At the heart of Frontier Nursing University is a talented and diverse community of students, alumni, faculty, staff, couriers and preceptors. Spotlight blogs feature members of our FNU community who are focused on the mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to deliver quality healthcare to underserved and rural populations.
After many years of compassionately serving patients as a Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM) and educating nursing students and new nurses, FNU graduate Alneader (Neada) Kenner-Woodard recently started precepting nurse-midwifery students. Her first was FNU student Valrie Haye-Smith.
As a registered nurse, Kenner-Woodard has had the opportunity to precept new nurses in the labor and delivery department. Later, as a nursing professor, she guided and supported nursing students as they pursued their licenses. When she was approached by Haye-Smith, she realized that precepting nurse-midwifery students was the next logical step in her nursing journey.
“A deep passion for nursing education and mentorship has consistently driven me,” she said. “I am committed to sharing my knowledge, empowering others, and contributing to advancing the nursing profession.”
Kenner-Woodard works with Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News, Virginia. In her role, she provides patient-centered, holistic care for women throughout all stages of life. After earning a Bachelor of Science in biology from Old Dominion University and her Associate of Applied Science in nursing from Riverside College of Health Careers, Neada went on to earn a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) in Nurse-Midwifery from FNU. She is certified by the American Midwifery Certification Board.
Although Kenner-Woodard has been a midwife since 2016, she said she was initially unsure about her ability to serve as a preceptor for student nurse-midwives. However, she said her education from FNU provided her with the motivation to mentor Haye-Smith.
“Throughout my midwifery education, Frontier emphasized the importance of fostering midwifery excellence and contributing to the growth of the profession,” she said. “I am glad that I was able to do my part in upholding that mission and I look forward to serving again in the future.”
As a preceptor, Kenner-Woodard said she derives great pleasure from understanding her students and helping them grow into who they aspire to be. This mutually beneficial connection fosters personal and professional development for both parties, she said.
“By assisting Valrie in honing her midwifery abilities and clinical judgment, I was able to make a lasting impact on her midwifery philosophy that will influence how she interacts with and cares for her patients,” she said. “Simultaneously, I enhanced my leadership, communication, and critical thinking skills by determining the best ways to support her.”
Kenner-Woodard said precepting is not just about helping one student, but the entire future of the midwifery profession.
“Each student you guide will carry a piece of your philosophy with them, which means that your unique approach to midwifery is reaching more women who need it,” she said. “Although it can be challenging at times, the impact you have on both your students and the families they serve makes it all worthwhile.”
While serving as a preceptor for Haye-Smith, Kenner-Woodard said she received invaluable support from FNU faculty member Liz Niederegger. According to Niederegger, Kenner-Woodard strives to form respectful, therapeutic relationships with her patients, and she effectively passed on these values in precepting her first nurse-midwifery student.
“This student needed a dedicated, driven, kind, compassionate, and persistent preceptor that could meet her where she was and allow her to truly find herself and blossom into the midwife she will be,” Niederegger said. “The transformation of this student has been miraculous, and I believe Neada deserves credit and recognition for every moment of effort.”
Thank you, Neada, for your unwavering dedication to nurturing the next generation of nurse-midwives and for your remarkable contributions to the field of midwifery.
Interested in becoming a preceptor? Complete our Preceptor Inquiry Form today!
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).