Turn of the Calendar Brings New Faces, New Roles and New Bylaws
The start of the new fiscal year brought new faces and roles to CANP’s Board of Directors, new bylaws as adopted in May by the House of Delegates, and a new enhanced role for one of the organization’s key staff members.
Heading the new board is President Donna Emanuele, who served the past two years as President Elect and two years prior to that as the board’s Health Policy Chair. Concurrently, she has served as Co-Vice President of the Greater Pasadena Chapter since 2010. Emanuele is the Assistant Director of the MSN-FNP DNP Program and an Assistant Professor of Nursing at the Western University of Health Sciences, College of Graduate Nursing.
“As nurse practitioners, we bring a rich and diverse talent of knowledge and experience to our patients and communities, practicing across all environments of care,” Emanuele wrote in a letter to members. "Our ability to shape the future of the profession and influence health care delivery is further enhanced by extending our reach, strengthening relationships and building capacity through our strategic partnerships and networking with others. There has never been a more important time for nurse practitioners and CANP members to exercise their voice.”
The new board includes three new members:
Theresa Ullrich, the new President Elect, formerly served on the board as Health Practice Chair during the 2011-13 term. She is the former president and current legislative representative for the Orange County Chapter, and works as a Family Nurse Practitioner at both Fullerton Community College and St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, providing primary care to underfunded patients while also serving as a volunteer preceptor to nursing students.
Joining the board as the new Vice President of Finance is Barbara Lome, who since 2002 has worked as a Trauma NP at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego. She has been an active member of the San Diego Central Chapter over the past 10 years, serving as the chapter’s Secretary and later as Treasurer. She is currently the chapter’s President Elect, and is a two-time nominee for CANP’s Nurse Practitioner of Distinction award.
New Health Policy Chair Kathrine Ware is an adult nurse practitioner certified in vascular nursing at the UC Davis Health System Vascular Center Clinic, where she has worked since 2006. A former Legislative Task Force Chair and Legislative Advocacy Co-Chair for the Sacramento Chapter, she is also a former member of the Board of Registered Nursing, having been appointed as the BRN’s Advanced Practice Nursing representative in 2009 by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Emanuele is one of seven returning board members, including two others serving in new positions; former CANP President Beth Haney now fills the role of Immediate Past President, while Patti Gurney, who previously served as chair of the Marketing & Communications Committee, begins her new term as Vice President of Corporate Affairs. Returning to the same positions they held during the previous board term are Membership Chair Sylvia Estrada, Education Co-Chairs Camille Fitzpatrick and Janet Hildebrand, and Health Practice Chair Karen Bradley.
New Bylaws in Effect
As a result of action taken by CANP’s House of Delegates (HOD) during its annual meeting in May, the new fiscal year also marks the implementation of several key changes to the Association’s bylaws. Chief among those were three related to the Board of Directors, establishing two-year terms for all members of the board (previously, only the VP of Finance served a two-year term, the rest serving one year or until a successor was elected), stipulating the automatic ascension of the President Elect to the office of President at the completion of the two-year term (the President Elect previously needing to run for President for the following board term), and eliminating the Marketing & Communications Committee (its role related to NP Week and the annual CANP awards to be filled by ad-hoc committees appointed by the board).
The HOD also adopted a resolution to remove the term “well qualified” from the options available to the Nominating Committee when evaluating potential board candidates. The amended bylaws preserve the options for the Nominating Committee to deem candidates either “qualified” or “not qualified.”
Five additional resolutions seeking to transfer authority regarding committee appointments from the Board of Directors to the HOD, requiring submission to the HOD of all resolutions presented for consideration, and empowering the HOD to elect all members of the Board of Directors, were withdrawn by the author following Reference Committee recommendations to reject the proposals.
New Staff Role
The turn of the calendar also brought the announcement of a reconfiguration of CANP’s Sacramento-based administrative staff, with Michelle Nesbitt being promoted from Operations Director to the newly-created position of Deputy Executive Director.
Nesbitt has been a member of the Shaw / Yoder / Antwih, Inc. association management team since 2000 and has been an integral part of the CANP staff since the association’s 2010 engagement of SYA for association management services. Her history with CANP goes back further than that, having been part of the previous administrative team dating back to 2006.
In her new role, Nesbitt oversees day-to-day operations, including financial planning and oversight, strategic planning and working with staff and the Board of Directors to ensure continued momentum of all aspects of the association.