In recognition of her remarkable career accomplishments, Dorothy “Dede” Trefts was honored as the recipient of the Unbridled Spirit Award, given by Frontier Nursing University (FNU). The award was presented at the FNU Alumni Hall of Fame and Service Awards Dinner on Thursday, September 25, at the Kentucky Castle in Versailles, Kentucky.
The Unbridled Spirit Award is given annually to a former Courier who has perpetuated the mission and spirit of Frontier in their own lives. The award recognizes dedication to serving others, ongoing stewardship of FNU, and a zest for adventure.
Trefts grew up in East Aurora, New York, and in Shaker Heights, Ohio. She spent the spring of her senior year of high school as a member of the Frontier Nursing Service (FNS) Courier program. There, she assisted the FNS nurses, tended to the horses the nurses used to traverse the mountainous terrain in order to reach their patients, and helped in the office.
“As a seventeen-year-old high school student, I had never heard of an organization that was female-driven from top to bottom,” Trefts said. “What an eye-opening, motivating experience for a teenager to be able to witness the incredible power of women so dedicated to improving the healthcare of the population and the lives of its children in a remote county in Kentucky. It inspired me over the course of my career to have seen the huge impact that women in leadership positions could make in the lives of others.”
Trefts went on to attend Wellesley College in Boston, where she majored in economics and English. She was then accepted at the Harvard Business School. Inspired by her father’s career experiences in engineering and technology, she became interested in how computers could change and improve people’s lives. Later, her career came full circle as she got involved in the acquisition of new technology and services startups into IBM Global Services and was able to utilize her background in starting new ventures to help them succeed in a large company setting.
Trefts retired three years ago but continues to enjoy serving on non-profit boards and volunteering. She has served on the boards of the Chautauqua Institution, Laurel School, her church, Arts for Healing, and Gulfstream Goodwill. She has also donated her time to mentor women and guide them as they advance their careers. Equally impactful is her commitment to mentoring women, guiding and encouraging them as they advance in their own careers.
“What matters the most to me is whether I’m making a difference,” Trefts said. “I am so honored to be remembered by an organization that was so inspirational to me as a young woman about to embark on an important step in my life.
Dr. Flinders obtained her Associate Degree of Science in Nursing (1994) and Bachelor of Science in Nursing (2003) degrees from Miami University in Ohio. She has significant clinical and academic experience, including community-based nursing care, labor and delivery nursing, full-scope practice as a Certified Nurse-Midwife, and 19 years of experience as a college educator and administrator.
“I know firsthand what it feels like to not see yourself represented in healthcare, to have traditions misunderstood, or to feel overlooked,” she said. “That awareness makes me intentional about creating space for students and patients who may feel the same way.”
As a Doctor of Nursing Science, Family Nurse Practitioner, and Certified Nurse-Midwife, Dr. Pat Caudle was educated and prepared for most anything during her career as a nurse practitioner, full scope nurse-midwife, and instructor. But she wasn’t prepared for the call she received informing her that she was selected to be inducted into the Frontier Nursing University Alumni Hall of Fame.
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).