obtained from Liberty University. She also has a master's degree in nursing informatics and holds a current RN license. Harmon also likes to travel, read, play picke ball, and keep in touch with family and friends.
She is passionate about authentic nurse leadership and plans to research best nurse leadership practices. She feels strongly that nurses need good leadership in tandem with ways to be seen, heard, and valued.
SON Professor and Associate Dean for Nursing and Health Policy
Plenary Speaker and Land Acknowledgement Dr. Margaret P. Moss PhD, JD, RN, FAAN, University of Minnesota SON Professor and Associate Dean for Nursing and Health Policy- is an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation with equal lineage in a Dakhóta First Nation. She is the first and only American Indian to hold both Nursing and Juris Doctorates. She has been a nurse for 34 years and an academic for 23 years across 4 universities including the University of Minnesota, Yale University, SUNY Buffalo and recently-the University of British Columbia (UBC). Dr. Moss was a RWJF Health Policy Fellow staffing the US Senate Special Committee on Aging; a Fulbright Research Chair at McGill University, Montreal; and, on a Minister of Health for British Columbia team on Anti-Indigenous racism, resulting in the report- In Plain Sight. Dr. Moss published an award-winning text, American Indian Health and Nursing (2015); co-led the development of the UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan (2020); was named to the inaugural Forbes 50 over 50 Impact List (2021); awarded as a ‘Nurse with a Global Impact’ (at the UN 2023); is a FAAN and was a member of the American Academy of Nursing’s Board of Directors (2021-2023); and is a new member of the National Academy of Medicine. Her areas of interest are in Aging, Policy and Law with a focus on American Indian and other Indigenous and diverse populations.
Vice Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
ANA Commission on Racism Panel Dr. Ernest J. Grant is the Vice Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at the Duke University School of Nursing. He is also the immediate past president of the American Nurses Association (ANA), the nation’s largest nurse’s organization representing the interests of the nation’s 4.3 million registered nurses. He is the first man to be elected to the office of president of the American Nurses Association in its 127 years of existence.
A distinguished leader, Dr. Grant has more than 30 years of nursing experience and is an internationally recognized burn-care and fire-safety expert. He also serves as adjunct faculty for the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Nursing, where he works with undergraduate and graduate nursing students in the classroom and clinical settings. For the past four years in a row, Dr. Grant has been recognized by Modern Healthcare Magazine as one of 50 Influential Clinical Executives in Healthcare and as one of 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare. He has been nationally recognized for his work addressing racism, equity, and inclusion within the nursing profession. Modern Healthcare has named Dr. Grant to the 2023 class of Top Diversity Leaders. The Top Diversity Leaders in Healthcare recognition program honors the top diverse healthcare executives and organizations influencing policy, care delivery and public health, and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in their organizations and the healthcare industry.
In 2002, President George W. Bush presented Grant with a Nurse of the Year Award for his work treating burn victims from the World Trade Center site. He was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Nursing in 2011. Grant holds a BSN degree from North Carolina Central University and MSN and PhD degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Senior Equity Advisor
ANA Commission on Racism Panel G. Rumay Alexander, EdD, RN, FAAN, is the American Nurses Association Senior Equity Advisor. She also is a professor in the School of Nursing, Assistant Dean of Relational Excellence at the Adams School of Dentistry and formerly the Associate Vice -Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion/ Chief Diversity Officer of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At the end of 2019, she completed her presidency of the National League for Nursing, the national voice for nursing education which has over 40,000 nurse educators and 1200 schools of nursing.
In February of 2021, she became the American Nurses Association’s Scholar-In-Residence and advises the National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing. Additionally, Dr. Alexander is a board member of The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit watchdog organization that serves as a voice for health care consumers and purchasers and the nation’s premier advocate of transparency in health care.
Included in her nursing career are appointments to several transformative healthcare initiatives addressing diversity, equity and inclusion including the Commission of Workforce for Hospitals and Health Systems of the American Hospital Association the Tri-Council of Nursing, and the National Quality Forum’s steering committee which developed the first national voluntary consensus standards for nursing-sensitive care.
Dr. Alexander is a first-generation college graduate and holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Tennessee - Knoxville, a Master of Science in Nursing /Family Nurse Practitioner Program from Vanderbilt University and a Doctorate in Education, Administration and Supervision from Tennessee State University-Nashville
Dean of Inclusive Excellence and Student Success
AACN Diversity Award Panel Dr. Alexander-Delpech earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Nursing from Florida International University, her Doctor of Philosophy from Barry University, and her Post-Master's Certificate in Psychiatric Mental Health from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Alexander-Delpech has over 25 years of experience teaching in undergraduate and graduate nursing programs.
Dr. Alexander-Delpech is a Board-Certified Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP). She practices in a community-based behavioral health facility, utilizing telehealth to improve the health of clients without mental health access. Dr. Alexander-Delpech’s research and scholarly interests include international service learning, global health, and health disparities, emphasizing the Caribbean and the Caribbean Diaspora. She focuses on developing culturally-appropriate health awareness initiatives for low- and middle-income countries through high-quality community-based education and contemporary eHealth.
Dr. Alexander-Delpech has established an impressive portfolio as a community-based scholar and has developed many community initiatives in underserved communities. She has also developed and led many international study-abroad programs in the Caribbean and UK, receiving many awards for her international service learning work. Her peers have recognized her innovation in teaching and scholarship, being awarded the Faculty Superior Accomplishment Award.
Dr. Alexander-Delpech is the Dean of Inclusive Excellence and Student Success at Frontier Nursing University. In this role, she is the primary advisor to the President, leadership team, faculty, staff, and students on operational and strategic goals related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Most recently, Dr. Alexander-Delpech was elected Chair of the American Association of Colleges and University DEI Leadership Network.
Dr. Alexander-Delpech is a member of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA), President of the Florida Chapter of the APNA, a member of the South Florida Council of Advanced Practice Nurses, a member of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculty, and a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.
Professor and Dean
Closing Plenary Bimbola Akintade, PhD, MBA, ACNP-BC, NEA-BC, FAANP, FAAN is a Professor and Dean at the East Carolina University College of Nursing. He is a nursing workforce development leader with senior executive leadership experience in a variety of settings including universities and tertiary care hospitals. He has strong management and business skills grounded in evidence-based practice, clinical outcomes, and a service-oriented philosophy. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and a fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. He is a member of the North Carolina Institute of Health Task Force on the Future of the Nursing Workforce. He is a former commissioner with the Maryland Healthcare Commission, a former pioneer member of the Board of Directors for Doctor of Nursing Practice of Color (DOC), former Chair of the Research Committee, and the inaugural Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of DOC (JDOC).
He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculty and its Finance Committee, he is an inaugural member of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s (AACN) Essentials Implementation Steering Committee, Chair of the AACN Assessment Expert Working Group, and completed AACNs inaugural Diversity Leadership Institute program. He was the founding faculty mentor for the Maryland Chapter of the American Association of Men in Nursing and served in this role of over six years. The impact of Dr. Akintade’s work as a leader, an expert clinician, and educator is evident in his Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor roles, including various editorial board memberships, peer reviewed publications, authored book chapters, as well as invited and selected presentations. His professional contributions have been recognized through several professional awards and acknowledgements.
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