Director and Associate Professor
Nursing Informatics Program
University of Maryland School of Nursing

cheryl.fisher@umaryland.edu

Sanketh Andharvarapu, is the co-founder of Vitalize Care, an early-stage start-up that is building AI-enabled software to help hospitals optimize how they schedule and deploy staff. The company has raised $3.8M in funding, and is already working with multiple health systems. Previously, he co-founded a virtual mental health platform to support healthcare professionals, which they partnered with the American Nurses Foundation to make accessible for nurses across the country. Prior to this, Sanketh published over 20 peer-reviewed papers in healthcare before the age of 21, and led strategy for a new AI product at a pediatric healthtech startup.

Blanca Badgett, MSN, RN, is a nurse informaticist at Oracle Health (formally Cerner). Her focus in the federal sector, helps deploy and optimize utilization of Oracle Health products. Most notably, supporting the Department of Defense on their global implementation efforts. Educationally, Blanca holds a Master of Science in Nursing with an emphasis in Nursing Informatics from Grand Canyon University and completed a practicum at the National Institute of Health. Passionate about advancing Nursing Informatics, Blanca mentors aspiring nurse informaticists and serves as a preceptor for graduate nursing informatics students.

Nancy Beale, PhD, RN, NI-BC, FAMIA
Chief Informatics Officer and Vice President of Clinical Informatics,Catholic Health

A healthcare professional for more than 39 years, Dr. Beale’s experience spans clinical care, operations, vendor, consulting, and IT operations. Nancy was recognized as the 2019 HIMSS ANI Nursing Informatics Leader of the Year. In 2024, Nancy joined Catholic Health Services in Long Island, New York as the vice president of clinical informatics and chief nursing informatics officer. Prior to joining Catholic Health Services, Nancy served as CNIO and President of Telemetrix and Affiliates. Additional past executive experience includes a leading clinical systems and integration for a large academic health system achieving HIMSS-6, HIMSS-7, HIMSS-Davies Award, and several innovation partnerships. Her work has included the development of an offshore partnership and leadership for the clinical systems implementation of a digital hospital in Manhattan. Nancy holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin Madison, focused on clinical technology adoption with a minor in human factors and design thinking. She received her master’s degree from Loyola University of Chicago in nursing with an emphasis in Health Systems and Healthcare Informatics and is also board certified in nursing informatics. Nancy is co-chair of the Alliance of Nursing Informatics (ANI) and a past co-chair for the Midwest Nursing Research Society-Health Systems, Policy & Informatics research interest group. Dr. Beale is a member of the IHE Board of Directors, the National Burden Reduction Collaborative, and the Nursing Knowledge Big Data Science workgroup. Dr. Beale previously served as the policy co-coordinator for the ANI, and is a past chair of the HIMSS Nursing Informatics committee. She has also previously served in leadership roles in AWHONN- Wisconsin. Nancy holds professional memberships in AONL, ACHE, AMIA, ANA, ANIA, AWHONN, HIMSS, MNRS, and Sigma Theta Tau. Her work has included partnerships with IT, vendors, and clinicians guiding systems strategy and clinical transformation as well as collaborative oversight and integration with revenue cycle systems and operations.

Research Scientist and Principal Investigator
University of Maryland Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security

Monique Beaudoin, Ph.D, is a Principal Investigator at the UMD Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS). At ARLIS, she leads projects across several mission areas including Human Performance; Artificial Intelligence, Autonomy, and Augmentation; and Cognitive Security (CogSec). She occasionally serves as a guest lecturer for UMD campus courses. She has published peer-reviewed journal articles on topics such as cognitive neuroenhancement and the impacts of technology on cognitive capabilities, and regularly serves as a peer reviewer for scientific journals. She is also on the industry advisory board of Outcomeus, a company focused on predictive health and chronic pain management. Previously, she was as a Technical Program Manager at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL), initiating the Warfighter Health Research Program and the Neurological Health and Human Performance Program leading multidisciplinary research programs related to physiology, neuroscience, and human performance for the DoD/USG. She has also served as a Navy Civilian, Associate Director/Science Director, at the US Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global in the London, UK office. Dr. Beaudoin has also worked as a Staff Scientist at Strategic Analysis, Inc. (Arlington, VA), providing scientific, engineering, and technical assistance to several US government S&T funding agencies; as a research assistant at the National Defense University; as a research assistant at the University of Massachusetts and for a private company; and as a private consultant in S&T. Dr. Beaudoin earned a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and BAs in Psychology and French/Francophone Studies from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Associate Professor and Director, Institute for Educators
Associate Dean for Faculty Development
University of Maryland School of Nursing

Susan Bindon is an Associate Professor and Director of the Institute for Educators, and Associate Dean for Faculty Development at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. She earned her BSN at the University of Pittsburgh, and her MS, graduate teaching certificate, and DNP at the University of Maryland School of Nursing.

She has extensive experience teaching in classroom, clinical, and online settings and has mentored many nurses and nurse educators to develop their teaching expertise. She supports clinical educators at the University of Maryland Medical Center and manages a statewide faculty development grant that has prepared over 600 clinical nursing faculty. She is a certified nurse educator and board certified in nursing professional development. She has authored peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and presented widely on effective teaching strategies and professional development.

She is the immediate past-president of the Association for Nursing Professional Development President and served as co-editor of the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development. She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, and in 2023 was recognized by the University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents Excellence in Teaching award and the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Nursing’s Distinguished Excellence in Teaching alumni award.

Co-Founder, MissingLogic

Dr. Tracy Christopherson co-founded Missing Logic® to bring Polarity Intelligence™—the “missing logic” in leadership—to leaders and organizations. Tracy co-authored the book Polarity Intelligence: The Missing Logic in Leadership and co-hosts of The TRU Leader Podcast. Dr. Tracy Christopherson is a respiratory therapist. Tracy has helped thousands of individuals and leaders apply Polarity Intelligence in their quest to create healthy, healing, collaborative work cultures and environments. She frequently speaks at national and international leadership conferences on the topics of Polarity Intelligence, Work Life Balance, and Healthy Work Environments.

Sr. Director, Population Health and SDoH
Maryland Physicians Care

Lorena de Leon, DPA, MBA, has more than 25 years of clinical and operational experience including program development, strategic planning, digital health and technology, and affordability/cost savings. She is currently the senior director of population health and social determinants of health for Maryland Physicians Care, the third largest Medicaid-managed care organization in Maryland. She has served in leadership roles for organizations including United Healthcare, Optum, Johns Hopkins, and the Office of Healthcare Quality. She holds a bachelor’s in business management, an MBA in healthcare management, and a doctorate in public administration from the University of Baltimore. She also holds a certificate in value-based care from the University of Houston and is Six Sigma Green Belt and Lean Six Sigma certified.

Co-Director, Associate Professor
Nursing Informatics Program
SINI2024 Co-Chair
University of Maryland School of Nursing

Cheryl A. Fisher, EdD, MSN, RN, is the specialty director for the nursing informatics program at the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON). She has a research background focused on teaching with technology, translating evidence into health care practices, and evaluating the integration of technology into practice. Dr. Fisher developed new programs for a clinical setting to meet identified learning needs using computer-based training and competency validation. She has taught nursing informatics in undergraduate and graduate levels for 10 years and has mentored many graduate students in evidence-based practice projects using technology in the clinical setting. Dr. Fisher developed a fellowship in evidence-based practice and led the UMSON faculty in the redesign of the new nursing informatics graduate program.

Susan Hull, MSN, RN-BC, NEA-BC, FAMIA, is a board-certified nurse executive and informaticist passionate about transforming health through co-production and community. Her experience builds on participation in the healthy community and learning health systems movements, spanning diverse roles including nursing and health system executive, healthy community partnership and community health information network executive, chief nursing and chief health informatics officer, and international consulting with Elsevier and Gartner. She serves as a Principal, Consumer Health Informaticist, in MITRE Labs Health Innovation Center, leading projects to develop a robust metadata model for metadata governance to support individual-level record linkage for pediatric research, advance social determinants of health interoperability and burden reduction, build data capacity for patient centered outcomes research, and realize a vision of improved health and well-being for the nation, powered by a digital health ecosystem. Susan is recognized as an inaugural Fellow with AMIA and serves on the Public Policy committee, Industry Partnership Council, and co-chairs the Alliance for Nursing Informatics (ANI). Susan represents ANI as a pacesetter and convener of the National Burden Reduction Collaborative, in partnership with AMIA and AMDIS. Susan was the 2017 recipient of the Don Eugene Detmer AMIA Leadership Award for Health Policy Contribution in Informatics.

Professor, Nursing Informatics
University of Maryland School of Nursing

Arpad Kelemen, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Organizational Systems and Adult Health at UMSON. He earned his PhD in Computer Science in 2002 from the University of Memphis with a focus on artificial intelligence research and software development. He earned his Master of Science degree in 1995 from the University of Szeged, Hungary in computer science and mathematics. His master’s thesis was also on artificial intelligence. His expertise spans diverse domains including biomedical informatics, human-computer interaction, software and game development, database development, artificial intelligence, and data mining. Kelemen has served as PI, Co-PI, and Co-I for multiple grants from National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Health Resources and Services Administration, and New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation. He has published more than 60 peer-reviewed journal papers and three books, Computational Intelligence in Bioinformatics, Computational Intelligence in Medical Informatics, and Deep Learning Techniques for Biomedical and Health Informatics. He developed a large-scale intelligent software agent for human-like decision-making for the job assignment problem. He develops models, algorithms, and intelligent systems for biomedical data, including health care, genomic, and clinical data. Kelemen has led innovative projects aimed at improving patient outcomes, including a motivational health game and cloud database. Since 1995, he has taught more than 25 different courses in computer science, informatics, and statistics at six universities. He currently teaches health care databases, human-technology interaction, and technology solutions for knowledge generation in health care and developed a course on artificial intelligence for nursing students. Passionate about nurturing the next generation of innovators, he mentors graduate students and programmers in the development of technology solutions to tackle health care challenges.

Dr. Alvin Jeffery is an Assistant Professor of Nursing and Biomedical Informatics at Vanderbilt University. He completed his PhD (Nursing Science & Health Services Research) at Vanderbilt University’s School of Nursing in 2017 and a Medical Informatics Post-Doctoral Fellowship with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Vanderbilt University’s Department of Biomedical Informatics in 2019. Dr. Jeffery previously held an AHRQ/PCORI K12 focused on Learning Healthcare Systems and implementation science. He is currently funded by an NIH/NIDA Avenir DP1 to develop precision phenotypes for substance use disorders with the aim of accelerating genetics studies as well as the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators focused on customizing electronic health record systems for diverse users and settings. He has a background in pediatric critical care nursing and as a staff educator at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. He holds board certifications in pediatric critical care nursing and as a Family Nurse Practitioner. He is a former Emerging Leader with the Alliance of Nursing Informatics.

Chief Nursing Information Officer
Zebra Technologies

Rikki Jennings, BSN, RN, CPN, currently holds the position of Industry Principal Lead at Zebra Technologies. In this strategic role, she is responsible for ensuring that the voice of the market is incorporated into the North American Sales Strategy. Her team, encompassing a diverse range of expertise from retail and manufacturing to healthcare and warehouse management, aids in creating a comprehensive understanding of market needs.

Previously serving as the Chief Nursing Informatics Officer (CNIO) and Manager of Healthcare & Government Sales, Rikki has always had a strong affinity for technology's role in improving work experience. Her career has been driven by a passion for understanding and optimizing the use of technologies in healthcare settings. This dedication was recognized in 2019 when she was named one of Crain’s Chicago Business’ Notable Women in Healthcare.

Rikki obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Iowa. With a career marked by continuous learning and growth, she remains at the forefront of integrating market trends and sales strategy in the tech industry.

Adjunct Professor
Walden University School of Nursing

Brenda Kulhanek has been involved in nursing education for more than 20 years and has served in faculty roles at the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, Walden University, and Galen College of Nursing in education, leadership, and informatics programs at the graduate level. Her past employment includes division vice president of clinical education for TriStar Health and assistant vice president of clinical education at HCA Healthcare, both in Nashville, Tennessee, and corporate director of clinical practice at Adventist Health in Sacramento, California. She holds a PhD from Capella University, a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Walden University, and is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. She was a founding member and past president of the Association for Nursing Professional Development of Middle Tennessee, a past president of the American Nursing Informatics Association, and a current co-chair of the Nursing Knowledge Big Data Initiative Policy and Advocacy

Assistant Professor
Medical University of South Carolina

Education has been a primary focus during Lisa’s 35 years of nursing. Past positions include neonatal outreach educator, clinical instructor, and twelve years as the leader of Nursing Professional Development in both a large academic medical center and divisional health system. She is extensively involved in professional organizations that promote nursing scholarship and education serving as past president of the South Carolina Coastal Affiliate of the ANPD, ANPD Public Policy Committee member and past President of the Gamma Omicron at-Large Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau. She also served on the Executive Board of Directors for the Lowcountry Area Health Education Center.

In her current role, she teaches interprofessional education and collaborative practice to students in cardiovascular perfusion, dental medicine, medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physical therapy, physician assistant, speech language pathology, and other basic and clinical sciences health professions. The importance of quality, clinical and nursing informatics and interprofessional teamwork to achieve the highest quality patient outcomes is integrated throughout the course work at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Tom Lawry is a leading AI transformation advisor to health and medical leaders around the world, a top keynote speaker, and the best-selling author of Hacking Healthcare – How AI and the Intelligent Health Revolution Will Reboot an Ailing System. He’s the Managing Director of Second Century Tech and a former Microsoft exec who served as National Director for AI for Health and Life Sciences, Director of Worldwide Health, and Director of Organizational Performance for the company’s first health incubator. Prior to Microsoft, Tom was a Senior Director at GE Healthcare, the founder of two venture-backed healthcare software companies, a health system executive, and board member. Tom’s work and views have been featured in Forbes, CEO Magazine, Harvard Business Review, CNET, Inside Precision Medicine, and numerous webcasts and podcasts. In a Harris Poll of 2023 JP Morgan Healthcare Conference attendees, Tom was named one of the most recognized leaders driving change and engagement in healthcare today. He has also been named one of the Top 20 AI Voices to Watch.

Assistant Professor
Family and Community Health
University of Maryland School of Nursing

Dr. Mueller-Burke has a clinical focus in the Neonatal Intensive Care arena where she spent most of her career as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) PhD program with a focus in neonatal neurophysiology. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University in a genetics laboratory with a focus in stem cell biology. Her research area was in newborn brain injury and hypothermia to improve outcomes. She shifted her focus to leadership and educational based endeavors once joining the faculty at the University of Maryland School of Nursing in 2004 and has taught across all programs. She is a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and continues to practice in the NICU at the University of Maryland Medical Center. In 2011 she served as the Faculty Chair of the DNP Transition Task Force incorporating the AACN Essentials, leading all the Advanced Practice tracks to the Doctor of Nursing practice (DNP) in the Fall 2014. She is currently the Chair of the Curricular Revisions Taskforce at UMSON, transforming entry and advanced practice programs to the 2021 Essentials. As an AACN Essentials Champion and Coach, and the co-lead for the AACN Essentials Curricular Workgroup, as well as a member of the NONPF Curricular Leadership Committee, she is part of the national dialogue and consultant on curricular revisions and speaks at various venues around implementation of the AACN Essentials and the move to competency-based education.

Epidemiologist
Maryland Physicians Care

Bryce Parker, MPH, has been with Maryland Physicians Care in the role of epidemiologist on the Population Health Analytics Team for the past two years. On the team, he develops models and provides technical and analytical expertise to improve health outcomes for Maryland Medicaid members. He has served as an epidemiologist at the local, state, and federal levels working on projects ranging from COVID-19 variant sequencing analysis with the CDC Foundation to providing oversight and guidance for infectious disease outbreaks for the West Virgina Department of Health. Parker obtained his degrees in epidemiology from Indiana University.

Vice President
Applications, Digital Health & Predictive Health
Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Health System

Anna Schoenbaum, DNP, RN, NI-BC, FHIMSS, is the vice president of applications and digital health at Penn Medicine, where she oversees a wide range of applications and digital solutions to transform the health ecosystem to improve health and achieve health equity. She has been instrumental in the transformative integration of health care information technology and created practice and policy standards at local and national levels. Schoenbaum received her Doctor of Nursing Practice and Master of Science degrees from UMSON and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the Medical College of Georgia. She is board certified in informatics and is a fellow member of the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS). Currently, she serves on the Maryland HIMSS Board of Directors and as an adjunct faculty member at UMSON, where she teaches at the graduate level and sits on the Nursing Informatics Advisory Board. Schoenbaum is also an active member of HIMSS on a global level, serving as the co-chair of the Nursing Informatics Innovation Committee. She is also the 2023 HIMSS and ANI Changemaker Nursing Informatics award winner.

Charlotte Seckman, PhD, RN, NI-BC, CNE, FAAN is a board-certified informatics nurse with a PhD in nursing informatics, a master’s in nursing administration and education, and a master’s certificate in Aging and Thanatology. As a leader in nursing informatics, with over 30 years of practice experience, Dr. Seckman’s work to explore ways to improve care using innovative and emerging technologies has been disseminated, published, and recognized nationally and internationally. She has extensive experience in the analysis, design, testing, implementation, and evaluation of a variety of EHR and digital health systems in both the government and private sectors. Her recent endeavors involve the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare to include invitations as an expert speaker at international conferences. As an Associate Professor at the UMSON, Dr. Seckman coordinates, develops, and teaches nursing informatics courses at the masters and DNP level, mentors and advises graduate level students, and prepares future generations of nurses to leverage informatics competencies for leadership roles in health care.

is a nurse informaticist and the senior user experience research lead in clinical trial software company. In 2017 she implemented one of the first design thinking courses in a nursing school at NYU's Rory Meyers College of Nursing and was one of twelve nurses selected nationally for the Johnson & Johnson nurse innovation fellowship program in 2020. Joanna was on winning interdisciplinary teams in Nurse Hack 4 Health and MIT's Hacking Racism in Healthcare hackathons and in 2021 became the co-creator of the Nurses You Should Know project, a free online micro-learning platform designed to help nurses engage in a more expansive nursing history beyond Florence Nightingale.

is a clinical social worker, certified diversity practitioner, and workforce developer. She excels in designing and implementing impactful programs, projects, and initiatives. Tori’s superpower is the ability to bring together diverse populations and unite them under a shared vision to accomplish goals and reach milestones.

Through her skillful application of education, mentorship, and coaching, she empowers individuals and teams to achieve their highest potential. Tori currently serves as the CEO of Globally Empowered, a consulting firm dedicated to advancing the workforce through assessment; strategy; coaching; training; program/project design, implementation, and management; content creation; and writing/editing with a health equity, diversity, inclusion (HEDI) lens. Her unwavering commitment to fostering growth and creating positive change fuels the firm’s mission of transforming healthcare and other industries through innovative strategies, digital tools, and inclusive practices.

tori@globallyempowered.com

Cory Stephens, DNP, RN-BC, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, is an assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. Previously, he worked at the National Institutes of Health as a nurse consultant - informatics. Throughout his career, Stephens has developed custom clinical decision support in support of clinical research; modernized an in-person electronic health record (EHR) training program to one that is role-based and accessible anywhere in an online learning management system; implemented a mobile EHR application; designed another mobile app for nurses and other clinicians to access reference materials; guided the development of a homegrown telehealth program at the start of the pandemic; pushed the organization forward in its adoption of Microsoft 365 applications by teaching nurses, other clinicians, and staff how and why to use modern communication and collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams, Bookings, and Forms; and taught nurses and other information technology staff how to optimize and automate workflows using Power Automate. Stephens has enjoyed precepting nursing informatics graduate students and preparing them for successful careers. Stephens completed his DNP focused on strategies for nurse leaders to promote the integration of information and communication technologies like Microsoft Teams into nursing practice.

Kim Stevens, DNP, MSN, RN, NI-BC, CPHIMS, FHIMSS provides informatics guidance and acts as a liaison between clinical and IT departments in healthcare operations, leveraging both clinical knowledge and informatics knowledge to provide innovative solutions. Dr. Stevens is a Registered Nurse with over 30 years of practice who began her nursing career in 1993 with an Associate of Nursing degree from Golden West College in Huntington Beach, CA as an infirmary nurse at a juvenile detention center servicing the misguided and underserved teenage population in Compton, CA. She later transitioned her practice to emergency medicine for both the pediatric and adult population and graduated with her Bachelor of Science in nursing from Walden University in 2011. In 2013, she graduated from Walden University with an Master’s of Science in Nursing specializing in Nursing Informatics and practiced as a Nurse Informaticist for Howard University Hospital, Southern Regional Hospital, The George Washington University Hospital, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland where she supervised the Electronic Health Record (EHR) training team and the User Access Management team as well as served as an coordinator of practicum experiences for graduate-level nursing informatics students. Dr. Stevens completed Walden University’s Doctor of Nursing Practice curriculum with a focus in clinical informatics in 2019 and is currently advocating on improving usability of information systems and clinical applications for clinical end-users. She has also practiced as a Senior Clinical Informaticist with the Cerner Corporation Bear Institute in Washington D.C., and for the Task Force for Global Health. Currently she practices as a Clinical Informatics Associate Manager for Accenture Corporation and a Limited Term Lecturer at Purdue University Northwest, College of Nursing, Nursing Informatics course for ungraduated and graduate students and Contributing faculty to DNP students at Walden University. She published Reducing Errors with Blood Administration Transfusion Systems and presented for Sigma Theta Tau, HIMSS20 Digital User-Centered EHR Training Drives and Organizational Efficiency and Summer Institute in Nursing Informatics SINI2021: Real-World Evidence. Dr. Stevens is a member of Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), American Nursing Informatics Association (ANIA), SIGMA Theta Tau International (Gamma Beta and Phi Nu Chapters), DOC (DNPs of Color), Society of Nurses Scientists, Innovators, Entrepreneurs & Leaders (SONSIEL) and the National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS).

Co-Founder, MissingLogic

Michelle Troseth co-founded Missing Logic® to bring Polarity Intelligence™—the “missing logic” in leadership—to leaders and organizations. Michelle is co-author of the book Polarity Intelligence: The Missing Logic in Leadership and co-host of The TRU Leader Podcast. Michelle Troseth is a nurse, a recognized global thought leader, the past president of the National Academies of Practice, and a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. She frequently speaks at national and international leadership conferences on the topics of Polarity Intelligence, Work Life Balance, and Healthy Work Environments.

Assistant Professor, Dr. Van de Castle’s work focuses on data stewardship, quality improvement, social determinants of health and global health informatics. She is a past-SINI Chair and is involved with many different projects and research and enjoys working with the many different roles in nursing informatics. Dr. Van de Castle teaches in the DNP and is one of the course directors for the DNP Project courses. She has been a Certified Informatics Specialist for many years and brings her expertise to many different levels of nursing and healthcare.

Associate Chief Medical Officer
Emergency Medicine Medical Director
UM St. Joseph Medical Center

Ben Vanlandingham, MD, is a practicing emergency medicine physician at the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center in Baltimore. He also serves as Associate Chief Medicine Officer and Medical Director of Informatics. He holds an MD from Mayo Medical School in Rochester, MN, and he completed his Emergency Medicine residency and was Chief Resident at the University of Arizona, and he did a fellowship in health services research as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Director of Technical Services,
Center of Digital and Data Excellence, PATH

Olivia Vélez, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, is a health informaticist leading global digital transformation as the director of technical services for PATH. With a commitment to advancing global health, she spearheads transformative initiatives, overseeing the digital health and data science teams. As co-chair emeritus of the Global Digital Health Network, she passionately guides the Women’s Leadership workshop and supports the network in the planning and execution of the Global Digital Health Forum. Driven by the belief that digital health tools are pivotal in strengthening health systems, reducing global health inequities, and fostering a resilient health workforce, she stands as a dedicated advocate for the intersection of technology and health equity on a global scale.

Public Health Nurse III
Fairfax County Health Department

Maricel Villarivera, MSN, RN, with 17 years of nursing experience spanning diverse sectors, Maricel Villarivera is a seasoned healthcare professional. Currently serving as the Assistant Nurse Manager for School Health at the Fairfax County Health Department, she demonstrates exceptional leadership skills honed through roles in both federal and local government.

Maricel's clinical background includes specialized work in adult cardiac telemetry and military outpatient clinic settings, where her commitment to patient care has always been exemplary. Furthermore, her proficiency in healthcare informatics was further refined during her tenure as a Nurse Informaticist at FedPoint LLC, where she supported the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a government contractor, particularly in the Biomedical Translational Research Information System (BTRIS).

Maricel holds a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) with a specialization in Health Informatics from Grand Canyon University (GCU), reflecting her dedication to advancing her knowledge and skills in healthcare technology.

With a passion for improving healthcare delivery and patient outcomes, Maricel continues to make meaningful contributions to the field while empowering her colleagues with knowledge and leadership.

Surayya Walters, BS, is a social entrepreneur, speaker, journalist, and leader who is passionate about tackling social issues through her work. She is the founder of iDEIntity, a nonprofit that is dedicated to bringing diversity, equity, and inclusion to the startup ecosystem. She is also the founder and community manager of Innovanoire, a social initiative designed to help young women of color launch entrepreneurial careers and ventures. Lastly, she spends her free time as a host of Purposeful Professional Media, where she interviews diverse and emerging professionals on their intersectional career narratives. She is an entrepreneur who is dedicated to uplifting the marginalized and finding creative ways to live her purpose and make an impact. Her writing has been featured in Jopwell’s The Well, The Daily Pennsylvanian, Wharton Magazine, and Feature Female; amongst other publications.

Walters graduated from The Wharton School in 2022, receiving her bachelor’s degree in economics, with concentrations in management and marketing as well as a minor in urban education policy. She has received various fellowships and awards, including Humanity in Action’s Racial Equity Fellowship, the LeadNext Fellowship, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Award For Outstanding Leadership and Service. Additionally, Walters was a 2023 Watson Institute Social Entrepreneurial Fellow and an entrepreneur in residence for Bubble Immerse, their premier accelerator for founders of color seeking to build technical skills. Recently, she was named a 2024 Next Mover through Bumble, a group of eight international women leaders challenging the status quo and changing the world.