GPC-ANPD Board of Directors
President | Kendallyn White, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CMSRN
Kendallyn White has been a registered nurse with UPMC since 2012. Her nursing experience includes inpatient medical-surgical nursing, home healthcare, oncology, patient education, and nursing professional development. She completed her Master of Science in Nursing with a Concentration in Education and Leadership in 2018 and became a Certified Medical-Surgical Registered Nurse (CMSRN) in 2019 and a Certified Nursing Professional Development Specialist (NPD-BC) in 2022. She currently works at the UPMC Center for Nursing Excellence as a Clinical Curriculum and Practice Specialist focusing on staff onboarding, education, and competency management. As a leader in competency management, she implemented the Donna Wright Competency Assessment model within her previous organization and has presented both locally and nationally on this work. She also has extensive experience with simulation-based education and has developed, taught, and mentored others in the creation of numerous simulation-based classes for interprofessional staff members. She is passionate about nursing professional development and is an active member of both the national and local chapter of the Association of Nursing Professional Development, serving as a member of the Conference Planning Committee for both organizations.
President Elect | Jennifer Shoup, DNP, RN, CCM, SP
Jennifer Shoup is a Clinical Education Specialist for UPMC Magee Women’s hospital and a part-time adjunct for Duquesne School of Nursing. She graduated from UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing in 2010, received her BSN in 2013 at Chamberlain University, a Dual Master of Nursing Practice in Leadership and Education in 2016 and her Doctorate in Nursing Practice in 2021 at Carlow University. Her nursing experience includes oncology, medical surgical, quality, care management, education, content development, onboarding, and leadership.
Jennifer has a certification in case management and is specialized in health literacy. Some of her contributions in UPMC include assisting patients achieve optimal wellness using motivational interviewing, patient care coordination to overcome barriers to wellness, content development and transforming the onboarding experience to a virtual live platform, mentorship for nurse care managers completing quality improvement projects for the clinical ladder, direct involvement with health literacy quality improvement initiatives, clinical staff competencies, student and staff professional development, and education. She also has experience in nursing school education with nursing fundamentals in didactic, skills lab, and clinical.
Immediate Past President | Kimberly A. Brooks, DNP, RN
Kimberly A. Brooks, DNP, RN served as the Director of Organizational Development, Consumer & Nursing Education, and Nursing Research and the Magnet Program Director at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh PA. She received her bachelor's degree in nursing from Duquesne University. She graduated from Duquesne University with her MSN in nursing education. Kim completed her DNP at Carlow University with a focus in nursing leadership. Along with a team of staff members known as Magnet Champions and nurse leaders, Kim led the efforts to achieve initial Magnet designation at Magee in 2019. Kim is passionate about education, mentoring, and ongoing professional development. At Magee, she also served as a preceptor, postpartum educator, and clinical education specialist. In addition to her responsibilities at Magee, Kim taught at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing as a Clinical Instructor for ten years.
Secretary | Keira Washlack, MSN, RN, NPD-BC
Keira Washlack holds a Master’s of Science in Nursing and is ANCC Certified in Nursing Professional Development. She has worked as a registered nurse for nearly 20 years in multiple physical and behavioral health continuums of care. Keira transitioned into nursing professional development in 2019 to support lifelong learning and foster growth amongst her peers. She has served as the GPC-ANPD conference planning subcommittee chair and is a member of the Communications Committee. She is excited to contribute as a board member to our chapter.
Treasurer | Meg Donovan, MSN, NPD-BC
Meg Donovan is a nursing professional development specialist at Allegheny Health Network. She graduated from WVU with degrees in biology (2009) and nursing (2010), and Robert Morris with a master's in nursing education (2017). She serves as the treasurer of GPC-ANPD as well as a member of the Conference Planning Committee and Communications Committee. Particular areas of interest are nursing professional development, psychiatric nursing, and ambulatory care nursing. She lives in Pittsburgh with her husband, son, and spoiled dog.
Member at Large | Mary Kern, MSN, RN, OCN, CHSE
Mary E. Kern, MSN, RN, OCN, CHSE obtained a diploma in nursing from Mercy Hospital School of Nursing Pittsburgh, PA in 2005. Prior to receiving her diploma, she practiced as a Licensed Practical Nurse for thirteen years. In 2012 she received her bachelor’s degree from Waynesburg University followed by a master’s in nursing education in 2016 from Duquesne University. Mary has held her current position as a professional development specialist with Allegheny Health Network Cancer Institute since 2016. Mary has worked in multiple areas of nursing including Emergency nursing and ambulatory care. She fell into oncology nursing and found her passion. She has been instrumental in advancing simulation within the Cancer Institute by expanding the existing chemotherapy training program, applying simulation standards to interprofessional training, and developing new training modules. Mary is a current curriculum and instruction doctoral candidate at Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a dissertation plan centered around simulation.
Member at Large | Kate Bogue, DNP, CRNP, FNP-C, NPD-BC, CPN
Kate Anderson Bogue earned her DNP and certificate in nursing education from Duke University School of Nursing and currently serves as a programmatic nurse specialist, focusing on nurse retention, at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Kate earned both her MSN as a family nurse practitioner (FNP) and her BSN from the University of Miami, and she also holds a BA in anthropology from Emory University. Kate maintains certification as an FNP, as a board-certified nursing professional development specialist (NPD-BC), and as a certified pediatric nurse (CPN). She also has experience as full-time nursing faculty, pediatric clinical instructor, and has published and presented on a variety of nursing topics. In addition to her service in the GPC-ANPD, Kate serves as an active leader in the Society of Pediatric Nurses (SPN).
Web Master | Sheri Walker, MSN, RNC-OB, NPD-BC
Sheri is currently a Nursing Professional Development Specialist at Jefferson Hospital, part of Allegheny Health Network, and has been a member of the Greater Pittsburgh Chapter ANPD for several years, serving as secretary and now as webmaster for the chapter. Sheri earned her BSN from Penn State University and her MSN from Carlow University. She is certified in Nursing Professional Development, Nursing Informatics and Inpatient Obstetrics. Sheri began her career at Forbes Hospital on a medical-surgical unit before pursuing her passion for obstetrics at Magee Women’s Hospital Labor & Delivery. She then took a position Labor & Delivery at Westmoreland Hospital where she later served as their manager. It was during her time as manager that she found her true passion: nursing education. Sheri earned her MSN in Nursing Leadership at Carlow University and in January 2006, she became a nurse educator for Excela Health. In this role, she served in many capacities such as NetLearning Administrator, Nurse Resident Facilitator, and CPR instructor, but teaching the staff is the role she enjoys the most. As such, in 2016, she took on the role of Nursing Professional Development Specialist for the Women and Infants Center at Jefferson Hospital. In this role, she provides obstetrics classes such as mother-baby class, labor course, Intermediate Fetal Monitoring, and Neonatal Resuscitation. She has played an integral role in helping the unit to achieve Perinatal Certification from the Joint Commission. In addition to teaching classes, Sheri enjoys being able to spend time mentoring the nurses on her unit as well as through helping to facilitate the Nurse Residency program. In order to stay current with trends and evidence-based practice, Sheri maintains membership with AWHONN as well as the national ANPD.
