Board of Directors

Loressa Cole, DNP, MBA, RN, FAAN, NEA-BC, is Chief Executive Officer of the American Nurses Association (ANA) Enterprise, which consists of the ANA membership organization representing the nation’s 4.3 million registered nurses; the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), which promotes excellence in nursing and health care globally through credentialing programs; and the American Nurses Foundation, ANA’s charitable arm. Prior to assuming this role in 2018, Dr. Cole was the Executive Director and Executive Vice President of the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Dr. Cole is an accomplished health care leader with more than 30 years of nursing and management experience. Before joining the ANA Enterprise, she served as Chief Nursing Executive of several Virginia hospitals within the HCA Health System, where she directed system-wide clinical operations, partnering with other C-suite leaders on strategic and tactical planning and execution.

Active in many professional organizations, Dr. Cole served as President of the Virginia Nurses Association from 2012 until 2014. She has presented at a wide range of conferences, both domestically and internationally on a variety of leadership and health care topics. She earned her DNP at Case Western Reserve University, her Master's in Business Administration (MBA) at Averett University, and her BSN at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is ANCC board-certified as a nurse executive, advanced, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

Jennifer S. Mensik Kennedy, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, is currently an assistant professor at the Oregon Health and Science University School of Nursing in Portland Oregon. Mensik Kennedy is a sought-after presenter and prolific author. Her books include Lead, Drive, and Thrive in the System and The Nurse Managers Guide to Innovative Staffing 2^nd ed. She co-authored Lead like a Nurse, A Nurse’s Step-By-Step Guide to Transitioning to the Professional Nurse Role and The Power of Ten (Second Edition) and contributed a chapter to the book The Career Handoff: A Healthcare Leader’s Guide to Knowledge & Wisdom Transfer across Generations.

Mensik Kennedy has held numerous high-profile leadership positions within the nursing profession. She served as President of the Arizona Nurses Association 2007-2010. Nationally, Mensik Kennedy has served as Treasurer, Second Vice President, and Director-at-Large on the American Nurses Association board of directors. Additionally, she held the role of governor of nursing practice for the Western Institute of Nursing in 2010-2014.

Mensik Kennedy earned a PhD from the University of Arizona College of Nursing with a focus on health systems and a minor in public administration from the Eller College of Management. Mensik Kennedy's MBA degree is from the University of Phoenix, while her BSN degree is from Washington State University. She also holds an ADN degree from Wenatchee Valley College-North. Mensik Kennedy was inducted as a fellow to the American Academy of Nursing in 2014.

Dr. Susan Swart,  EdD, MS, RN, CAE is currently the Chief Executive Officer/President of SYS Consulting Solutions, Inc. Dr. Swart also serves as the Executive Director of ANA-Illinois, Illinois Society for Advanced Practice Nursing and the Illinois Nurses Foundation.

It is her life’s mission to foster nurse empowerment. Dr. Swart expertise is in issues related to the scope of practice, ethics, nursing regulation, and public policy development. She is a sought-after speaker and is known for her coalition-building skills, innovative leadership approaches, organizational growth strategies, and partnerships to advance organizational missions.
Dr. Swart earned her BSN degree from the University of St. Francis and her MS in the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program from the University of Illinois. Recenty, she received her doctorate degree (EdD) from Olivet Nazarene University with an emphasis on ethical leadership. 

Amanda Oliver (Buechel) currently practices as the Trauma Injury Prevention and Community Education Coordinator at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, IL. Her previous experience includes practicing on the surgical trauma intensive care unit at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, IL. In 2019 she was a top 5 finalist for the Illinois Nurses Foundation Nurse of the Year. In 2017, she was named by the Illinois Nurses Foundation as one of its “40 under 40” Emerging Nurse Leaders and as a Pinnacle Nurse Leader for her outstanding contributions to nursing. Oliver (Buechel) leverages her passion for public policy and advocacy by speaking to nurses and nursing students throughout the state about the importance of nurses’ participation in political advocacy.

Oliver (Buechel) has a long history of board service. She served as both first vice president and as elected executive consultant of the Student Nurses Association of Illinois (SNAI). Since 2016, Buechel has acted as the ANA-Illinois-appointed co-consultant to the SNAI Board of Directors. She continues to work with SNAI to develop future nurse leaders. Oliver (Buechel) served as ANA Director at Large- Recent Graduate from January 2018 to December 2019. She additionally has served on the ANA-Illinois board of directors from June 2016 to November 2017.

Oliver (Buechel) earned her BSN degree from the University of St. Francis, Joliet in 2015.

Ms. Widmer has a unique and varied professional background. Prior to becoming a nurse, she had a successful career in multiple corporate accounting and finance roles, including her appointment as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a publicly traded corporation (Telular Canada, Inc). In her capacity as a VP of Finance & Accounting, Corporate Controller and/or CFO, Ms. Widmer was responsible for the day-to-day financial and accounting management, including the preparation of financial statements, business plans, strategic plans and monitoring performance against these plans. In addition, Ms. Widmer oversaw the internal and external audit processes, created and maintained banking relationships and prepared the corporate annual report for shareholders.

In 2004, Ms. Widmer elected to pursue a second career in nursing. She holds a Bachelor’s of Arts, with a double major in European History and Literature from the University of California, San Diego and a Masters of Science degree in Business Administration, with a concentration in Finance, from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She completed her first nursing degree at Rivier College School of Nursing and received a Master’s of Science in Nursing, Evidence Based Practice from the University of New Hampshire; where she also taught as an adjunct clinical faculty member for several years. Ms. Widmer was appointed the Nurse Executive Director of the New Hampshire Nurses Association in October 2016 (through November 2020) and she was responsible for the day-to-day operations of this non-profit professional organization for New Hampshire nurses. She served as spokesperson for the organization and testified on numerous occassions before NH legislative committees regarding bills impacting nursing and healthcare. Ms. Widmer currently works for Home Health & Hospice Care, serving as a home care RN on a per diem basis. 

Ms. Widmer was honored with election to the business honor society Beta Gamma Sigma and to the honor society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau. She has been published in the Journal of Emergency Nursing and New Hampshire Nursing News and is the co-author of a research brief published by the Carsey School of Public Policy, University of New Hampshire. She has spoken nationally and internationally on nursing topics. She currently serves nationally as Secretary for American Nurses Association’s (ANA) Political Action Committee Board of Trustees and as a member of ANA’s Finance, Investment & Audit Committee. She served on Nursing Service Organization’s Advisory Board between 2017 and 2021.

Edward Briggs, MS, DNP, APRN,  is a Family Nurse practitioner who received his master’s degree in Nursing from the University of South Florida and his Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Florida.

His clinical career has included Nursing Administration, Emergency Medicine, Primary care, and his current practice of Interventional Radiology and Nuclear Medicine for the Veterans Administration. His passions are vested in health care quality, improving health care access, and nursing advocacy.

He has previously taught as adjunct faculty for Saint Petersburg College of Nursing and is currently adjunct faculty for Keiser University. He also serves as the Director for Care for the Belize Missions of Nokumbaya, a lutheran charity organization that provides health care services to remote Mayan Villages in Belize.  In this role he leads a nursing led teams to provide primary care 2-3 times a year.

He is an advocate for nursing practice and has previously served as President of the Florida Nurses Association, Chair of the Florida Coalition of Advanced Practice Nursing, Chair of the American Nurses Association Nominations and Elections Committee and Treasurer of the American Nurses Association Political Action Committee. 

He has received the Barbara Lumpkin Award for Nursing Political Advocacy, the American Nurses Association award for Nurse Advocate of the Year, and Nurse of the Year from the Veterans Administration.

Jacob Garcia, MSN, MBA, BSN, PCCN, RN, currently works as a staff nurse for Astria Sunnyside Hospital in the Medical/Surgical department. He also works for Providence as a Clinical Informaticist. Before his current jobs, he worked as a nurse in a Clinical decision unit and IV therapy unit for five years. He is heavily involved with Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA), currently serves as Treasurer/Secretary of the Cabinet of Economic and General Welfare as well as the Chair of WSNA’s PAC Board. In 2022, he earned his MBA from Western Governors University.

Jennifer Gil, MSN, RN currently practices at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, located in Philadelphia, PA as a clinical nurse in their Level-1 Trauma Emergency Department.

Jennifer’s long-standing commitment to leadership began as an undergraduate student at Villanova University where she earned her BSN from the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing in 2013. She was recognized as a Connelly-Delouvrier International Scholar, travelling to Peru and South Africa to provide nursing care to underserved populations. During this time, Jennifer also served on the Student Nurses’ Association of Pennsylvania Board of Directors from 2011 to 2013. After completing the Hausman Fellowship Program for Minority Student Nurses at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in 2012, Jennifer moved to Boston and worked as a critical care and medical-surgical charge nurse at MGH. 
While in Boston, Jennifer was elected to serve on the American Nurses Association of Massachusetts Board of Directors from 2014-2019. She was an active member on their health policy committee and remained committed to the professional development of direct care nurses and their involvement influencing healthcare, safe staffing, and health policy.

In 2019, Jennifer was elected to serve on the American Nurses Association Board of Directors representing the voice of direct care nurses. In 2020, she served on ANA’s Political Action Committee and remains engaged in numerous state and national boards. Most recently, she was elected to serve as President-Elect for the National Association of Hispanic Nurses in Philadelphia, PA and is Chair of NAHN’s national nominating committee.

Jennifer recently earned her MSN in the Health Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and obtained a certificate in Healthcare Innovation from Perelman School of Medicine.

Jennifer is also a member of the New Jersey State Nurses Association, Sigma Theta Tau International, Emergency Nurses Association, and serves on the national advisory board for the Nurses Service Organization.

Marcus D. Henderson, MSN, RN is currently a PhD student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and Doctoral Fellow in the SAMHSA Minority Fellowship Program at the American Nurses Association. His research interests focus on adolescent mental health, family health, mental health disparities, and the social determinants of health. Mr. Henderson’s goal is to develop a program of research aimed toward improving mental health care and optimizing mental health outcomes for marginalized youth.

Mr. Henderson has professional experience working in community-based, acute psychiatric, and educational settings. Most recently, Mr. Henderson was a Lecturer in the Department of Family and Community Health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. At Penn Nursing, he taught community health and psychiatric nursing in the undergraduate and accelerated BSN programs. He was also a charge nurse for child and adolescent services at Fairmount Behavioral Health System in Philadelphia, PA. Prior, Mr. Henderson served as the Co-Founder and the Executive Director of Up and Running Healthcare Solutions, a Philadelphia-based organization that provided case management with community health workers and other supportive services for men experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia, PA. His work on health for homeless individuals and community health workers was funded by the 2017 President’s Engagement Prize from the University of Pennsylvania.

For his work in the Philadelphia community, Mr. Henderson was recognized as a Community Champion for Positive Change by the Independence Blue Cross Foundation in 2018. Mr. Henderson served as a member of the Committee on the Future of Nursing 2020-2030 at the National Academy of Medicine. He is currently a member of the American Nurses Association Board of Directors, National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing, and HOSA Inc. Board of Directors. Mr. Henderson received a BSN and MSN in Health Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and he also holds a certificate in Health Care Innovation from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

Amy K. McCarthy, DNP, RNC-MNN, NE-BC currently serves as the Director of Nursing of Women’s, Infants and Oncology at Texas Health HEB. She recently completed her DNP at The George Washington University, focusing her doctoral work on the impact of nurses’ self-efficacy on their motivation to pursue board of director positions. McCarthy believes in the importance of using transformational, heart-led leadership to inspire and empower nurses to build cultures of wellness and innovation within their workspace.

Over the past nine years, McCarthy has had the opportunity to work collaboratively with state and national leaders on strategies to accomplish nursing initiatives, which continuously inspires and invigorates her efforts to improve outcomes for the public and employees she serves at the bedside and in leadership. She currently serves as President of The Dallas Fort Worth Great 100 Nurses, is a Director on the Texas Nurses Foundation board, and began her term as Director-at-Large for the American Nurses Association (ANA) in January 2022. McCarthy previously served as Secretary of the Texas Nurses Association, as well as an appointed member of the ANA Nursing Practice Standards Committee.

Additionally, she served as the Texas Action Coalition representative to the Nurses on Boards Coalition. In this role, she helped to co-chair the communications workgroup and assisted in making recommendations concerning the communication and public relations needs of the organization to ensure that coalition goals were met. McCarthy has also worked with the National League of Nursing, serving on the advisory board of the Accelerating to Practice program, assisting in the creation of a new curriculum and residency program that focuses on a new graduate’s entry into the workforce.

McCarthy holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Biology from Southern Methodist University, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and Masters of Science in Nursing Administration from the University of Texas in Arlington. She also holds a Nurse Executive certification, as well as a certification in Maternal - Newborn Nursing.