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 that are focused on the mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to deliver quality health care to underserved and rural populations.
For Madison, Wisconsin-based Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM) and Frontier Nursing University alumni Ingrid Andersson, the fundamental rights of pregnant people has always been at the forefront. Andersson believes that reproductive justice should be actively defended and that these rights, as defined by Loretta Ross of the Sister Song Reproductive Justice Collective, include the right to have children, the right to not have children and the right to parent children in safe and healthy environments.
“Throughout my career, I have worked to ensure pregnant people’s access to a full spectrum of pregnancy options, at the same time working for safe and healthy environments,” she said.
Andersson earned her post-graduate certificate (PGC) in Nurse-Midwifery from FNU in 2000. She has worked as a CNM through a private home birth practice for 21 years.
As a CNM in a private practice, Andersson said her model of care is not based on “provider/patient,” but on a healthcare partnership.
“I learn as much or more from my families as they do from me,” she said. “It is also very prevention-oriented, so much of our hour-long visits are spent in discussing things like work stress, relationships, nutrition and COVID management.”
Andersson said though many people are aware of the effect stress and anxiety can have on a pregnancy, these factors also can have an effect on breastfeeding. To address this, Andersson founded Mothers’ Milk Alliance, Inc. (MMA) in 2007. The organization is designed to provide mothers who cannot produce enough breast milk (in the short-term or long-term) access to breastmilk from donors. Today, MMA has five community freezers, and about 6,000 ounces of breast milk is moved in and out of their facilities each month. Those who donate breast milk to the organization are tested by volunteer midwives and the organization also receives support from local physicians and lactation consultants.
In addition, Andersson was included on the founding steering committee of the Wisconsin Environmental Health Network (WEHN). A group of healthcare professionals who collaborate with local environmental advocates, WEHN works to inform healthcare professionals, the public, and policy makers about the effects of environmental toxins and climate change on public health. This year’s virtual conference, which began in February and will continue through March, focuses on various topics including the health and financial burdens of extreme heat and what health professionals should know about protecting vulnerable populations from environmental and occupational harm.
Andersson also is the co-founder of Pregnancy Options Wisconsin: Education, Resources & Support, Inc. (POWERS). The organization is made up of volunteer doctors, midwives, doulas, educators, and activists who are committed to pregnant people’s informed choice and access to all pregnancy options.
“I believe that a career of connecting dots and walking bridges between practitioner and activist, individual and community, health and environment, has helped build the strong relationships that my community enjoys between home and hospital,” she said.
Just as Andersson’s career influences her advocacy, it also influences another one of her passions: poetry. She recently released her first published book of poetry, entitled “Jordemoder: Poems of a Midwife.” Published by Holy Cow! Press, the book draws upon Andersson’s experience as a Certified Nurse-Midwife with an academic background in medical sciences, anthropology, and European literature and languages. “Jordemoder” is the Swedish and Danish word for “midwife.” “Jord” translates to “earth/ soil/land/world,” while “moder” translates to “mother.”
“The word, for me, captures midwifery as a metaphor for an ecology or a reciprocity of world relationships, as much as the literal processes of pregnancy, birth and early parenting,” Andersson said.
Since earning her certificate from FNU, Andersson has precepted several Frontier students and continues to enjoy meaningful relationships with them.
“I loved – still love – [FNU’s] legacy of turning around abysmal, shameful local health statistics and its benchmark history in serving families at home,” she said. “I continue to work with Frontier colleagues and students and love the ongoing connection and support as a preceptor.”
FNU is incredibly proud of Andersson’s work as a healthcare professional and passionate advocate. She is an exceptional example of FNU’s Culture of Caring.
To read more alumni stories, visit the FNU Alumni stories page.
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).