Edson College Alumni Board

 

The mission of the Edson College Alumni Board is to increase alumni engagement with Edson College and to foster alumni connectedness to the college in support of its mission and goals. Being a member of the Alumni Board provides the opportunity to shape alumni relations and outreach by planning communications and making recommendations to the Dean and Alumni Relations Coordinator.  The Alumni Board provides a link between the community and Edson College for interaction and communication among stakeholders, community members, organizations, education and alumni.  These members give valuable insight on changes within the healthcare environment and information on the needs and views of employers and healthcare consumers. 

 

Alumni Board applications

Looking for a way to reconnect with your alma mater? What better way than to consider joining the Edson College Alumni Board. You can help play a role in building engagement activities and programs to support alumni in their career and educational plans. Plus, it’s a fun way to reconnect with fellow alums and Edson college leadership including faculty and staff.
Applications for the Summer 2023 alumni board class will be available from now until February 28, 2023.


Click here to apply today!

 

 Current Edson College Alumni Board Members

Picture Alumni Board Members

Alumni Board Member Ann Anderson headshot

Ann Anderson

Ann Anderson grew up in Arizona. She attended Arizona State University College of Nursing, West Campus. Ann started her nursing career in Women and Infant Services: Labor & Delivery, Antepartum, Post Partum and Triage at Banner Thunderbird Medical Center. While working in a hospital setting, she also worked in an OB/GYN office providing prenatal care, educating future parents, and assisting with antenatal testing for high risk pregnancies. After 25 years in obstetrics/gynecology, she began her second nursing career in 2021 at Hospice of the Valley. Currently she leads a multidisciplinary team which consists of nurses, social workers, certified nursing assistant, and chaplain serving the rapidly growing southwest valley.
Ann enjoys traveling with her husband and two daughters, Olivia and Ella. Both Olivia and Ella currently attend Arizona State University.

Jeffery Bustamante Headshot

Jeffrey Bustamante

Jeffery Bustamante is completing his Ph.D. in Nursing & Health Innovation at Arizona State University. He holds a Master’s Degree in Health Innovation and a Bachelor of Political Science from the University of New Mexico.

Jeffery Bustamante also is the Deputy Director of Violence Prevention and Intervention at Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS).  As part of his job he oversees key ACS programs such as our Violence Intervention Program and Community-Oriented Response & Assistance. Jeffery previously served as the ACS Division Manager for Organizational Growth and Community Relations. In this position, he showed his expertise by successfully streamlining financial and grant processes. Jeffery has helped strengthen partnerships with the community, while building new and lasting partnerships at each step of his career. Through his previous work, Jeffery has supported the growth of new organizations by serving as the Chief Executive Officer of the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange. He also served as Scheduler & Constituent Services Liaison for former United States Representative Ben Ray Luján, and held a similar role with United States Senator Jeff Bingaman.

Adriana Carrasco Headshot

Adriana St. Germain

Adriana St. Germain graduated from ASU’s Masters Entry to Nursing program in December 2022. She also obtained her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from ASU. She has a great family legacy at ASU and is proud to be a Sun Devil!

Her professional experience has been working in the healthcare field for around 13 years in a variety of settings. Which include community pharmacy, home infusion, and education as a pharmacy technician. She held leadership positions as an operations supervisor and program director. She looks forward to continuing to grow and stay connected with ASU and its Alumni with the board.

Janna Clark Deuel

 

Janna Clark-Deuel

Janna Clark-Deuel graduated from ASU in 2021 with her Post-Master's DNP. She is an experienced nurse practitioner who specializes in family medicine and focuses on building patient relationships that foster healthy lifestyles. Prior to becoming a family nurse practitioner in 2015, she fulfilled various roles in both the academic and clinical settings: a BSN program faculty instructor, a hospital-based clinical nurse educator, a clinical nurse leader, a L&D charge nurse, staff preceptor and RN in L&D, adult health and pediatrics.

Janna grew up and began her nursing career in Bisbee, AZ. As a rural healthcare RN, she quickly acquired an appreciation for collaborative patient care.

Angel Cruz Headshot

Angel Cruz

Angel Cruz is a registered nurse and experienced leader who graduated from ASU with his BSN in 2012. Angel is currently a Director of Clinical Care Operations for a large healthcare organization.

Angel’s previous clinical experience includes Progressive Care, Emergency Department, and Interventional Radiology. As a leader, Angel has worked as an Associate Director, Clinical Manager, and House Supervisor; all with the goal of providing exceptional care to all patients by building strong nursing teams. Angel’s future goals include greater involvement in Nursing education as well as mentoring future RNs.

michael day

Michael Day

Michael began his RT career in Beaumont, TX as a graduate of Lamar University's AAS program in 1994.  From there, he obtained a BS in Respiratory Care from the University of Cincinnati, as well as a Master of Healthcare Innovation (MHI) from ASU.  Credentials earned along the way include Adult Critical Care Specialist (ACCS), Asthma Educator-Certified (AE-C), Six Sigma Champion, and a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. Michael started at Mayo Clinic as the Clinical Respiratory Specialist in November 2020, and was immediately thrust into the second, most severe, COVID-19 surge.

Leah Earl Headshot

Leah Earl-Begay

Leah Earl-Begay, MSN, RN, graduated from Arizona State University in 1995 with a BSN. Ms. Earl-Begay obtained a Master's in Nursing in 2021 from Grand Canyon University. She is a United States Public Health Service Commissioned Officer and works at a Navajo Reservation rural healthcare facility.

In her role as a nurse leader, Leah works closely with community members to raise their level of health through education and prevention efforts. She is Dine (Navajo) and looks for ways to improve Indigenous peoples' health and give back to the community.

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Susan (Suzy) Engwall

Suzy Engwall is a Healthcare Innovation Leader, Speaker, Startup Advisor and Mentor, Design Thinking Practitioner, Partnership Leader and Connector of People. She has been working to make change in healthcare for over 17 years spending the last 7 in the healthcare innovation space.

She is currently the VP of Early Medtech Development at Alira Health, where she works with early-stage startups to help them navigate the challenging landscape of bringing a product to market in this highly regulated space.  Independently, she consults with healthcare organizations to do everything from setting up their innovation programs to hosting innovation challenges, hackathons, human centered design workshops and more. She also serves as one of three leaders of the Founder Institute HealthTech chapter, a pre-seed accelerator and works pro bono for GameChanger Charity – a 501c3 that helps deliver joy and distraction therapy to hospitalized children.

Prior to Alira Health, Suzy was the National Director at the Innovation Lab at the Innovation Institute where she was responsible for leading the company's innovation and commercialization efforts across multiple health systems. In this role, she oversaw a team that worked with caregivers at all levels to coach and facilitate innovation efforts and culture change leading to the commercialization of over 20 products during her time there.

She is a graduate of Arizona State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Entrepreneurship and Innovation from the Edson School of Nursing and Health Innovation.

Nichole Hackbarth Headshot

Nichole Hackbarth

Nichole Hackbarth graduated from ASU with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in 2004. She obtained her Master of Science in Nursing with an emphasis in nursing education in 2013. Currently, she is in the Doctor of Nursing Practice Innovation Leadership program at the Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation and will graduate in the spring of 2025. Nichole has worked in the pediatric specialty since 2006 and has experience in emergency room nursing, peri-anesthesia, quality, leadership, and education. Currently, she resides in Central Valley California and serves as the Clinical Education manager at a nearby pediatric hospital.

Nichole serves on the Graduate Nurses Organization (GNO) board as a Mentorship Co-chair and also is an active member of Society of Pediatric Nurses. Nichole has a passion for mentoring others and inspiring them to be the best they can be.

JasonHerman - Jason Herman Headshot

Jason Herman

Jason Herman, MSN, RN graduated from The College of Coastal Georgia with his Associate Degree in Nursing in 2015. He went on to obtain his Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Arizona State University in 2018, where he was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau Beta Upsilon chapter. He continued his educational journey at The University of Alabama Birmingham where he obtained his Master of Science in Nursing in 2021 in the Family Nurse Practitioner track. Currently, he is enrolled at Augusta University in the Doctor of Nursing Practice Nurse Executive track. Jason has spent most of his nursing career working in Emergency Medicine until transitioning to Helicopter Emergency Medicine as a Flight Nursing at Augusta University Medical Center AirCare program. He loves the opportunity to teach the next generation of nursing and helping them follow their own unique career paths.

EmilyIbarraBio - Emily Ibarra Headshot

Emily Ibarra

Emily Ibarra is a registered nurse raised in Phoenix, Arizona. Emily earned her BSN in December of 2021 from the Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation at Arizona State University. She began her healthcare career in pediatrics, working on an oncology/hematology and bone marrow transplant unit. Emily currently works in pediatric home health and has nursing experience in both inpatient and outpatient care settings. During her undergraduate years, Emily served in many nursing leadership positions and found joy in mentoring nursing students that were entering the upper clinical portion. Emily is a current graduate student at The University of Arizona and is working towards her Doctorate of Nursing Practice - Pediatric Primary Care. Emily is excited to work towards empowering and educating the next generation of nurses and healthcare professionals.

Laser

 

Craig Laser

Craig Laser is an innovative practitioner, scholar, and inclusive healthcare leader that integrates his knowledge and practice of leadership, performance, organization development, and systems thinking to help individuals, teams, and organizations create success and to operationalize innovative ideas in nursing and health system practices. Successful at integrating dialogue and inquiry to create solutions. Craig currently serves as the Assistant Dean for Strategic Partnerships and Innovation at Edson College and is a Clinical Associate Professor teaching within Edson College's Health Innovation Program.

Experienced in team leadership, physician relationships, assessing organizational operations, learning, programming, and creating sustainable professional nursing cultures. Leadership experience includes tertiary care, academic medical centers, and dealing with complexity and challenge. Strong clinical, operational, process, systems, and organizational improvement philosophy connects the mission, culture, and organizational goals as they relate to redesigning care systems. Accomplished in engaging individuals and teams, achieving results, and exceeding performance expectations to innovate nursing excellence and empowerment.

kristin payestewa

Kristin Payestewa

Kristin Payestewa received her Bachelors of Science in Community Health from ASU Edson College of Nursing in 2019. In spring 2021, she graduated with a Masters in Advanced Study in Health Informatics from ASU College of Health Solutions. She is currently enrolled in the certification program at Edson College for clinical research management, and working towards her Ph.D. in biomedical research from Mayo Clinic School of Medicine in Arizona.

Kristin is both Hopi and Diné. Her Indigenous ancestry is a very important part of her life, and she is working to give back to the communities in various ways through community health and healthcare research. Her scholarly background is inspired by her Navajo grandfather to get an education, share her knowledge and give back to the community; especially the land.

Peterson

 

Carrie Peterson

Carrie Peterson graduated from ASU with her DNP in Adult Geriatrics in 2016.  She spent her nursing career in the emergency department/trauma center. She now works as a nurse practitioner in a cancer center providing urgent care/symptom management to cancer patients. She enjoys caring for this complex, yet resilient patient population. In her spare time, she works at a local hospice agency caring for patients at the end of life. Throughout her academic career and her professional practice she has focused much of her efforts on end-of-life care and advance directives.

During her time at ASU she served on the Graduate Nurses Organization (GNO) as secretary and was president of the local Phoenix chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society from 2019-2021. She currently works on a national task committee supporting advanced practice providers throughout Commonspirit healthcare. Carrie enjoys mentoring students and providing education opportunities for oncology nurses and advanced practice providers in Phoenix. 

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Chrissoulla Rakowski

Chrisoulla Rakowski is an entrepreneur and regulatory professional who received her second Masters in Regulatory Science from ASU in 2022. She received her bachelors in Environmental Science and Masters in Oceanography from Florida State University in 2012 and 2015, and was one of the scientists who researched the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the ocean methane paradox. She has served as a regulator in various industries in both Florida and Arizona. As a private regulatory affairs specialist, she guided company operations to changing regulations, provided regulatory consulting for some of the biggest companies in the US, and served as a liaison to regulatory agencies in all 50 states.

Chrisoulla serves as a regulatory and compliance officer in the cannabis industry. She is the owner of Kaizen Compliance LLC, working with companies in the environmental, cannabis, food safety, and healthcare spaces, and is researching delta-8 THC safety and compliance in partnership with ASU Edson College and Kaycha Labs. Additionally, she is currently working on her certification in Lean Management and her PMP from the Project Management Institute.

Mea Valli-Doherty Headshot

Mea Valli-Doherty

Mea Valli-Doherty grew up in Mesa, Arizona and graduated from Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation in 2019 with her BSN. Post graduation she went to work at Mayo Clinic, where she still works as an Intensive Care Unit RN. Since becoming a nurse, Mea has enjoyed working part time in home health nursing and as a post anesthesia nurse in outpatient oral surgery. Previously being heavily involved with the student engagement team while in undergraduate, she is thrilled to be back home with the college and excited to be part of the growing alumni board.

 

Emeriti Board Members

Picture Alumni Board Members
Hamstra

Tiffani Hamstra

Tiffani Hamstra grew up in Simi Valley, and earned her BSN from Azusa Pacific University. After graduation, she worked at Northridge Hospital Medical Center, specializing in Adult Medicine, quadriplegic/paraplegic care and head trauma rehabilitation. Tiffani moved to Arizona and completed her MS in Nursing, Family Nurse Practitioner in 1994, with a focus on the underserved population. She is board certified in Family Practice through ANCC. Tiffani has 25 years of Family Nurse Practitioner experience in the following areas: family practice primary care; onsite health care; Medical Clinical Manager/FNP for a Behavioral Health Peer Support Program; Clinical Site Supervisor for Grand Canyon University FNP Program; Visiting Professor at Chamberlain College of Nursing.

Speer

Therese M. Speer

Therese serves as the senior director of undergraduate nursing and health programs at Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation. She has been with the college for almost 23 years, and she graduated from ASU in 2016 with her DNP.  Her research focuses on first year students and their feelings of belonging, specifically while at ASU and Edson College. Therese considers herself a servant leader, meaning she leads from behind, assisting students to develop the leadership skills in themselves. She serves as faculty advisor to our first year students and has the joy of meeting our students as they begin their first year journey.

 

 
Rosenblatt

Anne Rosenblatt

Anne Rosenblatt (Myrtle) to Arizona friends graduated from ASU in 1969 with a BSN and from California state University Lo Angeles in 1971 with an MSN. Anne is retired and last year attended her 50th reunion from ASU.

She primarily practiced medical surgical nursing with an emphasis on Hemodialysis and Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplant. She has taught BSN and MSN students from UCLA, Cal State and Mount St. Mary’s Nursing programs. For the last 20 years she was a nursing manager for bone marrow, oncology, AIDS and Dialysis at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.  Her interest in ASU has never waivered with focus on ethics and diversity.