Diversity Impact 2024
Representation Matters: Breaking Down Contributing
Factors of Health Inequities
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Conference Schedule
July 18, 2024
All times are Eastern Standard Time
9:00 - 9:10 a.m. Welcome/Introductions
Susan Stone, CNM, DNSc, FAAN, FACNM, FNU President
9:10 - 9:25 a.m. Greetings from the Director of DEI and Conference Planning Chair
Tanya Belcheff, DNP, CNM and Chris Turley, MS, BS
9:25 - 9:40 a.m. Land Acknowledgment
Venus Evans, Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission, Commissioner at Large
9:40 - 9:55 a.m. Meditation/Mindfulness
Shea Rose, BA
9:55 - 10:00 a.m. Break
10:00 - 11:15 a.m. Keynote Address Using the Power of Diversity to Address Racial Disparities in Maternal Health
Lucinda Canty, PhD, CNM, FAAN, FACNM
11:15 - 11:30 a.m. Break
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Plenary Session Reclaiming Our Roots: Expanding Black Midwifery through Reproductive Justice in the South
Nikia Grayson, PhD, CNM
12:30 - 1:30 p.m. Lunch
1:30 - 4:15 p.m. Poster/Podium Presentations
1. Mariana Da Costa DNP, RN: 1:30-1:50 p.m. - Representation Matters: Breaking Down Contributing Factors of Health Inequities
2. Katherine Atcheson: 1:55-2:15 p.m. - Examining PrEP Provision for Black Cisgender Women: Provider and Patient Insights from Title X Funded and Comparable Settings
3. Charles Davis, PhD, MSN, FNP-C, and Nancy Pesta Walsh, DNP, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC: 2:20-2:40 p.m. - Finding Clinical Preceptors-A Critical Challenge for NP Students & Underserved Healthcare Ecosystems
4. Meghan Garland, Phd, CNM, FACNM: 2:40-3:00 p.m. - The Importance of Culturally Tailored Interventions for Evidence-Based Practice and Quality Improvement
5. Vanessa Cameron, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CEN, CNL: 3:00-3:20 p.m. - Measuring Ableism in Healthcare Environments: Instrument Evaluation for Future Research
6. Erica Nelson, DNP, APRN, CNM, WHNP-BC: 3:25-3:45 p.m. - Organizational policy changes to promote language equity for Spanish-speaking clinic patients
7. Melina Embury, MS, RN, CNS, and Tanisha Lewis, RN MSN CNL: 3:50-4:10 p.m. - More than Hair: Improving Healthcare Equity Through Haircare
Five-minute breaks will be offered at 1:50, 2:15, 3:30, 3:45, and 4:10 p.m.
4:15 - 4:25 p.m. Circle Up
Tonya Nicholson, DNP, CNM, WHNP-BC, CNE, FACNM
4:25 - 4:30 p.m. Evaluations
Chris Turley, MS, BS
July 19, 2024
All times are Eastern Standard Time
9:00 - 9:05 a.m. Greetings from the Conference Planning Chair
Chris Turley, MS, BS
9:05 - 9:20 a.m. Meditation/Mindfulness
Shea Rose, BA
9:20 - 9:25 a.m. Break
9:25 - 10:00 a.m. President's Presentation
Susan Stone, CNM, DNSc, FAAN, FACNM, FNU President
10:00 - 10:05 a.m. Break
10:05 - 11:20 a.m. Keynote Address Increasing Disability Representation in Nursing Education: Reducing Ableism and Taking Action
Lisa Meeks, PhD
11:20 a.m. - 12:20 p.m. Workshop Increasing Disability Representation in Nursing Education: Reducing Ableism and Taking Action
Lisa Meeks, PhD
Brandy Jackson, MSN, MBA, RN
Amy Holt, BS, BA
12:20 - 1:20 p.m. Lunch
1:20 - 2:50 p.m. Panel of Experts
Vanessa Cameron, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CEN, CNL
Sabrina Ali Jamal-Eddine, PhD, BSN, RN (she/her/hers)
Justin Daily, BSN, RN
2:50 - 3:00 p.m. Break
3:00 - 4:00 p.m. Staff Ambassador Capstone Project Presentations
Staff Ambassadors
Jamie Wheeler, MA, New Veterans Affairs Staff Position
Brittney Kinison, PMP, Inclusive Campus Decorations
Susan Capley, Horticulturist/Groundskeeper Lead, Celebrate DEI
4:00 - 4:15 p.m. Circle Up
Megan W. Arbour, PhD, CNM, CNE, FACNM
4:15 - 4:25 p.m. Conference Recap
Paula Alexander-Delpech, Ph.D., PMHNP-BC, APRN
4:25 - 4:30 p.m. Evaluations
Chris Turley, MS, BS
This activity is approved for 10 contact hour(s) of continuing education (which includes 0 hour(s) of pharmacology) by Frontier Nursing University. Activity #2404-001. This activity was planned in accordance with ANCC Commission on Accreditation Standards and Policies. This activity has been approved through 7/20/2024.
In order to obtain the 10 contact hours (0 for pharmacology) 4.75 CE Day 1 and 5.25 CE Day 2– learners must be present the entire day and submit a post evaluation for each day (no partial hours will be awarded for the day).
Thursday, June 8, 2023
| Time | Event | Speakers/Presenters | Topic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9:00 am - 9:20 am | Welcome/Introductions (President /Dean) | President and Dean | Dr. Stone - introduce the conference. | |
| 9:20 am - 9:30 am | Greetings from the CDIO and Conference Planning Chair | Dr. Paula Alexander-Delpech Chris Turley | ||
| 9:30 am - 9:35 am | Land Acknowledment | Bobbi Silver | ||
| 9:35 am - 9:50 am | Meditation/Mindfulness | Shea Rose | ||
| 9:50 am - 10:00 am | Break | |||
| 10:00 am - 11:15 am | Keynote Address | Dr. Tia McNair | “Intentionality By Design: Diversity, Equity, and Belonging” | |
| 11:15 am - 12:00 pm | Activity | Dr. Tia McNair | “Intentionality By Design: Diversity, Equity, and Belonging” | |
| 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm | Lunch | |||
| 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm | Presentation | Dr. Patricia Bradley | ||
| 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm | Presentation | Dr. Heidi Loomis | """Graduate Midwifery Students' Experiences of Bias in the Clinical Setting""" | |
| 3:15 pm - 3:30 pm | Break | |||
| 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm | Presentation | Shea Rose | ||
| 4:30 pm - 4:45 pm | Circle Up | |||
| 4:45 pm - 4:50 pm | Evaluations | Moderator(s): Chris Turley, MS, BS Main Room | ||
Friday, June 9, 2023
| Time | Event | Speakers/Presenters | Topic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9:00 am - 9:05 am | Greetings from the Conference Planning Chair | Chris Turley | ||
| 9:05 am - 9:15 am | Meditation/Mindfulness | Shea Rose | ||
| 9:15 am - 10:10 am | Presentation | Dr. Susan Stone | Present on FNU and plans going forward | |
| 10:10 am - 10:15 am | Break | |||
| 10:15 am - 11:30 am | Keynote Address | Rebekka Eshler | """Why Pronouns and Names Matter""" | |
| 11:30 am - 12:15 pm | Activity | Rebekka Eshler | """Why Pronouns and Names Matter""" | |
| 12:15 pm - 1:00 pm | Lunch | |||
| 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm | Panel of DEI Experts | Robert Lucero, Kendra Barrier, Michelle Hampton, Vicki Hines-Martin, Jean Edward | Best Practices in for advancing Identity and Belonging in higher education Institutions | |
| 2:30 pm - 2:45 pm | Break | |||
| 2:45 pm - 3:45 pm | Presentation | Marisa Hamamoto | """Choreographing a Culture of Infinite Inclusion: Transforming Limitations into Limitless Opportunities""" | |
| 3:45 pm - 3:55 pm | Circle Up | |||
| 3:55 pm - 4:05 pm | Recap | |||
| 4:05 pm - 4:10 pm | Evaluations | Moderator(s): Chris Turley, MS, BS Main Room |
Diversity Impact Conference Sponsorship
We sincerely thank all of our sponsors for supporting this year’s conference! Without your support, this incredible event would not be possible.
Conference Sponsor
Dr. Jean Johnson, Ph.D., RN, FAAN
FNU Board Member
Keynote Speaker Sponsors
Session Sponsors
General Sponsors
In-Kind Sponsors
Interested in being a sponsor for this year’s conference? Please contact Bobbi.Silver@Frontier.edu
Carrie Belin is an experienced board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and a graduate of the Johns Hopkins DNP program, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Georgetown University School of Nursing, and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She has also completed fellowships at Georgetown and the University of California Irvine.
Angie has been a full-scope midwife since 2009. She has experience in various birth settings including home, hospital, and birth centers. She is committed to integrating the midwifery model of care in the US. She completed her master’s degree in nurse-midwifery at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) and her Doctorate at Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves as the midwifery clinical faculty at FNU. Angie is motivated by the desire to improve the quality of healthcare and has led quality improvement projects on skin-to-skin implementation, labor induction, and improving transfer of care practices between hospital and community midwives. In 2017, she created a short film on skin-to-skin called 
Justin C. Daily, BSN, RN, has ten years of experience in nursing. At the start of his nursing career, Justin worked as a floor nurse on the oncology floor at St. Francis. He then spent two years as the Director of Nursing in a small rural Kansas hospital before returning to St. Francis and the oncology unit. He has been in his current position as the Chemo Nurse Educator for the past four years. He earned an Associate in Nurse from Hutchinson Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Bethel College.
Brandy Jackson serves as the Director of Undergraduate Nursing Programs and Assistant Educator at Wichita State University and Co-Director of Access in Nursing. Brandy is a seasoned educator with over 15 years of experience. Before entering academia, Brandy served in Hospital-based leadership and Critical Care Staff nurse roles. Brandy is passionate about equity in nursing education with a focus on individuals with disabilities. Her current research interests include accommodations of nursing students with disabilities in clinical learning environments and breaking down barriers for historically unrepresented individuals to enter the nursing profession. Brandy is also actively engaged in Interprofessional Education development, creating IPE opportunities for faculty and students at Wichita State. Brandy is an active member of Wichita Women for Good and Soroptimist, with the goal to empower women and girls. Brandy is a TeamSTEPPS master trainer. She received the DASIY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty in 2019 at Wichita State University. 
Dr. Sabrina Ali Jamal-Eddine is an Arab-disabled queer woman of color with a PhD in Nursing and an interdisciplinary certificate in Disability Ethics from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Dr. Jamal-Eddine’s doctoral research explored spoken word poetry as a form of critical narrative pedagogy to educate nursing students about disability, ableism, and disability justice. Dr. Jamal-Eddine now serves as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in UIC’s Department of Disability and Human Development and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities (NOND). During her doctoral program, Sabrina served as a Summer Fellow at a residential National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institute at Arizona State University (2023), a summer fellow at Andrew W. Mellon’s National Humanities Without Walls program at University of Michigan (2022), a Summer Research Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute (2021), and an Illinois Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) trainee (2019-2020).
Vanessa Cameron works for Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nursing Education & Professional Development. She is also attending George Washington University and progressing towards a PhD in Nursing with an emphasis on ableism in nursing. After becoming disabled in April 2021, Vanessa’s worldview and perspective changed, and a recognition of the ableism present within healthcare and within the culture of nursing was apparent. She has been working since that time to provide educational foundations for nurses about disability and ableism, provide support for fellow disabled nursing colleagues, and advocate for the disabled community within healthcare settings to reduce disparities.
Dr. Lucinda Canty is a certified nurse-midwife, Associate Professor of Nursing, and Director of the Seedworks Health Equity in Nursing Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Columbia University, a master’s degree from Yale University, specializing in nurse-midwifery, and a PhD from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Canty has provided reproductive health care for over 29 years. Her research interests include the prevention of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, reducing racial and ethnic health disparities in reproductive health, promoting diversity in nursing, and eliminating racism in nursing and midwifery.
Dr. Lisa Meeks is a distinguished scholar and leader whose unwavering commitment to inclusivity and excellence has significantly influenced the landscape of health professions education and accessibility. She is the founder and executive director of the DocsWithDisabilities Initiative and holds appointments as an Associate Professor in the Departments of Learning Health Sciences and Family Medicine at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Nikia Grayson, DNP, MSN, MPH, MA, CNM, FNP-C, FACNM (she/her) is a trailblazing force in reproductive justice, blending her expertise as a public health activist, anthropologist, and family nurse-midwife to champion the rights and health of underserved communities. Graduating with distinction from Howard University, Nikia holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in public health. Her academic journey also led her to the University of Memphis, where she earned a master’s in medical anthropology, and the University of Tennessee, where she achieved both a master’s in nursing and a doctorate in nursing practice. Complementing her extensive education, she completed a post-master’s certificate in midwifery at Frontier Nursing University.
Dr. Tia Brown McNair is the Vice President in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and Executive Director for the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, DC. She oversees both funded projects and AAC&U’s continuing programs on equity, inclusive excellence, high-impact practices, and student success. McNair directs AAC&U’s Summer Institutes on High-Impact Practices and Student Success, and TRHT Campus Centers and serves as the project director for several AAC&U initiatives, including the development of a TRHT-focused campus climate toolkit. She is the lead author of From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education (January 2020) and Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success (July 2016 and August 2022 Second edition).