Maryland Action Coalition Summit

Advancing Nursing Excellence Through Innovation and Leadership

Thank you for participating in the 2025 MDAC Virtual Leadership Summit: Advancing Nursing Excellence Through Innovation and Leadership, held on June 9!

On-Demand content for registered attendees is available on the event platform until July 11, 2025.

For questions about Nursing Continuing Professional Development, email pe.nursing@umaryland.edu.


Overview:

Health care evolution continually requires advancements in the education and practice of nursing professionals. The 2025 MDAC Summit will explore nurse leadership and innovative actions being taken to ensure value and excellence in collaborative nursing education and practice. The event is designed to strengthen the ability of professional nurses to lead changes in patient care delivery and effectively engage with new practice interventions.

The objective of the Maryland Action Coalition (MDAC) is to identify innovative ways of collaborating that advance nursing excellence to prepare nurses to lead in any health care setting. The three pillars of the coalition’s focus are:

  • Nursing Leadership
  • Nursing Workforce
  • and Nursing Retention.

The 2025 summit will explore progressive approaches to teaching and models of leadership that hold promise for the future.

Objectives:

  • Engage with leading experts from diverse backgrounds to gain insight into best practices for navigating the complex and rapidly changing landscape of nursing academia and practice.
  • Reframe narratives related to the value of nursing and nurses’ role in utilizing innovative nurse-led technology to streamline clinical workflows and enhance patient care and nursing education.
  • Describe the nursing workforce challenges unique to rural communities on the Eastern Shore and in the southern and western regions of Maryland, focusing on nursing recruitment and retention, rural health disparities, and interconnections in the continuum of care.

Nursing Continuing Professional Development

American Nurses Accredited Provider badgeNurses may receive 5.5 contact hours upon successful completion of this educational activity. Successful completion is demonstrated by attending the entire conference and submitting the completed program evaluation. No partial credit will be awarded. Participants will be able to print a Continuing Education certificate after completing the evaluation. The cost for CE is $40.

The University of Maryland School of Nursing is accredited with distinction as a provider of continuing nursing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Dr. Peggy Daw Exemplary Leadership Award

The Maryland Action Coalition (MDAC) Exemplary Leadership Award was created in 2022 to recognize and celebrate the leadership and accomplishments exhibited beyond one’s day to day role.

In 2023, the award was renamed in memory of Peggy Daw, DNP, RN-BC, CNE, FAAN.

The nominee embodies the core values of MDAC; honors diverse experiences and perspectives; and sets an example of including others while exploring new ideas and partnerships to achieve large-scale goals.

The nominee’s achievements enhance MDAC’s strategic mission and advance access and opportunities for others.

About Peggy Daw, DNP, RN-BC, CNE, FAAN

Peggy E. Daw, DNP, RN-BC, CNE, FAAN, served for 12 years (from 2010 - 22) as Nurse Support Program II grant administrator at the Maryland Higher Education Commission. In this position, she marshaled resources of the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission, the Maryland Higher Education Commission, and the Maryland Deans and Directors of Schools of Nursing to create a statewide lattice of educational Nurse Support Program grants, which changed the structure of educational financial support in Maryland to expand the nurse educator workforce. She was the architect and developer of nine different types of continuous nurse educator grants, academic-practice partnerships, and statewide resource grants totaling over $200,000,000 and funded through 2025.

Her work promoted rapid expansion of the associate-to-bachelor’s programs. Her efforts resulted in new statewide funding for the Maryland Clinical Simulation Resource Consortium, providing clinical simulation equipment statewide and establishment of simulation quality guidelines; the Nurse Leadership Institute, which prepares nurse faculty and clinicians for leadership positions and collaborative partnerships between academia and practice; the Maryland Nursing Workforce Center; and many other forward-thinking programs.

Most importantly, Daw developed a supportive working collaboration of academic and practice nurse leaders across the state to communicate; inform; and mutually create, implement, and continuously improve initiatives to strengthen and advance nursing in Maryland.

Daw passed away in December 2022.

Recipients

2025 Recipient: Mary Etta C. Mills, ScD, RN, FAAN, Professor Emerita, University of Maryland School of Nursing

2024 Recipient: Lisa Rowen, DNSc, RN, CENP, BCC, FAONL, FAAN, Chief Nurse Executive, University of Maryland Medical System

2023 Recipient: Peggy E. Daw, DNP, RN-BC, CNE, FAAN, Former Director, Maryland Higher Education Commission, as presented to her family

2022 Inaugural Recipient: Joan Warren, PhD, RN, NPD-BC, NEA-BC, FAAN, Executive Director, MONL Inc./MNRC

Maryland Action Coalition Membership Form

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Planning Committee Members

Yolanda Ogbolu, PhD, NNP, FNAP, FAAN
The Bill and Joanne Conway Dean and Professor, University of Maryland School of Nursing
Co-Chair, Maryland Action Coalition

Patricia Travis, PhD, RN, CCRP
Senior Associate Director, Clinical Trials, Johns Hopkins Medicine
Secretary, American Nurses Association
Co-Chair, Maryland Action Coalition

Lynn Marie Bullock, DNP, RN, NEA-BC
Assistant Professor and Director, Office of Professional Education, University of Maryland School of Nursing

Crystal DeVance-Wilson, PhD, MBA, PHCNS-BC
Assistant Professor and Director, Maryland Nursing Workforce Center, University of Maryland School of Nursing

Mary Etta Mills, RN, ScD, FAAN
Retired Professor, University of Maryland School of Nursing

Giordana Segneri, MA
Assistant Dean for Marketing and Communications, University of Maryland School of Nursing

Sonia Smith, BS
Manager, Professional Education and Development, Office of Professional Education, University of Maryland School of Nursing

Enjoli Sonnier, MBA, MS
Associate Director of Events, University of Maryland School of Nursing

This year’s summit is supported in part by the Maryland Nursing Workforce Center and the Nurse Leadership Institute at the University of Maryland School of Nursing through the Nurse Support Program II, which is funded by the Health Services Cost Review Commission and administered by the Maryland Higher Education Commission.

For questions regarding MDAC, email us at pe.nursing@umaryland.edu