Frontier Nursing University (FNU) was represented strongly by its faculty, staff, students and alumni at the 2018 American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) Annual Meeting & Exhibition on May 20-14, 2018. ACNM’s mission is to support midwives and advance the practice of midwifery in order to achieve optimal health for women through their lifespan. Here are the members of the FNU community who demonstrated outstanding leadership at the 63rd Annual ACNM Conference:
ACNM President
FNU President, Dr. Susan Stone, CNM, DNS, FACNM, FAAN
FNU President, Dr. Susan Stone, CNM, DNS, FACNM, FAAN was officially inducted as the ACNM President at the conclusion of the ACNM Annual Meeting. In her address, she appealed to all midwives to be a force for change in maternal mortality rate and racial disparities in maternal health outcomes. “As midwives, we need to carry the banner of change and become its forceful catalyst at all levels. Our women and families are relying on us,” said Stone.
Dr. Stone listed her priorities as President: position midwives as leaders in national discussions regarding maternity care and health care systems; ensure positive collaboration among midwives and maternity care providers; and increase the number and diversity of the midwifery workforce.
Dr. Stone’s initiatives will be supported by ACNM leadership. See the ACNM news release about Dr. Stone’s induction here.
ACNM Treasurer
Joan Slager, CNM, DNP, CPC, FACNM
Chair, Nominating Committee
Tonya Nicholson, CNM, WHNP, FACNM, DNP
Chair, Research Committee AMCB; Board of Trustees ACNM Foundation and Chair, ACNM Healthy Birth Initiative
Tanya Tanner, PhD, MBA, APRN, CNM
Secretary, ACNM Midwives of Color Committee; Member, ACNM Nominating Committee
Charlotte Morris, DNP, CNM
Treasurer, OR ACNM Affiliate
Trish McQuillin Voss, ND, DNP, MSN, CNM
Faculty Awards/Honors
Faculty Inducted as 2018 ACNM Fellows
Charlotte Morris, DNP, CNM; Mary Kay Miller, CNM, MSN; Eileen Thrower, CNM, PhD; Rebecca Morris; Linda Cole, DNP; and Jane Houston, CNM, DNP
Excellence in Teaching Award and Newton Long Award
Jill Alliman, CNM, DNP, FACNM
Outstanding Preceptor Award
Sheila Lorentzen, CNM
Carrington-Hsia-Nieves MOCC Graduate Fellowship Award
Mimi Niles, RN, CNM, MSN, MPH
Clinical Star Award
Joan Slager, CNM, DNP, CPC, FACNM
Singing of the National Anthem at the Welcome Premier Session
Tonya Nicholson, CNM, WHNP, FACNM, DNP
Alumni Awards and Presentations
Distinguished Service Award from the ACNM MOCC (Midwives of Color Committee)
Lauren Arrington, CNM (FNU Alumna, CNEP Class 48)
Distinguished Service Award
Nikki May, CNM, FNP, MSN
Thatcher Community Grants
Angie Chisholm, CNM (FNU Alumni)
ACNM Division of Global Health Panel: Developing Competencies for Midwives to Effectively Work in International Settings
Lauren Arrington, CNM (FNU Alumna) and esteemed panel members
Think You Know Listeria? Think Again. A Fresh Look at Stale Teaching Guidelines
Katya Simon, CNM, MSN, MS (FNU Alumna), Mickey Gilmor-Kahn, MSN, CNM (FNU Faculty) and colleague
Peripartum Cardiomyopathy: A Women’s Health Care Provider’s Guide to Identifying Risk and Distinguishing Symptoms
Andrew Youmans, CNM, CPEN, FAWM (FNU Alumni)
Is the Midwife on the Birth Certificate? Why All Midwives Should be Active Participants in Improving Birth Certificate Accuracy
Kendra Adkisson, CNM, MNS (FNU Alumna) and colleague
Workshops & Education Sessions
Perineal Repair Update: A Suturing Workshop
FNU Faculty Members: Sarah Smith, CNM, DNP; Eileen Thrower, CNM, PhD; Julie Daniels, CNM, DNP; Vicki Burslem, CNM, FACNM, MSN; Mickey Gillmor, CNM, MS; Rebecca Fay, APRN, CNM, DNP, WHNP; Jane Houston, CNM, DNP; Lisa Huckaby, CNM, DNP; Dwynn Golden, DNP, CNM; Judith Butler, CNM, DNP
Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME): Maximizing Educational Quality through the ACNM Criteria
Victoria Baker, CNM, PhD (FNU Faculty) and colleagues
Think You Know Listeria? Think Again. A Fresh Look at Stale Teaching Guidelines
Katya Simon, CNM, MSN, MS (FNU Alumna), Mickey Gilmor-Kahn, MSN, CNM (FNU Faculty) and colleague
Pharmacology for Successful Tobacco Cessation
Dawn Lovelace, CNM, FNP-C, DNP; Linda McDaniel, DNP, APRN, CNM; Julie Daniels, CNM, DNP; Laura Baraona, CNM (All FNU Faculty)
Quality Improvement to Promote High-Quality Maternity Care and Physiologic Birth
Janelle Komorowski, DNP, CNM (FNU Faculty) and colleagues
Creating Health in Any Zip Code: Defeating Geographical Health Disparities and Integrative Midwifery for the Underserved
Janelle Komorowski, DNP, CNM
Developing a Technology-Enhanced Peripheral Brain for 21st Century Practice
Megan Arbour, CNM, PhD, FACNM and colleague
AABC Strong Start: Freestanding Birth Centers Serving Vulnerable Populations
Jill Alliman, CNM, DNP, FACNM (FNU Faculty) and colleague
Teaching Students to Care about Cultural Humility and Social Justice: What Does it Take?
Maria Valentin-Welch, CNM, DNP, MPH, FACN (FNU Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer); Victoria Baker, PhD, CNM, CPH, MPH; Essence Williams (FNU Faculty), SNM, BSN, CBE, CCE (FNU Student)
Are Autism, Preeclampsia, and Alzheimer’s Disease Stops on the Same Trajectory?
Maria Valentin-Welch, CNM, DNP, MPH, FACN (FNU Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer); Victoria Baker, PhD, CNM, CPH, MPH; Essence Williams (FNU Faculty), SNM, BSN, CBE, CCE (FNU Student) and colleague
Context and Clinical Care: Applying the Institute of Medicine Report on Social Determinants of Health
Victoria Baker, PhD, CNM, MS, MSPH (FNU Faculty)
All My Babies and the Grand Midwives of Georgia: A Presentation and Discussion of Rare Film Images
Eileen Thrower, CNM, PhD (FNU Faculty)
Student Honors/Awards/Presentations
- Rose Fisher, CNEP Bridge Class 138 – ACNM Foundation Memorial Scholarship
- Grace Dible, CNEP Class 166 – Awarded Scholarship to Conference
- Essence Williams, SNM, BSN, CBE, CCE – Two podium presentations with FNU Faculty (see above)
- Lauren Cox, SNM, Stephanie Martinez, SNM, Corrianne Parada, SNM – FNU Case Day Presentations
Poster Presentations
Listeria: Then and Now. A Call to Revise Patient Teaching Based on Analysis of Federal Databases 1998-2016.
Katya Simon, CNM, MSN, MS (FNU Alumna),
Midwives and Student Midwives: Building Provider Resilience
Katie Moriarty, CNM, PhD, FACNM, CAFCI (FNU Faculty)
Impact of Stress and Evidence Regarding Mind Body Interventions
Katie Moriarty, CNM, PhD, FACNM, CAFCI (FNU Faculty)
Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation: Beyond the World of Pink and Blue in Healthcare and Graduate Education
Jane Houston, CNM, MSN, DNP; Trish McQuillin Voss, ND, DNP, MSN, CNM; Ally Williams, MEd (FNU Faculty)
Efficacy and Satisfaction of Distance-Based Pre-Clinical Skills Training for Women’s Health NP Students
Megan Arbour, CNM, PhD, FACNM
Thank you all for representing FNU with excellence! See our photo album for more highlights on Facebook. To find out more about the ACNM Annual Conference, go here.
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).