At the heart of Frontier Nursing University is a talented and diverse community of students, alumni, faculty, staff, couriers and preceptors. Spotlight blogs feature members of our FNU community who are focused on the mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to deliver quality healthcare to underserved and rural populations.
Since graduating from FNU in 2009, Tammie McDonald-Brouwer, CNM, WHNP, has spent the last 15 years compassionately serving the healthcare needs of women in her community. McDonald-Brouwer earned her MSN in Nurse-Midwifery and her Women’s Health Care Nurse Practitioner Post-Graduate Certificate from FNU. Balancing her studies with raising four children, she said she appreciated the flexibility FNU offered, allowing her to complete her coursework from home.
“I became a CNM, WHNP because I saw how women were treated by OB/GYNs and that women most often were not given a choice or options for birth or treatment,” she said. “I wanted to collaborate and give women safe choices, involving them in a plan of care and a birth that empowered women.”
After graduating from Frontier, McDonald-Brouwer worked in a full-scope midwifery private practice. McDonald-Brouwer then opened her own clinic, Plena Integrative Health Center (IHC), in October 2023 to serve her local community.
Plena IHC focuses on women’s health primary care with an integrative and holistic approach, serving a diverse array of patients across various demographics. The clinic’s commitment to inclusivity is highlighted by its fluent Spanish-speaking providers and staff, ensuring comprehensive care for a multicultural population.
The clinic offers comprehensive care for various health issues, including acute respiratory infections, mental health disorders, thyroid problems, weight-loss, hypertension, and early onset diabetes. The clinic’s gynecological services encompass pap smears, contraceptive counseling, treatment for urinary and vaginal issues, and management of menopause symptoms. If an abnormal pap smear is detected, Plena IHC provides colposcopy and appropriate follow-up care. Annual physical exams, along with thorough lab work, are central to the clinic’s preventive care strategy. The clinic also offers services such as chiropractic care, massage therapy, and counseling.
Melody Mast, a fellow FNU graduate, became a partner at Plena IHC and joined in January 2024. Mast is also a graduate of Eastern Mennonite University, where McDonald-Brouwer earned her BSN. Their collaboration strengthens the clinic’s mission to provide individualized and holistic healthcare plans, incorporating herbal medicine, lifestyle changes, prescription medications, and medical therapies.
McDonald-Brouwer said the development of Plena IHC has been a true labor of love.
“I have loved serving the women in our community, and I have grown as a nurse-midwife and a women’s health nurse practitioner in a way that I was bold enough to start this clinic,” she said.
In addition to her clinical work, McDonald-Brouwer has served as a preceptor for students, maintaining a strong connection with FNU. She said she enjoys attending FNU conferences and values the opportunity to give back to students through mentorship and education.
Thank you, Tammie, for your commitment to providing compassionate, comprehensive care to your community.
To read more alumni stories, visit the FNU Alumni stories page.
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Oʻahu can seem like paradise, with its stunning beaches and lush tropical environment, but the Hawaiian island’s remote location often results in a shortage of resources – including a shortage of healthcare providers in almost every specialty.
Potter’s practice collaborates with the Knoxville Black Doula Collective, contributing to the Knoxville Black Maternal Health Symposium, and soon, will offer Spanish interpretive services. Additionally, they host monthly community breastfeeding classes and open-to-all postpartum support groups. Her commitment to maternal and perinatal mental health is highlighted by her certification through Postpartum Support International as a Certified Perinatal Mental Health Professional.
Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM)
Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)
Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner (WHNP)
Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP)
At the heart of Frontier Nursing University is a talented and diverse community of students, alumni, faculty, staff, Couriers and preceptors. Spotlight blogs feature members of our FNU community that are focused on the mission of educating nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners to deliver quality health care to underserved and rural populations.
“I knew that Frontier had the educational philosophy to support me to be successful in all three of my degrees…and its philosophy of education and service has continued to shape my work.”
“The work I want to focus on is our community response to migration in the Borderlands,” she said. Kiser has helped to create binational, service-learning opportunities where students can work together in interprofessional teams to address health issues specific to the border.
Frontier Nursing University (FNU)
In alignment with the school’s mission of
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).