2025 Statewide Nursing Workforce Summit
Below please find a summary of the event, Sponsorship Opportunities, and Call for Posters.
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The Connecticut Center for Nursing Workforce (CCNW) held the CCNW Statewide Nursing Workforce Summit on Wednesday, April 30, 2025 from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon at the Aqua Turf Club, Plantsville, CT It invited students, educators, healthcare professionals, and researchers to submit poster proposals for presentation. This event brought together key stakeholders to explore innovative strategies, best practices, and cutting-edge research that strengthen and sustain Connecticut’s nursing workforce.
Keynote Speaker Katie Boston-Leary, PhD, MBA, MHA, RN, NEA-BC, FADLN Senior Vice President of Equity and Engagement American Nurses Enterprise Audience:
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HELD Wednesday, April 30, 2025 8:00 AM - 12:00PM AQUA TURF CLUB, Plantsville, CT |
SPONSORS
BREAKFAST SPONSOR
EXECUTIVE SPONSOR
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EXECUTIVE SPONSOR
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2025 CCNW STATEWIDE NURSING WORKFORCE SUMMIT
DIGITAL PROGRAM
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KEYNOTE SPEAKERKatie Boston-Leary, PhD, MBA, MHA, RN, NEA-BC, FADLN, FAONLSenior Vice President of Equity and Engagement
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Katie Boston-Leary, PhD, MBA, MHA, RN, NEA-BC, FADLN, FAONL
Dr. Katie Boston-Leary is the Senior Vice President of Equity and Engagement at the American Nurses Association addressing DEIAB and workforce challenges within the profession. Katie is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing and the School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University. She is a board member for St. John’s University Health Programs, Hippocratic AI and Ingenovis Health and an editorial advisory board member with Nursing Management, Nursing 2025 and ACHE. Katie leads the National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing and served on the National Academy of Science and Medicine’s National Plan to Address Clinician Well-Being supported by the previous U.S. Surgeon General.
Katie authored two chapters in The Sage Encyclopedia of Multicultural Counseling, Social Justice, and Advocacy, the first encyclopedia focused on racism and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. Katie was also featured in the award-winning documentary film, Everybody’s Work funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
She was identified in August 2019 Health Leaders Media Journal as “One of Five Chief Nursing Officers Changing Healthcare”. She also won the ICABA TD Bank 2023 Woman of Impact award and the 2024 Spectrum Circle Award for Innovation in Health. She was recently inducted as a Distinguished Fellow at the Academy of Diversity Leaders in Nursing with the National Black Nurses Association and will be inducted this year as a Fellow with American Organization of Nursing Leadership (AONL).
he has conducted research on care delivery models, time allocation, racism and civilized oppression in nursing with Quint Studer, Joslin Insight and McKinsey. She is a well-known speaker internationally with many publications, podcasts and national outlets namely CNBC, NY Times, Cheddar TV, Axios, Beckers, Forbes, Bloomberg News and on NBC’s Today Show. She completed her PhD at Walden University in Health Services, obtained a dual degree MBA and MHA from the University of Maryland Global Campus and her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Bowie State University in Maryland. She is a board-certified Nurse Executive and obtained a nurse executive leadership certificate from Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Katie Boston-Leary is the Senior Vice President of Equity and Engagement at the American Nurses Association addressing DEIAB and workforce challenges within the profession. Katie is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing and the School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University. She is a board member for St. John’s University Health Programs, Hippocratic AI and Ingenovis Health and an editorial advisory board member with Nursing Management, Nursing 2025 and ACHE. Katie leads the National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing and served on the National Academy of Science and Medicine’s National Plan to Address Clinician Well-Being supported by the previous U.S. Surgeon General.
Katie authored two chapters in The Sage Encyclopedia of Multicultural Counseling, Social Justice, and Advocacy, the first encyclopedia focused on racism and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. Katie was also featured in the award-winning documentary film, Everybody’s Work funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
She was identified in August 2019 Health Leaders Media Journal as “One of Five Chief Nursing Officers Changing Healthcare”. She also won the ICABA TD Bank 2023 Woman of Impact award and the 2024 Spectrum Circle Award for Innovation in Health. She was recently inducted as a Distinguished Fellow at the Academy of Diversity Leaders in Nursing with the National Black Nurses Association and will be inducted this year as a Fellow with American Organization of Nursing Leadership (AONL).
he has conducted research on care delivery models, time allocation, racism and civilized oppression in nursing with Quint Studer, Joslin Insight and McKinsey. She is a well-known speaker internationally with many publications, podcasts and national outlets namely CNBC, NY Times, Cheddar TV, Axios, Beckers, Forbes, Bloomberg News and on NBC’s Today Show. She completed her PhD at Walden University in Health Services, obtained a dual degree MBA and MHA from the University of Maryland Global Campus and her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Bowie State University in Maryland. She is a board-certified Nurse Executive and obtained a nurse executive leadership certificate from Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Presentation & Panel Discussion
Centering Workers in Job Design: Insights from Healthcare Employers – Presentation & Panel Discussion
PANEL DISCUSSION
- Leveraging Human-Centered Design to Improve Job Quality – How healthcare employers are using HCD to identify barriers, elevate worker voices, and drive meaningful workplace improvements.
- Strategic Leadership & Organizational Buy-In – The role of executive and stakeholder engagement in ensuring the success and sustainability of HCD initiatives.
- Scaling & Sustaining Workforce Innovations – How pilot programs create opportunities for further funding, long-term adoption, and expansion of worker-centered strategies in healthcare.
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MODERATOR
Leah M. Fuhs Manager, Workforce Solutions Workforce Solutions Collaborative of Metro Hartford/United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut Leah is the Manager of Workforce Solutions Collaborative of Metro Hartford at the United Way of Central & Northeastern Connecticut. She currently leads the 2025-2026 Centering Workers in Job Design grant from the National Fund for Workforce Solutions as the Human-Centered Design (HCD) Coach and Project Manager, supporting three healthcare employers in implementing worker-centered job design strategies. With over 20 years of leadership experience in business intelligence, organizational change management, and workforce innovation, Leah specializes in community-centered development, strategic employer engagement, and human-centered workforce solutions, and would love to connect on any of these topics! Leah collaborates with key industry partners, including the Office of Workforce Strategy, city officials, workforce boards, and three regional sector partnerships to strengthen employer relationships with youth and education partners while aligning job quality efforts statewide. She is also driving employer engagement in National Fund projects to enhance workforce pipelines. Leah earned a B.A. in Psychology from Purchase College, is a Certified Diversity Professional, and is currently studying Advanced Design Thinking at IDEO U. Born in New York, Leah brings a global perspective to her work and is a dedicated mother of two. She believes curiosity, play, and determination are essential to organizational success. |
Marcus Paca, MBA
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PANELIST
Marcus Paca, MBA Director of Workforce and Career Development Nuvance Health Bringing 20 years of diverse professional experience in workforce and community development, labor and employer relations, talent strategy, strategic sales and marketing, Marcus currently serves as the Director of Workforce and Career Development for Nuvance Health. In Marcus’ current role, he develops and leads external workforce initiatives that drive community-based organization and academic relationships producing diverse pipeline and programmatic opportunities for individuals interested in healthcare careers. He and his team of career navigators execute immersion, workforce, career and soft skills trainings as well as coordinate in-hospital clinical and non-clinical internships, apprenticeships and shadowing opportunities that help prepare individuals for professional success. Marcus leverages his knowledge of workforce strategy at the cross sections of community, academic, government and philanthropic sectors to help drive collaborative initiatives that support relevant local and regional training and hiring, ensuring Nuvance’s workforce of the future mirrors the communities that it serves. He also develops and supports internal training, mobility, and retention strategies for current employees helping to create an environment of psychological safety, inclusion and well-being. Marcus earned a B.A. in Political Science from Hampton University, a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) in Management, from Southern Connecticut State University and completed the Project Management Certificate Program at Rutgers University. |
Liz Monaghan MSN, RN
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PANELIST
Liz Monaghan MSN, RN Staff Development CIT and CNA Program Coordinator Waveny LifeCare Network Liz is the program coordinator for a grant funded CNA program at Waveny Lifecare Network in New Canaan, Connecticut, currently in their 25th cohort of students. She started her career as a nurse after obtaining her BSN at the University of Pennsylvania. She worked for many years in hospitals on med-surg and cardiac units. While obtaining her MSN at Holy Names University in Oakland, California she worked in long-term care and later telehealth. Moving back to Connecticut in 2021 presented an opportunity for a career pivot and she started coordinating the CNA program at Waveny, helping train the next generation of caregivers. Liz is also the site manager for the Centering Workers in Job Design grant from the National Fund for Workforce Solutions. She lives in New Canaan with her husband, 2 kids, and poodle. |
William Crocker
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PANELIST
William Crocker Director of Talent Development and Learning Fair Haven Community Health Care Bill is a high-energy organizational development (OD) and change leader specializing in designing, delivering, and refining successful executive development, organizational change, and performance improvement initiatives. He has extensive experience translating C-suite aspirations into evidence-based OD interventions. For over seven years, Bill served as the Assistant Dean and Director of Executive Education at the Yale School of Management, where he honed his leadership and organizational development skills. A highly purpose-driven leader, Bill brings creativity, a team focus, and an abundance mindset to his work, with a commitment to building organizations that perform for all stakeholders. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Humboldt State University and a Master’s in Positive Organization Development and Change from Case Western Reserve University. Additionally, Bill completed the Human Resources Executive Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Bill is a dedicated father of two and believes that ongoing dynamic emotional intelligence training at all levels of leadership is critical to creating and maintaining a healthy organization. |
