Meet the Instructors

Dr. Alexander is the Chief Officer, Nursing Regulation, at NCSBN, and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Nursing Regulation, as well as a former Executive Director of the Illinois Board of Nursing. Dr. Alexander is also a clinical nurse specialist in pediatrics, formerly on staff at Rush University Medical Center, where she also held a faculty appointment as an Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing.

Dr. Broome is the Ruby F. Wilson Professor of Nursing, Duke University. Dr. Broome previously held the position of Dean of the School of Nursing and Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Duke University, as well as Associate Vice-President for Academic Nursing at Duke University Health System from 2014-2021. From 2004-2014 she also served as Dean and Distinguished Professor at Indiana University School of Nursing. She is Editor-In-Chief of Nursing Outlook: the official journal of the American Academy of Nursing and the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science.

Ms. Buck is the APRN Senior Policy Advisor, Nursing Regulation, at NCSBN. In this role, Ms. Buck provides support for legislative action related to the Campaign for APRN Consensus, and liaises with related professional organizations at a national level. Ms. Buck is also a clinical nurse specialist in orthopedics, formerly on staff at Northwestern Medicine, and has held faculty positions at Northern Illinois University and Illinois Wesleyan University.

Mr. Cleghorn serves as the Director, Member Engagement and Government Affairs at NCSBN. He served as the executive director for the Georgia Board of Nursing from 2010 to 2020. Mr. Cleghorn was appointed by NCSBN's Board of Directors to serve on the Commitment to Ongoing Regulatory Excellence (CORE) Committee in 2012. In 2013, the Georgia Nurses Association awarded him the Excellence in Partnership with Nursing Award. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of NCSBN from 2014 to 2020 and was elected as president elect in 2018.

Ms. Fotsch served as Director, State Advocacy and Legislative Affairs, at NCSBN from 2014 to 2020. In this role, Ms. Fotsch provided support for legislative action related to model legislation such as the Nurse Licensure Compact. Prior to her work at NCSBN, Ms. Fotsch was an attorney at the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and Assistant Counsel at the Illinois House of Representatives.

Dr. Kaminski-Ozturk is a Research Scientist at NCSBN. Previously, Dr. Kaminski-Ozturk served at University of Illinois at Chicago as a Principle Research Analyst, and later as the Director of Assessment with the College of Pharmacy.

Dr. Lippert has held fellowships from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Mellon Foundation, the Huntington Library, the Clements Library at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and the Bancroft Library at U.C. Berkeley.

Ms. Livanos is the Director, State Advocacy and Legislative Affairs, at NCSBN. In this role, Ms. Livanos provides support for legislative action related to model legislation such as the APRN and NLC Compacts. Previously, Ms. Livanos has also served at the Uniform Law Commission and the Illinois Attorney General’s office.

Dr. Martin is the Director of Research at NCSBN. Prior to his work at NCSBN, Dr. Martin was a Biostatistician and Senior Research and Strategy Analyst at Loyola University in Chicago.

Ms. May is the Managing Editor of the Journal of Nursing Regulation, the official journal of NCSBN. As a writer and editor, Ms. May has also provided services to a number of prominent health care organizations, including the American Hospital Association, the American College of Healthcare Executives, and the Healthcare Financial Management Association.

Cheryl Pulec, EdD, MA, is the Director of the International Center for Regulatory Scholarship at the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, where she guides the strategic vision related to educational programming. Prior to joining NCSBN in 2022, Cheryl spent 17 years as an educator for young-adult and adult learners, creating unique learning opportunities in and outside the classroom. Cheryl holds degrees in History and Education from Carroll University, Global Policy Studies from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Educational Leadership: Curriculum and Instruction from University of Phoenix. Cheryl was a featured speaker at Illinois Computing Educators (ICE) conferences and has contributed to publications focused on issues surrounding leadership, education and technology.

Ms. Rhodes is the former Executive Director of the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nurses, as well as a past president of NCSBN.

Jason A. Schwartz, MS, is the Director of Outreach at National Council of State Boards of Nursing, where he shares accurate and timely information with stakeholders regarding NCSBN examinations, services, and other offerings. Prior to joining NCSBN in 2019, Jason spent 10 years with Pearson VUE, supporting the NCLEX and other NCSBN programs in various roles at the executive level. Jason brings more than 25 years of experience overall in high-stakes testing and has been a featured presenter at numerous conferences. He holds degrees in mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Oregon where he also taught several undergraduate courses. Jason was the Monterey County Toastmaster of the Year in 2000.

Dr. Kathy Scott is a seasoned healthcare executive and consultant with recognized expertise in transforming organizations to achieve high reliability structures and processes. She is also a noted speaker and author on contemporary leadership, clinical transformation and patient safety. She currently is Co-Founder and Partner of L3 Fusion LLC, a boutique company that helps individuals and teams maneuver through the organizational chaos to find their path to healthy living, leading and learning.

Mr. Smiley is a Senior Statistician, Research, at NCSBN. Prior to his work at NCSBN, Mr. Smiley worked as a statistician for the U.S. Census Bureau, as well as serving in the Peace Corps.

Dr. Spector is the Director of Regulatory Innovations at NCSBN. Prior to her work at NCSBN, Dr. Spector has held Assistant Professor positions at Loyola University and DePaul University. She is also a critical care nurse with a specialty in pulmonary nursing.

Mr. Steinecke is counsel to Steinecke Maciura LeBlanc and practices law exclusively in the area of professional regulation. He has a Certificate in Risk Management from the University of Toronto, and is the editor of the widely read Grey Areas newsletter commenting on recent developments in professional regulation. In 2015 Mr. Steinecke received the Regulatory Excellence award from the Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR) and in 2019 he received the Tom Marshall Award of Excellence for the Public Sector from the Ontario Bar Association.