Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses

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Emerging Leaders2025-05-16T18:25:58+00:00

AWHONN Emerging Leaders Program

The call for applications to the 2025-26 Emerging Leaders Program is now closed. We are grateful for the many AWHONN members who applied to be part of such a transformative program! Candidates will go through an initial round of applications, the second round consisting of a 30-minute interview, with finalists to be notified by mid-November.

The Emerging Leaders Program is an intensive leadership development opportunity that offers individuals a chance to refine their leadership purpose, leadership acumen, and develop strategies to transform themselves, AWHONN and the nursing profession. AWHONN is focusing our Emerging Leaders Program on developing leaders to support our organizational commitment to diversity, inclusion and equity, and reducing maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. This Program is partially sponsored by AWHONN’s Every Woman, Every Baby.

All are welcome to apply, and we strongly encourage nurses from under-represented communities to apply. The emerging leader cohorts represent diversity across race, age, gender, sexual orientation, geographical location, and nursing specialty. Strong applicants should show a commitment to the program; open-ness to leadership development and transformation; desire to build and nourish a community of support; and a hunger to make positive change.

Sponsorship from your organization is highly recommended to help share the cost of the tuition with AWHONN as the value of the Emerging Leader program is $15,000 per participant. If you have organizational support, please complete the Sponsorship Intent Form, indicating the amount of your organization’s intended support and upload this with your application. While employer sponsorship is highly recommended, it is not required to apply, nor would the lack of sponsorship factor into a member’s application for consideration into the program.

Program details

  • In-Person Retreats
  • Emerging Leader Pre-Convention Immersion: June 19 and June 20, 2025 (Orlando, FL)
  • 2025 AWHONN Convention: June 21-25, 2025 (Orlando, FL)
  • Emerging Leader Immersion at Leadership Development Conference: January/February 2026 (location to be determined, dates tentative)
  • Leadership Development Conference: January/February 2026 (location to be determined, dates tentative)
  • Emerging Leader Capitol Hill Day Immersion: April 2026 (Washington, DC – dates tentative)
  • AWHONN Capitol Hill Program: April 2026 (Washington, DC – dates tentative)
  • Emerging Leader Graduation: June 3, 2026 (Orlando, FL)
  • AWHONN Convention 2025: June 6-10, 2026 (Orlando, FL)

***EMPLOYER SPONSORSHIP ENCOURAGED***

Please reach out to Mark Arucan at emergingleaders@awhonn.org if you’d like to discuss this opportunity further.

Meet the 2024 – 2025 AWHONN Emerging Leaders

Learn more about the 2023-2024 cohort.

Learn more about our 2022-2023 cohort.

2024-2025 AWHONN Emerging Leader

Oluseyi Abatan, MPH, BSN, RNC-MNN is a Women’s Health Nursing Administrator. Working at WellStar Medical Group in Atlanta, Georgia. In this role, she is responsible for the clinical leadership of all women’s health clinics within the system.

Oluseyi recognized her interest in women’s health earlier in her career at Northwell Health System in New York, where she served as staff nurse and Charge nurse on mother-baby and antepartum units. In 2016, she relocated to Georgia and worked at Emory Decatur on the antepartum, and L&D units. She gained formal leadership experience over four years working at Grady Health System and Northside Health System, as a Nurse Manager and Clinical Supervisor.

Her nursing career has been dedicated to creating efficient workflow for nurses, promoting quality and safe care as well as improving outcomes for all women. Fostering a culture of nursing excellence through leadership, collaboration, advocacy, and innovation, empowering a skilled workforce to deliver world-class healthcare in the ambulatory setting. As an Emerging Leader, I hope to expand my depth as an effective leader and effect positive change in my organization and in the community.

2024-2025 AWHONN Emerging Leader

Dedevie Booth, BSN, RN, C-EFM, is a Nurse Leader in the Labor, Delivery, Recovery, and Postpartum (LDRP) unit at a community hospital in upstate New York. With over a decade of experience in maternal health, Dedevie is known for her commitment to improving patient care, fostering collaboration, and enhancing nursing practices. As Chair of the Nurse Practice Council, she has led initiatives prioritizing patient safety and professional development, earning her the Daisy Award for her dedication to clinical excellence. 

Currently pursuing a Master of Science in Nursing Management and Quality Leadership, Dedevie is focused on expanding her leadership capabilities. She is also participating in the AWHONN Emerging Leaders Program, where she aims to bridge gaps in care between prenatal, labor, and postpartum services. Her goal is to ensure seamless, quality care beyond the hospital and develop leadership skills to drive her continued impact in maternal healthcare. 

2024 – 2025 AWHONN Emerging Leader

Allison Dubiner, BSN, RNC-OB, C-EFM, CBC has just begun her career in obstetrics nursing and has already discovered her passion for empowering parents during their pregnancy and childbirth experiences.  

She currently has three years of experience as a nurse in high risk obstetrics in teaching hospitals in both postpartum and labor and delivery units. In her short time, she has developed an interest in improving the experiences of birthing peoples by focusing on creating a labor and delivery experience in which the birthing person feels safe and in control while employing evidence-based practices.  

Outside of obstetrics, she has a passion for foreign languages, which she also employs in her research of the obstetric nursing experience of caring for birthing people with limited English proficiency. Faced with several systemic problems in her clinical practice, as an Emerging Leader, she hopes to gain the skills and professional network necessary to improve the quality of care for all birthing people, regardless of age, race, sexuality, gender identity, religion, and language spoken.  

2024-2025 AWHONN Emerging Leader

Jessica Farmer, BSN, RN, joins the Emerging Leaders 2024 cohort with a diverse professional background rooted in trauma-informed care, patient-centered advocacy, and comprehensive reproductive health education. Her path to nursing started with her work serving LGBTQ+ survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and hate crimes. This firsthand experience highlighted the importance of advocating for people who often remain voiceless in complex healthcare systems. 

In 2015, she graduated from the Research College of Nursing, embarking on a decade-long career as a bedside RN, primarily in high-risk obstetrics. Notably, from 2020 to 2024, she served as Co-Chair of the Practice Council on her Labor and Delivery unit at The University of Kansas Hospital. While there she initiated quality improvement projects, including standardizing QBL in the OR, providing trauma-informed care to adolescent pregnant patients, and establishing a support group for antepartum patients. 

As an Emerging Leader, Jessica looks forward to connecting with passionate healthcare innovators  who amplify the voices of patients, and learning from the other leaders in her cohort. Her goal is to continue to interweave advocacy and education into her nursing career by collaborating with others working in the perinatal mental health space and by amplifying the voices of her peers. 

 

2024-2025 AWHONN Emerging Leader

Stephanie Jurado is a dedicated healthcare leader who has spent much of her nursing career improving the perinatal experience for pregnant patients and their families. With extensive experience in leadership, Stephanie has developed a passion for change management and quality improvement. She has been a driving force in creating new policies and practices that redefine quality healthcare and elevate safety standards in maternal care. Currently, she is applying her combined clinical expertise and business insight to explore and enhance the ambulatory side of women’s health, understanding the diverse needs women face throughout various stages of life.

As a 2024 AWHONN Emerging Leader, Stephanie is excited about the opportunity to learn, share knowledge, and collaborate with fellow nurse leaders. She is eager to gain deeper insight into how AWHONN is driving meaningful change in the community and is committed to actively participating in those efforts. Stephanie looks forward to applying her skills and leadership to contribute to AWHONN’s mission, helping to shape the future of women’s health and give back to the community she serves.

Tracie Kincel, MSN-RN

2023-2024 AWHONN Emerging Leader

Berenice is a dedicated Perinatal Clinical Nurse Specialist at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, home to the only labor and delivery unit in Chula Vista and the closest to the Tijuana, Mexico border. With over a decade of experience in labor and delivery, she holds a master’s degree in nursing and is currently pursuing a PhD in Nursing.  

As a recognized leader and educator, Berenice is passionate about helping nurses find their spark at the bedside through mentorship, empowering them to practice at their fullest potential and contributing to the reduction of maternal mortality and morbidity.  I chose to become an emerging leader because I am deeply committed to decreasing maternal mortality and morbidity, and the program will help me develop connections and relationships with people around the country from whom I can learn.  

The Emerging Leader program is designed to set me up for success, enabling me to better educate my team and prepare them to be critical thinkers, ultimately making a significant impact in this critical area. 

Jessica Phillips BSN, RNC-OB, C-EFM, CCE

2024-2025 AWHONN Emerging Leader

Kimber Stovesand has worked in reproductive health for close to a decade. She first began her career working within her home state of North Carolina before becoming a travel nurse and helping units across the country. She is now completing her senior year of midwifery school at East Carolina University.  

She currently serves on several committees and boards committed to improvement, education and advocacy both on her unit and through national organizations such as AWHONN. She does this by serving on the Healthy Mom and Baby Editorial board, Content Advisory Board for the AWHONN Insights podcast, and participating in the Departmental Change Committee on her unit. 

As a 2024 AWHONN Emerging Leader, she hopes to strengthen her leadership and communication skills to make real, tangible improvements within the reproductive health field. She wants to empower marginalized communities with education and advocacy in an effort to end poor maternal and neonatal outcomes.  

Tracie Kincel, MSN-RN

2024-2025 AWHONN Emerging Leader

M. Cristina Zuniga (she/ her/hers) is a registered nurse with 19 years of experience in various perinatal settings. She holds several professional certifications including Inpatient Obstetric Nursing (RNC-OB), Electronic Fetal Monitoring (C-EFM), and Obstetric and Neonatal Quality and Safety (C-ONQS). She has led birthing classes to expecting families, taught clinical and didactic courses to nursing students and provided continuing education for perinatal nurses. Currently, she is the perinatal clinical nurse educator for a large hospital in the San Francisco Bay Area where she focuses on promoting evidence-based practices and advocacy.  

2024-2025 AWHONN Emerging Leader

Tischara Walther MSN, RNC-MNN, IBCLC, CPST started nursing in 2006 as and LVN graduated with RN in 2010, BSN in 2014, and MSN in 2018. Been working in the OB world since 2012 and dedicated to Postpartum in 2018. In 2019 was a dedicated Lactation counselor in the lactation department. In October 2021 became the supervisor for the OB department. Became Postpartum manager in August2022, and current. In addition to the OB world she was the coordinator for YoungLives of Round Rock, TX, which is a Christian based non-profit for teen moms for 6 years. Lastly was she was a OB adjunct for National Amrican University from 2017-2019 and UTA from 2018-2021. 

Shakira Henderson, PhD, DNP, MS, MPH, EMBA, RNC-NIC, IBCLC
Past-President

Shakira Henderson has been a longtime volunteer with AWOHNN at the local, regional, and national level.

Dr. Shakira Henderson is a hospital-based nurse researcher, health educator, and certified neonatal nurse. Currently, she is the Vice President, Research Officer/Clinical Research Integration Officer for UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine. She holds dual doctoral degrees, PhD and DNP, master’s degrees in public health, anatomical sciences, and advanced neonatal nursing practice with a sub-specialization in nursing education. She has been awarded two national AWHONN awards – leadership and practice.

Amber Weiseth, DNP, MSN, RNC-OB
Director

Amber Weiseth is a Research Scientist at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Director for the Delivery Decisions Initiative at Ariadne Labs. In this role, she leads a research and advocacy portfolio focused on improving dignity and safety in childbirth and reducing racial and ethnic disparities.

Amber has been an obstetric nurse for 20 years, specializing in maternal-child health, quality improvement, and systems innovation.

Prior to joining Ariadne Labs, Amber served as Assistant Director for Maternal-Infant Health Initiatives at the Washington State Hospital Association where she led safety and quality improvement in the state’s birthing hospitals.

Shellie R. Nelson, PhD, RNC-OB
Director

Shellie Nelson has recently completed her her PhD in Nursing Science.

Shellie Nelson, RN, MS has faithfully given her time to Women’s Services as a nurse, charge nurse, manager and director. Her clinical experience includes an outstanding academic background which includes; a BBA in accounting from Prairie View A&M University, a BSN in nursing from Avila University, and a Master’s of Science in Health Systems Management from Texas Woman’s University. Shellie is currently in her final stages of studies for her PhD in Nursing Science.

Elizabeth A. McIntire, MSN, RN, WHNP-BC, C-EFM
Director

Beth McIntire earned her BSN from DePauw University and her MSN-WHNP from Indiana University. She has 39 years of inpatient perinatal and women’s health nursing. Outpatient experience consists of maternal fetal medicine and general OB/GYN practices.

Her achievements include developing the largest maternal transport program in Indiana and being a finalist in the Indianapolis Business Journal Health Care Hero Award. She has lectured extensively on fetal heart rate monitoring, perinatal safety, high-risk obstetrics, and maternal transport. Beth is the IU Health Ball Service Line Leader with strategic and operational oversight of level III perinatal service.

Mary Dawn Koenig, FACNM, PhD, RN
Director

Mary Dawn Koenig is an Associate Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Nursing. Born in Canada, she received her BScN from McMaster University, her MSN with a specialty in midwifery from Yale University, and her PhD in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania.

The overarching aim of her research is to improve maternal and child health outcomes, specifically by studying how these outcomes are affected by the bidirectional relationship between nutritional status and the development and function of the body’s immune and inflammatory response. She approaches this through several lines of inquiry: 1) evaluating the effect of inflammation on nutritional status; 2) investigating inflammatory mechanisms that lead to poor outcomes; and 3) mitigating the negative effects of inflammation. Dr. Koenig has been active in the care of pregnant people for over 27 years. She has been an active member in AWHONN during this time, serving as an abstract reviewer and corresponding and panel member of the Research Advisory Panel. She volunteered as a community advisory board member for the March of Dimes. Dr. Koenig works with the community organization NewMoms where she provides programming related to nutrition, meal planning, and stress reduction techniques.

Debbie Ketchum, DNP, MAOM, RN, NEA-BC, RNC-MNN, C-EFM
Director

Debbie Ketchum is a wife and mother to two children. Currently a Doctor of Nursing practice leader as a director of nursing practice across the continuum of care including women’s and children’s for St. Luke’s Health System.

A nurse of 28 years starting as a commissioned officer with the U.S. Army and has worked at large academic, rural settings and ambulatory primarily focusing on obstetrics, the care of women and children, and leadership.

Elizabeth Kester, MSN, RN, NEA-BC
Director

Elizabeth Kester is a nurse leader and passionate advocate for women’s rights and patient-centric and empowered birth experiences.

Elizabeth is the Vice President, Clinical Services at Pomelo Care, a virtual maternity care program delivering 24/7 personalized care via telemedicine to improve pregnancy outcomes and reduce disparities. Elizabeth also serves as the Marketing Director for March for Moms, a national advocacy organization that promotes policies to ensure that every family can grow with dignity and support. In this role, she has partnered with many professional societies, leading maternal health organizations, and industry partners to advocate in Washington, D.C.

Elizabeth holds an advanced degree in communications, specializing in marketing and design, having enjoyed a successful career in advertising before she transitioned to women’s health nursing. Elizabeth has experience delivering care in maternity services in vastly different settings, from rural critical access hospitals to large academic medical centers and now virtually. She resides in southern New Hampshire and Harwich, Massachusetts, with her husband and two children.

Katrina J. Johnson, MSN/Ed, RN
Director

Katrina Johnson has served in the roles of nurse manager, assistant nurse manager/educator and simulation coordinator in women’s and perinatal health. She has been an AWHONN member for over 15+ years.

Katrina is a passionate, committed patient advocate of women and newborns by supporting them through equitable, culturally sensitive care. She actively promotes healthcare equity and best practices to improve the outcomes of underrepresented mothers and their newborns through education and advocacy.

Katrina has served in the roles of nurse manager, assistant nurse manager/educator and simulation coordinator in women’s and perinatal health. She has been an AWHONN member for over 15+ years. Katrina is currently an adjunct professor at West Coast University, an AWHONN intermediate and advanced fetal monitoring instructor/mentor, Neonatal Resuscitation, BLS instructor and TeamSTEPPS master trainer.

Veritta Henderson, PhD, FACCE, C-EFM
Director

Veritta Henderson is the Director of Northside Hospital Gwinnett Women’s Pavilion in Lawrenceville, Georgia. She has been a perinatal nurse on Mother/Baby and Labor & Delivery units early in her career. She worked in Public Health and accepted a wide breadth of leadership positions over her 31 years as a women’s health nurse.

Dr. Henderson speaks on the local, state, and national levels about perinatal nursing, and is a researcher and published author on the topic of perinatal preceptorship. She is passionate about maternal morbidity and mortality, perinatal disparities, and the education of nurses. Veritta has been active in her GA chapter of AWHONN and worked as the Newsletter Editor and Membership Coordinator for her chapter. She has been a member of AWHONN for many years and was the Chair for the AWHONN VTE in Pregnancy Advisory Board in 2018, helping co-write the practice brief. Veritta is a journal peer reviewer, a college professor, an advocate for the patient and the healthcare team that cares for women and newborns. Dr. Henderson has a PhD in Nursing from Walden University, a MSN from Gonzaga University, and a BSN from University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Julie Zimmerman MSN, RNC-OB, C-EFM
Secretary-Treasurer

Julie Zimmerman is a staff nurse at UnityPoint – St. Luke’s Hospital Birth Care Center in Cedar Rapids, IA.

Julie has a BSN and MSN in Women’s Health from the University of Iowa College of Nursing. For over 40 years, she has been a staff nurse at UnityPoint – St. Luke’s Hospital Birth Care Center in Cedar Rapids, IA. Julie also serves as nurse residency program facilitator. She teaches EFM and POEP AWHONN programs and was previously an educational outreach coordinator.

Rose L. Horton, FAAN, NEA-BC, RNC-OB
President-Elect

Rose Horton is the Specialty Director Emory Decatur Hospital in Decatur, Georgia.

Rose L. Horton, MSM, RNC-OB, NEA-BC, FAAN Joined AWHONN in 1999, served on Nominating Committee (twice), DEI Taskforce, BOD, President, RMC Toolkit Team lead, Synova Associates Executive Nurse Leader Advisory, Count the Kicks Executive Board Regis University, MSM, BSN.

Cheryl Bellamy, DNP, APRN, CNM, CNS-C, C-EFM
President

Cheryl Bellamy is a Perinatal Clinical Nurse Specialist at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit Michigan. She has over 20 years of experience in obstetrics with focus in the clinical areas of Labor and Delivery, Postpartum, High Risk Antepartum, Normal Newborn, and Women’s Health. Cheryl trained as a certified nurse midwife and is regularly invited to present on a host of clinical topics related to the care of women and newborns.

Cheryl’s 15+ years of AWHONN leadership experience includes: National Board of Directors; Michigan & Detroit Chapter Leader; Chair-National Awards of Excellence Committee; 2012 Emerging Leader; Maternal Morbidity/Mortality Task Force, and the DEI Committee; Past Member-Public Policy Committee; Writing Teams-Racism and Bias in Maternity Setting Position Statement, and Standards and Guidelines of Professional Nursing Practice; Designated Instructor-Intermediate & Advanced Fetal Monitoring Courses; Author- Fetal Heart Monitoring Principles and Practice (2-chapters).

Cheryl served as Co-chair-Michigan Safe Sleep Action Committee; Advisory Board-Michigan Obstetrics Initiative; Facilitator-Unconscious Bias & Respectful Maternity Care (local/state); Member-SE Michigan Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative; and Primary Investigator-Impact of Nursing Labor Support on Reducing Cesareans.

Albert Jimenez
Outsourced Chief Financial Officer

Albert brings over 15 years of public accounting experience in the financial services industry. He works for Marcum, LLP in the nonprofit industry and social sector.

He joined the firm (as Raffa) in 2008 as a Staff accountant and has since been promoted to Director. Prior to joining Marcum, Albert was a senior auditor for Ernst & Young in the Philippines.

Albert also oversees project teams on various client assignments. Albert has performed a myriad of accounting functions for organizations such as the Wallace Global Fund, Gavi Alliance, Salzburg Global Seminar, Distributive Education Clubs of America and Colorectal Cancer Alliance.

Albert is a licensed CPA in the state of Virginia and the District of Columbia and holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accountancy from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines.

Benjamin Scheich, MS
Vice President, Analytics, Operations, Policy and Strategic Initiatives

Ben joined AWHONN in 2008 and is responsible for managing the Analytics, Education Operations, Policy and Strategic Initiatives for the association.

Ben’s focus is on using data and analytics to better understand AWHONN member needs and develop resources to meet those needs. Ben is passionate about process improvement and creating automated, just-in-time analytics resources to manage product metrics.

Ben has a Master’s Degree in Biostatistics from Georgetown University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from the University of Virginia. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and enjoys speaking about analytics in associations.

Danielle Jones, PhD, MPH
Vice President of Accountability, Belonging, and Culture

Danielle joined AWHONN in 2022 as the organization’s first Vice President of Accountability, Belonging, and Culture.

She previously served as director of the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Center for Diversity and Health Equity (CDHE). In this role, she operationalized the strategic priorities of the AAFP’s Board of Directors and executive leadership on issues of workforce diversity, health in all policies, medical education and practice tools that advance equity.

Prior to joining the AAFP in 2017, Danielle served as Director of Maternal Child Health for March of Dimes Kansas and a Fellow with the Army Public Health Center at Fort Leavenworth KS advising the Senior Commander of the Combined Arms Center. Both roles involved the development and implementation of equity focused health promotion strategies to reduce disparities in maternal mortality, preterm birth, substance use and suicide by addressing the social determinants of health, policy, systems and infrastructure.

Danielle completed her doctoral degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Health Policy and Management where her research on unconscious bias has led to the development of evidence-based curriculum and training for faculty. She also earned a Master’s of Public Health from the University of West Florida and a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology from the University of Missouri Kansas City.

Karen Crowley, DNP, APRN-BC, WHNP, ANP, CNE
Vice President, Nursing, Education, Clinical Solutions and Research

Karen joined AWHONN in January 2021, bringing years of clinical experience as a registered nurse and advanced practice nurse, education experience as a certified nurse educator and extensive leadership experience.

In prior roles, she developed new educational programs and increased the rigor of current programs, including a women’s health nurse practitioner track. She led the development of the nurse practitioner Bachelor of Science in Nursing to Doctor of Nursing Practice (BSN-DNP) program and led the development and launch of the online graduate nursing programs. She is a certified nurse educator and has an earned certificate in online teaching.

Karen’s research interests include health promotion and disease prevention, empowering women in healthcare decisions and evidence-based clinical solutions. She also is an experienced advocate for the nursing profession and women’s health initiatives, such as a Gubernatorial appointment to Special Commission for an Act Relative to Post-Partum Depression.

Rick Burt, CAE
Vice President, Membership and Volunteer Engagement

Rick joined AWHONN in 2020 as Director of Membership Development. He serves as a member of the AWHONN executive team and leads the organization’s membership, customer service and volunteer development efforts.

Rick brings more than seventeen years of professional association management experience. He is an accomplished nonprofit professional, with a comprehensive background in leadership development and membership services, including previous work at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity (PIKE). He is a 2016-2018 class of ASAE Diversity Executive Leadership Program (DELP) scholars. In 2018, Rick earned the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential and was recognized as one of Association Forum’s “Forty Under 40” professionals. He’s a long-time ASAE volunteer and currently serves on the CAE Exam Committee.

Originally from Georgia, Rick holds a Master’s Degree in Executive Leadership from Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee, and a Bachelor’s Degree in History from Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia.

Billie Robinson, MBA, CAE
Senior Vice President of Meetings & Expositions, Strategic Partnerships, Marketing & Publications

Billie joined the AWHONN staff team in 2008 to lead the Meetings and Exposition Services team. A highly respected association management professional, he brings more than 20 plus years of diverse association management and leadership experience to AWHONN.

In his current role as Senior Vice President of Meetings & Expositions, Strategic Partnerships, Marketing and Publications, Billie leads a dedicated team of professionals responsible for producing significant non-dues-revenue for the association while delivering stellar service to our more than 24,000 members, business partners, exhibitor, advertisers, and industry peers.

An accomplished association professional, Billie was designated a Certified Association Executive (CAE) by the American Society of Association Executives in 2002 and a Diversity Executive Leadership Scholar (DELP) in 2013, He has a bachelor’s degree in Business Management and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Maryland Global Campus.

Nichole Goode
Vice President, Professional Services and Administration and Chief of Staff

Nichole joined AWHONN in 2020 and is responsible for all governance related activities, providing strategic support to the CEO and leads the Professional Services & Administration Department.

For the last twenty years, Nichole has served in administrator roles supporting c-suite executives in various non-profit associations in the Washington-metro area, including the American Nurses Association for 8 years prior to joining AWHONN. Nichole brings to AWHONN extensive experience in board governance, project management, strategy and implementation, culture transformation, operations and personnel management.

Nichole is a native Washingtonian, a second-degree Reiki practitioner and is passionate about women’s health, nurses and holistic wellness.

Jonathan Webb, MPH, MBA
Chief Executive Officer

Jonathan joined AWHONN in April 2021 as their new chief executive officer. Jonathan has spent more than 15 years in the public health space promoting community health outcomes; addressing the social determinants of health; and tackling a number of epidemics including childhood obesity, diabetes, and CVD.

Jonathan’s professional experience includes work for two local health departments including work within the Office of Epidemiology of the City of Chicago and leading the Community Health Division of the City of Evanston. Additionally, Jonathan has spent more than nine years in the nonprofit space leading strategy; building meaningful partnerships; fundraising; and implementing programming for organizations such as the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP), McGaw YMCA, Feed the Children, the American Osteopathic Association, and the American Diabetes Association.

Jonathan serves as Subject Matter Expert on the March of Dimes’ National Advisory Committee and the Co-Chair for the national strategy workgroup focused on Dismantling Racism and Addressing Unequal Treatment under the Mom and Baby Action Network as well as a Public Member of the American Board of Pediatrics Foundation.

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