Board of Directors

The AWHONN Board of Directors assures effective leadership and sound management; establishes strategic direction; oversees business required to carry out the mission and goals of the association; sets core program and fiscal functions; and appoints panels and committees.

Board of Directors Point of Contact: leadership@awhonn.org

Rose L. Horton, FAAN, NEA-BC, RNC-OB, President

Rose Horton is the Specialty Director Emory Decatur Hospital in Decatur, Georgia.

Rose L. Horton, MSM, RNC-OB, NEA-BC, FAAN Joined AWHONN in 1999, served on Nominating Committee (twice), DEI Taskforce, BOD, President, RMC Toolkit Team lead, Synova Associates Executive Nurse Leader Advisory, Count the Kicks Executive Board Regis University, MSM, BSN.

Elizabeth A. McIntire, MSN, RN, WHNP-BC, C-EFM, President-Elect

Beth McIntire earned her BSN from DePauw University and her MSN-WHNP from Indiana University. She has 39 years of inpatient perinatal and women’s health nursing. Outpatient experience consists of maternal fetal medicine and general OB/GYN practices.

Her achievements include developing the largest maternal transport program in Indiana and being a finalist in the Indianapolis Business Journal Health Care Hero Award. She has lectured extensively on fetal heart rate monitoring, perinatal safety, high-risk obstetrics, and maternal transport. Beth is the IU Health Ball Service Line Leader with strategic and operational oversight of level III perinatal service.

Julie Zimmerman MSN, RNC-OB, C-EFM, Secretary-Treasurer

Julie Zimmerman is a staff nurse at UnityPoint – St. Luke’s Hospital Birth Care Center in Cedar Rapids, IA.

Julie has a BSN and MSN in Women’s Health from the University of Iowa College of Nursing. For over 40 years, she has been a staff nurse at UnityPoint – St. Luke’s Hospital Birth Care Center in Cedar Rapids, IA. Julie also serves as nurse residency program facilitator. She teaches EFM and POEP AWHONN programs and was previously an educational outreach coordinator.

Adriane Burgess, PhD, RNC-OB, CCE, C-ONQS, CPHQ, C-LSSGB, FAWHONN, Director

For over 25 years, Dr. Burgess has devoted her nursing career to serving birthing people and their families. She has certifications in inpatient obstetrics, clinical quality and safety, and in childbirth education. Adriane is passionate about advocating for improvements in the care provided to birthing people and their babies.

As a nurse leader, she has led numerous large-scale initiatives to promote the adoption of evidence-based practices and to highlight the expectation of equitable care for all women and birthing people. Critical to these efforts is her interest in building multidisciplinary teams, engaging stakeholders across hospitals and healthcare systems, expanding skill sets, and motivating teams toward change. In her current role with the Maryland Patient Safety Center, she leads the statewide implementation of B.I.R.T.H Equity Maryland, a program aimed at training non-obstetric providers on disparities in maternal health, the impact of implicit bias, and identifying urgent obstetric warning signs and Count the Kicks an evidenced-based stillbirth prevention program. Dr. Burgess has earned several national awards including the AWHONN Outstanding Innovative Program Award, as well as awards through Safe Healthcare for Every Women and the Department of Health and Human Services for quality improvement projects focused on outcomes in obstetric and gynecologic care. As a dedicated member of AWHONN, she served as the Pennsylvania State Section Chair, national committees, and as a writer and reviewer for AWHONN products. In 2023 she was honored to receive the AWHONN Leadership Award and be inducted as a Fellow.

Veritta Henderson, PhD, FACCE, C-EFM, Director

Veritta Henderson is the Director of Northside Hospital Gwinnett Women’s Pavilion in Lawrenceville, Georgia. She has been a perinatal nurse on Mother/Baby and Labor & Delivery units early in her career. She worked in Public Health and accepted a wide breadth of leadership positions over her 31 years as a women’s health nurse.

Dr. Henderson speaks on the local, state, and national levels about perinatal nursing, and is a researcher and published author on the topic of perinatal preceptorship. She is passionate about maternal morbidity and mortality, perinatal disparities, and the education of nurses. Veritta has been active in her GA chapter of AWHONN and worked as the Newsletter Editor and Membership Coordinator for her chapter. She has been a member of AWHONN for many years and was the Chair for the AWHONN VTE in Pregnancy Advisory Board in 2018, helping co-write the practice brief. Veritta is a journal peer reviewer, a college professor, an advocate for the patient and the healthcare team that cares for women and newborns. Dr. Henderson has a PhD in Nursing from Walden University, a MSN from Gonzaga University, and a BSN from University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Elizabeth Kester, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, Director

Elizabeth Kester is a nurse leader and passionate advocate for women’s rights and patient-centric and empowered birth experiences.

Elizabeth is the Vice President, Clinical Services at Pomelo Care, a virtual maternity care program delivering 24/7 personalized care via telemedicine to improve pregnancy outcomes and reduce disparities. Elizabeth also serves as the Marketing Director for March for Moms, a national advocacy organization that promotes policies to ensure that every family can grow with dignity and support. In this role, she has partnered with many professional societies, leading maternal health organizations, and industry partners to advocate in Washington, D.C.

Elizabeth holds an advanced degree in communications, specializing in marketing and design, having enjoyed a successful career in advertising before she transitioned to women’s health nursing. Elizabeth has experience delivering care in maternity services in vastly different settings, from rural critical access hospitals to large academic medical centers and now virtually. She resides in southern New Hampshire and Harwich, Massachusetts, with her husband and two children.

Debbie Ketchum, DNP, MAOM, RN, NEA-BC, RNC-MNN, C-EFM, Director

Debbie Ketchum, a dedicated and transformational Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) servant leader, has nearly three decades of experience in maternal and child nursing, as well as nursing leadership

She currently serves as a clinical engagement specialist and expert consultant in perinatal safety and outcomes at PeriGen. Additionally, she is a subject matter expert peer reviewer for best practice maternal-newborn policies with Elsevier and is a certification author for the National Certification Corporation’s Maternal-Newborn exam.

Mary Dawn Koenig, FACNM, PhD, RN, Director

Mary Dawn Koenig is an Associate Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Nursing. Born in Canada, she received her BScN from McMaster University, her MSN with a specialty in midwifery from Yale University, and her PhD in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania.

The overarching aim of her research is to improve maternal and child health outcomes, specifically by studying how these outcomes are affected by the bidirectional relationship between nutritional status and the development and function of the body’s immune and inflammatory response. She approaches this through several lines of inquiry: 1) evaluating the effect of inflammation on nutritional status; 2) investigating inflammatory mechanisms that lead to poor outcomes; and 3) mitigating the negative effects of inflammation. Dr. Koenig has been active in the care of pregnant people for over 27 years. She has been an active member in AWHONN during this time, serving as an abstract reviewer and corresponding and panel member of the Research Advisory Panel. She volunteered as a community advisory board member for the March of Dimes. Dr. Koenig works with the community organization NewMoms where she provides programming related to nutrition, meal planning, and stress reduction techniques.

Matthew W. Medina, MSN, CNM, RNC-OBEFM, FAWHONN, Director

Matt is a master’s prepared Registered Nurse and Nurse Midwife in Massachusetts. He is also certified in Inpatient OB and electronic fetal monitoring. Matt works at Brigham & Women’s Hospital as both a Midwife and Labor Nurse.

Additionally, Matt is a Midwife at Boston Medical Center. Matt holds a special place in his heart for the Night shift and only works after 7 PM. The most memorable births happen after the sun goes down! Matt became involved with the Massachusetts section in 2012 and was hooked! He was lucky enough to be chosen to be an Emerging Leader in the Class of 2017 and hasn’t looked back from there as a national volunteer leader. He found a passion for EWEB when he was selected to participate with the Development Committee that same year he became an ELP. He’s participated on several committees with AWHONN but his tenure on the Development Committee was the most rewarding, having enjoyed the responsibility of helping to disperse the funds raised with EWEB back to our membership. He’s also served on the Convention Planning Committee, Nominating Committee, and now the Ethics & Compliance Committee. In 2023, Matt was proud and honored to have been inducted into the inaugural group of AWHONN Fellows.

Shellie R. Nelson, PhD, RNC-OB, Director

Shellie Nelson has recently completed her her PhD in Nursing Science.

Shellie Nelson, RN, MS has faithfully given her time to Women’s Services as a nurse, charge nurse, manager and director. Her clinical experience includes an outstanding academic background which includes; a BBA in accounting from Prairie View A&M University, a BSN in nursing from Avila University, and a Master’s of Science in Health Systems Management from Texas Woman’s University. Shellie is currently in her final stages of studies for her PhD in Nursing Science.

Amber Weiseth, DNP, MSN, RNC-OB, Director

Amber Weiseth is a Research Scientist at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Director for the Delivery Decisions Initiative at Ariadne Labs. In this role, she leads a research and advocacy portfolio focused on improving dignity and safety in childbirth and reducing racial and ethnic disparities.

Amber has been an obstetric nurse for 20 years, specializing in maternal-child health, quality improvement, and systems innovation.

Prior to joining Ariadne Labs, Amber served as Assistant Director for Maternal-Infant Health Initiatives at the Washington State Hospital Association where she led safety and quality improvement in the state’s birthing hospitals.

Ex-Officio Directors

Cheryl Bellamy, DNP, APRN, CNM, CNS-C, C-EFM, Past-President

Cheryl Bellamy is a Perinatal Clinical Nurse Specialist at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit Michigan. She has over 20 years of experience in obstetrics with focus in the clinical areas of Labor and Delivery, Postpartum, High Risk Antepartum, Normal Newborn, and Women’s Health. Cheryl trained as a certified nurse midwife and is regularly invited to present on a host of clinical topics related to the care of women and newborns.

Cheryl’s 15+ years of AWHONN leadership experience includes: National Board of Directors; Michigan & Detroit Chapter Leader; Chair-National Awards of Excellence Committee; 2012 Emerging Leader; Maternal Morbidity/Mortality Task Force, and the DEI Committee; Past Member-Public Policy Committee; Writing Teams-Racism and Bias in Maternity Setting Position Statement, and Standards and Guidelines of Professional Nursing Practice; Designated Instructor-Intermediate & Advanced Fetal Monitoring Courses; Author- Fetal Heart Monitoring Principles and Practice (2-chapters).

Cheryl served as Co-chair-Michigan Safe Sleep Action Committee; Advisory Board-Michigan Obstetrics Initiative; Facilitator-Unconscious Bias & Respectful Maternity Care (local/state); Member-SE Michigan Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative; and Primary Investigator-Impact of Nursing Labor Support on Reducing Cesareans.