Legislative & Advocacy Conference 2024

o Elaine is a retired Navy Nurse Captain with multiple post navy positions, including the American Nurses Association in both Certification and as the Director for the Magnet Recognition Program. She was the President of the North Carolina Nurses Association 2017-2019, then subsequently served as the elected Chair of the ANA Leadership Council, member of the Professional Policy Council and the appointed member of NCNA’s DEI advisory group

. Lisa sees Healing Politics as the culmination of a career that was grounded in clinical care and education before expanding to policy and advocacy. Lisa practiced clinically for 20 years as a nurse and midwife and held faculty positions in schools of nursing and medicine before shifting to health policy work. She held policy positions at the American College of Nurse-Midwives, the American Nurses Association and Centering Healthcare Institute. She has spoken and written widely on healthcare policy and advocacy and, for 10 years prior to co-founding Healing Politics, taught health policy at Yale School of Nursing

 Julie is the KNA Lobbyist and has served four years on the Louisville Metro Council and 20 years in the Kentucky State Senate where she chaired the Senate Health and Welfare Committee for 16 of those years. In 2015, she founded the Denton Group, a government relations firm, which represents national, regional and local entities at the state and federal level. She is a graduate of the University of Louisville and has her Masters in Political Science.

Seasoned educator who has functioned in leadership roles within educational settings, nursing organizations, and community organizations. Awarded Professor Emeritus Madisonville Community College. Currently Vice-Chair Kentucky Nurses Foundation, Nurse Fellow on Leadership Academy, member of Education and Research Cabinet.

Patrick Clay Flannery is an American politician who has served as a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from Kentucky's 96th House district since January 2021. His district includes Carter and Lewis counties as well as part of Boyd County

Teresa Villaran has over 36 years of nursing experience. She works for Fresenius Medical Care in in-center hemodialysis as a charge nurse for a 16-chair unit. She currently serves as the secretary for the KNA Governmental Affairs Cabinet, as a KNA Editorial Reviewer, and is a past member of the KNA BOD. She currently sits on the American Nephrology Nurses Association BOD. Teresa earned a master of science in nursing from the University of Kentucky; a master of science from the California College of Health Sciences; and a bachelor of science from the University of Illinois.