The 64th Annual American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) Meeting was held May 18-22, 2019 in National Harbor, MD at the Gaylord Resort & Convention Center with nearly 2000 attendees from across the country. Frontier Nursing University (FNU) had a large presence at the conference, highlighted by a large exhibition booth as well as a table selling items in the Midwifery Market.
Many FNU students, graduates, preceptors and faculty stopped by the booth, gave presentations and received awards and recognition for their continual hard work. All who attended were empowered by the impactful work the FNU community is doing around the nation.
The theme of this year’s exhibition booth celebrated the 80-year anniversary of FNU. Behind the booth hung a collage backdrop featuring photos from throughout FNU’s 80-year history. Booth workers promoted the “.80 for 80” campaign, asking donors to give $0.80 per day for a year and receive an exclusive 80th Anniversary lapel pin.
FNU students, faculty and alumni who attended were asked to share their favorite memory as a midwife or of FNU, and several memories were displayed at the booth. Another exhibit booth activity was a book signing with FNU Alumna Barbara Anderson for her new book, The Maternal Health Crisis in America Nursing Implications for Advocacy and Practice. Attendees also had the option to register to win an FNU 80-year gift basket.
Six students were selected to attend the ACNM Annual Meeting with their expenses covered as part of FNU’s Diversity & Impact Program mentee program which allows students to attend conferences with a faculty mentor . Katrina George, Elizabeth Aviles, Aja Aviles-Soto, Alexandra Millet, Stacy Hepner and Ellen Apple were selected to attend ACNM and enjoyed educational sessions and helped out at the FNU booth, the Midwifery Market and the reception.
One highlight of the ACNM Conference was FNU’s annual Alumni & Friends Reception. Prior to the start of the reception Dr. Tonya Nicholson led a “Heart of Midwifery” virtual session where she interviewed a number of attendees so that students at home could get a glimpse of the Annual Meeting. During the reception, more than 150 students, preceptors, alumni, faculty, staff and friends heard from FNU President and ACNM President Dr. Susan Stone as well as FNU Dean Joan Slager 
along with Tonya Nicholson, Angela Bailey, Jane Houston and Kitty Ernst as they spoke about the passion behind Frontier and the success of 2019 thus far. FNU Preceptors were also recognized during this event for their generous time and support they offer to our students. Attendees enjoyed a time of networking and community during the reception.
The FNU Case Day and Panel Event took place Monday, May 20th in conjunction with the ACNM Annual Meeting with RCF Dr. Tanya Belcheff and Director of the DNP Program, Dr. Jane Houston. Three cases were presented at the beginning of the program by Hogan, Hepner, and Hart.
The Birth Equity Panel brief created a wonderful safe space to talk about birth equity and justice with an engaged group of diverse students and providers. Keisha Edwards provided a kind, loving style as our facilitator, allowing the students to bring forth discussions on race and justice that were moving and meaningful to everyone in the room.
To see more photos from the conference, view the ACNM photo album.
Be on the lookout for an upcoming story highlighting the many FNU faculty, staff, preceptors and students who were recognized and received awards at the ACNM conference.
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).