Maryland Action Coalition Summit

The call for abstracts is now closed.

Notification

The primary presenter will receive email notification of the review committee's decision by Friday, March 20. Chosen abstracts will be presented during an interactive poster session, which will occur during the conference on Thursday, May 21.

Presenter Commitment and Registration

You must commit to present by Tuesday, March 31, and complete and submit the conference registration form for the primary presenter on or before Thursday, April 30. Failure to register by this deadline will constitute declining to present. Presenters must register to attend the conference.

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

Heather O’Sullivan, MSN, APRN, FAAN
O’Sullivan is a nationally recognized health system executive and nurse practitioner. She serves as the inaugural president and chief operating officer of Healthcare at Home for Mass General Brigham, where she leads the strategic direction, operations, and growth of the home-based acute, post-acute, and palliative care continuum. With more than two decades of leadership experience across both payer and provider sectors — including senior roles at Cardinal Health, UnitedHealth Group, and Humana — O’Sullivan is recognized as an innovator in health care transformation. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and serves as a guest speaker at Harvard, is a faculty and board advisor at the MGH Institute of Health Professions and is a selected member of the Women’s Business Leaders of the U.S. Health Care Foundation. O’Sullivan holds a BSN from the Medical University of South Carolina and an MSN from Simmons University in Boston. 

Laura Schenk, DNP, RN, CNE
Schenk is the grant administrator for the Nurse Support Program (NSP) II, which is administered by the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) and funded by the Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC). Previously, she worked in nursing education as an academic progression coordinator, assistant professor, course coordinator, and interim dean. A registered nurse with a background in orthopedic/medical-surgical nursing and community health, she is also a certified nurse educator with more than 11 years of teaching experience in classroom, clinical, and simulation/lab settings. She holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree with a concentration in leadership, along with bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing.

Kimberly Ford, BS
Ford serves as the assistant grant administrator for NSP II. She has experience in grants from working on a congressional grant that improved nursing programs at Maryland's community colleges by providing simulation equipment, and she also administered scholarships at MHEC, including the Maryland Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, a federal grant program that aims to increase college attendance and the success of low-income students. Ford has extensive budget and research experience from her legislative work at the Maryland Association of Community Colleges and the Maryland Independent College and University Association. She wrote the script and performed in a video that encourages nurses to further their education by attending a Maryland institution. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Management of Nonprofit Organizations with a concentration in government from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Alicia Gainey, MSN, RN
Gainey is the grants specialist for NSP II. She is a registered nurse with 18 years of experience. In her academic career, which included serving as an assistant professor and course coordinator, she spent more than eight years teaching across classroom, clinical, and simulation/lab settings. Her clinical background includes trauma, transplant, and hematology/oncology. She holds an MSN focused on health care and leadership management, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and a bachelor's degree in health and exercise science.

Erin Schurmann, MPA, PMP
Schurmann is the associate director of strategic initiatives at the Maryland HSCRC. Since 2015, she has led key initiatives that direct investment in population health to advance the goals of the Maryland Model as well as programs that support Maryland’s hospital workforce, including the Nurse Support Programs I and II. Prior to joining the HSCRC, she worked in fundraising, research, and communications for nonprofit and advocacy organizations. She holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Baltimore and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Maryland, College Park, and she is a certified project management professional.

Susan Corbridge, PhD, APRN, FAANP, FNAP, FCCP, FAAN
Corbridge is a nationally recognized leader in nursing education and health policy. She serves as chief nursing education innovation officer at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), where she leads national efforts to implement the Essentials — the standards for professional nursing education — and to advance competency-based education across the nation’s nursing schools. She also leads AACN’s work on academic-practice partnerships and on emerging technologies and their implications for nursing education, practice, and workforce development. Throughout her career, Corbridge has championed academic-practice partnerships, large-scale curricular transformation, and interprofessional collaboration to improve the quality, accessibility, and cost effectiveness of health care, with particular attention to vulnerable and underserved populations. Her leadership and contributions have been recognized by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, the American College of Chest Physicians, the National Academies of Practice, and the American Academy of Nursing. Corbridge is professor emerita at the University of Illinois Chicago, where she previously served in several senior academic leadership roles, including executive associate dean.

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

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