Frontier Nursing University (FNU) faculty, 
ANNUAL RECEPTION
FNU hosted its annual reception at the conference on the evening of Thursday, September 22. More than 50 members of the FNU community attended the reception, which included light appetizers and fellowship in celebration of Kitty Ernst’s 90th birthday. Dr. Susan Stone welcomed everyone and gave updates on the launch of FNU’s new Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program, the 2016 Digital Summit as well as the Kitty Ernst Midwifery Chair opportunity. Dr. Tonya Nicholson also awarded several preceptors with tokens of appreciation, including Maureen Darcy, Jackie Griggs, Ava Miller and Jami Hain.
FNU EXHIBIT BOOTH
The FNU exhibit booth was very interactive this year as FNU hosted a photo booth in celebration of Kitty Ernst’s 90th birthday. Attendees were invited to dress up and share their photo with the hashtag #KittyTurns90 to be entered to win exclusive FNU prizes. Kitty was gracious enough to sit in the FNU photo booth, which created a large line of attendees hoping to get a photo with Kitty. FNU also created a lot of excitement as they introduced the new Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program to attendees.
STUDENT AMBASSADORS
FNU’s diversity PRIDE program invites students each year to submit essays for a chance to represent the university at the AABC Birth Institute. PRIDE ambassador Javonne Woodland won this year and participated in clinical activities and sessions, attended the FNU reception, and assisted at the FNU exhibit booth.
Click here to view photos from the 2016 AABC Birth Institute.
Frontier Nursing University (FNU) is excited to be celebrating National Midwifery Week (October 2-8, 2016). Whether you are a midwife, know a midwife, or want to know more about midwifery, this week is for you. National Midwifery Week was created by the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) to celebrate midwives and midwife-led care.
education and looked specifically for institutions with a unique history and mission. When she heard about the academic advisor position open at Frontier Nursing University (FNU) she knew it would be a great fit. 
alumna Dr. Julie Paul graduated from CNEP class 42 (2006) and returned to earn a DNP in Class 4 (2011). She has worked in a large midwifery practice since 2006 at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Mass., and serves there as the co-director of a certified nurse-midwife hospitalist program.
preceptor Starla Leete, CNM, from Health Dimensions Clinic of Rock Springs, Wyo., was honored as FNU’s “Featured Preceptor” earlier this summer. Starla is a 2003 graduate of Frontier with certificates in both Nurse-Midwifery and Women’s Health Care. FNU 2015 graduate Mandi Lew nominated Starla for the honor. 
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).