January is celebrated as National Mentoring Month and serves as a national call to action for uplifting and joining the mentoring movement. In an effort to create stronger interactions and connections between students and faculty, Frontier Nursing University introduced its Professional Organizational Mentoring Program (POMP) in 2018.
POMP matches FNU faculty with nurse practitioner and nurse-midwifery students from underrepresented groups to provide support and mentorship. The program allows students to join a professional organization in their field and gives them the opportunity to attend a professional conference with their mentors. Conference registration and professional membership fees are covered for all faculty mentors and student mentees selected.
2023 POMP participants
AABC, Tuscson, AZ, October
Students:
Cheryl Lynn Barlaan
Andrea Nikodim
Faculty: Diana Jolles
APNA, Lake Buena Vista, FL, October
Student: Heather Figi
Faculty: Paula Alexander-Delpech
NBNA, Atlanta, GA, August
Student: Daniela Zehr Butler
Faculty: Diane John
AANP, New Orleans, LA, June
Students:
Edalyn Shaw
Kristin Swanson
Demetria Woodruff
Faculty: Debra Hunt
Student: Jazmene Landing
Faculty: Joanne Keefe
NRHA, San Diego, CA, May
Student: Santana St. Remy
Faculty, Thomas George
ACNM, Orlando, FL, May
Students:
Michele Armstrong
Miriam Fawaz
Zekeyra Guishard
Kaede Johnson
Ebonique Shanks
Faculty: Heidi Loomis
“The opportunity to attend the (American Psychiatric Nurses Association) national conference with an FNU mentor was invaluable to me,” said an FNU student mentee. “During the conference, knowing that I was not attending alone provided me with a needed level of confidence to participate as a student. This was especially beneficial when it came to attending the state chapter session. Because of my mentor’s insight into the value of these meetings, I was able to connect with my state-level leadership and other student members seeking support as soon-to-be new providers. I thank the Office of DEI for selecting me for this opportunity and for allowing me the chance to get to know my mentor and other psychiatric-mental health professionals better.”
Edalyn Shaw, Kristin Swanson, Dr. Debra Hunt and Demetria Woodruff.
Frontier faculty selected to serve as mentors attend a mentoring session facilitated by the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Dr. Paula Alexander-Delpech, Ph.D., PMHNP-BC, APRN. After the session, faculty meet with their mentee(s) to develop goals and objectives for the mentoring relationship, arrange times to meet during the conference, review the conference program together, and arrange at least one mentor-mentee networking event. During the conference, the mentor meets with their mentee(s), and after the conference, there is at least one meeting where a summary of the activities is completed and submitted to the office of DEI.
“I had a great time connecting with my student and providing guidance with navigating the clinical setting as a student of color as well as being a sounding board to provide opportunities to uplift and empower the student,” said Dr. Dorsena Gayle, CNP, CNM, who attended the Black Nurses Association conference with her mentee. “I think the great thing about the POMP program is that it really allows the students to have unlimited one-on-one access to that particular faculty in an engaging environment.”
Learn more about advanced nursing degrees and specialties at Frontier Nursing University, including our Family Nurse Practitioner program. Subscribe to our blog for the latest news and events at FNU and to get inspired with stories featuring our alumni, students, faculty and staff!
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).