The Pat Tillman Foundation announced the 2023 Tillman Scholars on June 27. Frontier Nursing University (FNU) student Leslie Copp, RN, BSN, SANE-A, was one of the 60 U.S. service members, veterans, and military spouses chosen as 2023 Tillman Scholars. In recognition of their service and leadership potential, the newly selected class will receive scholarship funding to pursue higher education and continue their service in the fields of healthcare, business, law, public service, STEM, education and the humanities.
The Tillman Scholars program supports our nation’s active duty service members, veterans and military spouses by investing in them through education, lifelong leadership development, and a global community of high-performing peers and mentors to help them develop as leaders and make an impact at both a local and global scale. Copp’s husband, Justin, is a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army with 23 years of service, including two deployments, most recently in Kuwait in 2017.
“I just feel so honored,” said Copp, who learned of the Tillman Scholars program from FNU Assistant Professor and 2011 Tillman Scholar Dr. Joshua Faucett, DNP, MBA, FNP-BC, CNE. “I didn’t realize how important the Tillman Scholars program is until Dr. Faucett recommended that I apply because of the work I do currently. I have been very blessed to have him mentor me through the process.”
“The Pat Tillman Foundation forever changed the trajectory of my career path,” said Dr. Faucett. “Having listened to the incredible stories and accomplishments of fellow Scholars over the years, I knew Leslie’s journey to FNU and her future plans were compelling and unique. I simply encouraged Leslie to tell her story.”
Being a survivor of violence, Copp has made caring for others her lifelong passion. With 22 years of nursing experience, she currently works full-time as a forensic nurse examiner in Indianapolis. She is also pursuing her master’s degree as a family nurse practitioner at FNU and aims to achieve a dual degree as a doctor of nursing practice and psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner.
In her role as a forensic nurse examiner, Copp specializes in trauma care and frequently is called to testify in court. While trauma care centers are common in metropolitan areas, they are rare in rural areas, such as the one in which Copp lives. With the support of the Tillman Scholars program, Copp’s goal is to establish trauma care centers in rural and underserved communities, such as where she lives in Odon, Indiana.
“In these trauma centers, I’m hoping to not only be able to provide a medical exam, but I’m also hoping that it is a one-stop shop,” Copp said, noting that her vision is for the trauma care centers to include access to social workers, connections to prosecutors, and rooms for emergency housing. “We can eliminate so many things for law enforcement. They can have more time on the street doing what they need to be doing to keep the community safe while we’re doing the back work. We can take the photos, collect and bag the evidence and get it to the crime lab. There are a lot of benefits all the way around. I hope to see a huge stride in this in the next 10 years.”
“We are so proud of Leslie, not only because of her commitment to her studies at Frontier but also because of the essential work she is doing in her community,” said FNU President Dr. Susan Stone, DNSc, CNM, FACNM, FAAN. “Everything she is doing exemplifies our mission and shines a light on the healthcare disparities in rural, diverse, and underserved communities.”
“The Tillman Scholar is a prestigious program, and we are so proud of Leslie, who is the first FNU student to receive this honor,” said FNU Dean of Nursing Dr. Joan Slager, CNM, DNP, FACNM, FAAN. “We are so happy for her to have this opportunity. She is an inspiration for the entire Frontier Nursing community.”
About the Pat Tillman Foundation
The Pat Tillman Foundation identifies remarkable veterans and military spouses as the next generation of leaders and helps them scale their impact as they enter their next chapter of service beyond self through academic scholarships, lifelong leadership development, and a global community of peers and supporters. For more information on the Pat Tillman Foundation and the impact of the Tillman Scholars, visit pattillmanfoundation.org.
About Frontier Nursing University
The mission of Frontier Nursing University is to provide accessible nurse-midwifery and nurse practitioner education that integrates the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We transform healthcare by preparing innovative, ethical, compassionate, and entrepreneurial leaders to work with all people with an emphasis on rural and underserved communities. FNU offers graduate Nurse-Midwifery and Nurse-Practitioner distance education programs that can be pursued full- or part-time with the student’s home community serving as the classroom. Degrees and options offered include Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), or Post-Graduate Certificates. In 2021 and 2022, Frontier was named a “Great College to Work For” by the Great Colleges to Work For® program. To learn more about FNU and the programs and degrees offered, please visit Frontier.edu.
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).