The Leader in All of Us - Nov. 27, 2020

Tyler Burley

Tyler Burley, MN'14, is the Provincial Senior Practice Lead for Nursing Professional Practice at Alberta Health Services.  He has worked in a variety of roles in Ontario and Alberta across all domains of nursing practice and holds a Master of Nursing degree from the University of Calgary.  He is currently serving his second term on the Provincial Council of the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta and has presented at national conferences on issues related to nursing professional practice and leadership.

Michelle Charlesworth

Michelle Charlesworth RN serves as the Resident Experience Director at Covenant Care and Covenant Living in Calgary and Lethbridge Alberta. She is a mission-driven leader, committed and passionate about providing resident and family-centered quality care. Michelle is focused on building team capacity within her organization that fosters a just culture for continuous growth and learning.

Michelle started her nursing career as a graduate from the Northern Nursing Program in Yellowknife, NT and worked as a Community Health Nurse in Baker Lake, Nunavut. She also served as an Area Manager in Integrated Supportive and Facility Living within Alberta Health Services in Edmonton and Calgary. She graduated with her BScN from the University of Alberta and will soon complete her Masters degree in Health Studies from the University of Athabasca.

Fadumo Robinson

As Associate Chief Nursing Officer of Alberta Health Services, Fadumo Robinson is a dynamic leader with a diverse background. Fadumo started her career in corrections, but soon moved to health care where she has worked for the past 25 years, 15 of those in leadership. She is a lifelong learner and holds degrees in Criminology, Social Work and in Nursing from the University of Alberta and the University of Victoria. As a former teen refugee herself, giving back to the community is one of her passions. She currently sits on the boards of two non-for-profit agencies that provide settlement support for refugee and immigrant families. She also provides mentorship to many young refugee women.

Candace Cho

Candace Cho graduated with her Bachelor of Nursing degree from the University of Calgary in 2020 after remaining involved in various leadership projects throughout her undergraduate program. She held two terms as the UCalgary Students’ Union Faculty of Nursing Representative, where she sat as a student representative on the university’s highest governing body (General Faculties Council), and served on UCalgary Nursing Council and the Student Legislative Council. While leading the Intercollegiate Debate Team for UCalgary as their president for three years, she also had the opportunity to serve on the national Board of Directors for the Canadian Nursing Students’ Association as the Western Regional Director. 

During her time as the Students’ Union representative, Candace applied for and received a Quality Money grant of $55,200 to fund ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) certificates for over 300 undergraduate nursing students. She hopes to continue her advocacy work to prioritize, protect and promote the mental well-being of students, working health-care professionals and the health-care community at large. Her plan is to push for upstream changes in policy that centre around improving individual agency and collective voices of nurses within the political hemisphere of health care.

Keith King

As a two-spirit Métis person, Keith King is a researcher heavily influenced by his relations with self, family and community. He is currently completing his PhD in Nursing at the University of Alberta - where is is also an assistant teaching professor - exploring Indigenous and Intersectional approaches to health research with an emphasis on Sexually Transmitted and Blood Borne Infections.

Keith graduated from UAlberta with a BScN in 2004 and, in 2012, completed his Masters of Public Health from Curtin University in Western Australia. He worked in St. Joseph's Hospital's Mental Health & Addictions Program in Toronto before relocating to London, England where he worked and studied in a number of roles in the National Health Service, City University of London, and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He returned to Edmonton in 2014 and worked as an accreditation consultant with Alberta Health Services’ Quality & Healthcare Improvement team.

Keith is also very active within the community, including serving as the RN representative on the Hospital Privileges Appeals Board for the Government of Alberta between 2015-2020, co-founding the Alberta Pain Collaborative and Alberta Pain Strategy, and volunteering as a Board Director for the Alberta Pain Society.

Carla Ferreira

Carla Ferreira, BN'03, is a senior instructor at UCalgary’s Faculty of Nursing. She holds a Master of Nursing degree from the University of Victoria with a focus on nursing education and has a deep curiosity for matters related to the education of nurses.

Carla is a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator® and has been a faculty member in UCalgary Nursing’s Clinical Simulation Learning Centre since 2014. She  has been teaching (and learning from) undergraduate nursing students since 2007. 

Louise Baptiste

Louise Baptiste RN, MEd'18 joined UCalgary Nursing in August 2017 as an instructor and the Director of Indigenous Initiatives with a focus on student supports and community outreach.

Louise’s research interests centre on nursing practice with vulnerable populations, including Indigenous peoples and geriatrics, and cultural safety. She is strongly committed to, and passionate about nursing education geared towards health promotion, social justice and Indigenous health. She has previously served on numerous committees related to Indigenous health, and volunteered as a student mentor. Currently she is serving on the Advisory Task Force on Indigenous Initiatives for the Faculty of Nursing. Louise was a recipient of the 2016-2017 Indigenous Graduate Award from the University of Calgary.

Cheedy Jaja

Dr. Cheedy Jaja, PhD, is an associate professor in the College of Nursing at the University of South Carolina in Columbia and a board-certified Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. He holds active RN licenses in the states of Washington, South Carolina and Maryland. His research interests are sickle cell disease (SCD) pain and analgesic/psychopharmacogenetics and he has over 12 years’ experience providing clinical and psychosocial care primarily to SCD patients in ambulatory health-care settings locally and internationally.

Cheedy is actively involved in global health. During the Ebola Virus Disease epidemic in 2014-2015, he served two tours of duty in Sierra Leone with the Boston-based humanitarian organization, Partners in Health. More recently, In the West African nation of Sierra Leone, he was instrumental in establishing a SCD clinic with a pilot cohort of 120 pediatric patients presenting monthly for wellness visits.  

Cheedy currently holds leadership positions in organizations including the International Society of Nurses in Genetics and the Network of Minority Research Investigators and has received a Fulbright Scholar Fellowship award from the US State Department, among other awards. In October 2020, he was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing.

Zahra Shajani

Dr. Zahra Shajani, BN'02, RN, EdD, is an associate dean (undergraduate practice education) at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Nursing.  She specializes in family maternal child health with a research focus on early childhood development, intergenerational connections and nursing education. Her clinical practice includes work on postpartum and medical surgical units and she has co-authored textbooks focusing on community nursing and family nursing care.   

Zahra is also very involved in community work. She is a director on the national Multi-Generational Housing Board, a private board funded by each provincial government, which houses 120 supportive and long-term care units.  Within this board, she is the Chair of Policy, Programmes and Operations Committee and has taken on projects including Advanced Care Planning and Medical Assistance in Dying and a COVID-19 task force.  She is also the regional Health Board Chair for Aga Khan Health board for the Prairies. 

Amy Deagle

Lauded by her peers as a strategic, innovative thinker, Amy Deagle, BN'06, has a vision for the nursing profession that sheds the “just a nurse” mentality and encourages nurses to step into roles as leaders, change agents and disruptors. She is a Masters-prepared RN with a passion for leadership and rural health having spent the majority of her career working in rural communities, primarily in labour and delivery, women's health, primary care and leadership roles.

She is the founder and Chief Nursing Officer of the International Network of Nurse Leaders, founded on the belief that nurses have the power to change the world. Amy also launched the Shift Change podcast for nurses as a way to amplify nurses’ voices and inspire them into leadership roles and movements of change. She is also a co-founder of ChangeRx Advisory Collective & Healthcare Consultancy.

Currently, she is serving as a provincial councillor for CARNA and the Director, Health Professions for RhPAP (Rural Health Professions Action Plan). 

A small town girl at heart, she is a country music junkie and has been known to wear high heels in the pasture. 

Carol Gray

Carol Gray, BN'75, MN, CEC, PCC TallTrees Leadership ® has worked in health care for more than three decades in various senior leadership (including SVP/VP) roles and has had the privilege to lead teams to implement province wide innovative health programs and services across Alberta. Carol has a Master of Nursing degree from the University of Alberta. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching from Royal Roads University. In addition, she is a Professional Certified Coach through the International Coach Federation and is a Certified LEADS coach and Certified LEADS Facilitator, LEADS Canada. Carol is a Licensed Trainer of the 5/5/5 Coaching Skills Training Program™, Coaching Out of The Box and a Certified TotalSDI® Facilitator, PSP, Inc. Carol has a wealth of knowledge and experience in integrated health care organizations and community services at local, provincial and national levels.

TallTrees Leadership®, founded by Leah Wuitschik and Carol Gray, was established on the belief that you have to make a change to make a difference. They are experienced and respected health-care professionals, leadership development consultants and coaches, dedicated to fostering innovative thought and impactful results.

Julia Imanoff

Registered nurse Julia Imanoff, MN'16, is a UCalgary Eyes High Doctoral Scholar, an educator and an innovator. Julia's research interests involve promoting healthy developmental environments for fetal/infant development focusing on mental health and birth modalities. Her doctoral research, for example, explores the family experience of psychological birth trauma and the subsequent impact on family relationships.  

Julia balances her research with her clinical work as a Perinatal Nurse Specialist with a family systems perspective. She has recently co-founded a nurse-led social enterprise, COLO Families Inc., that supports parents, helps families develop meaningful connections and promotes healthy childhood development. 

Julia has also worked with organizations like Sick Kids Hospital, Ovarian Cancer Canada, the Canadian Red Cross, Canadian Association of Marriage and Family Therapists and Canadian Association of Perinatal and Women’s Health Nurses.

Leah Wuitschik

Leah Wuitschik, BN'05, MA (Leadership), CEC, PCC has over twenty years of experience working in various leadership roles, in health care and in leadership development. She has extensive education, including a Master of Arts in Leadership degree and a Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching from Royal Roads University and is a Professional Certified Coach through the International Coach Federation. She also holds a Bachelor of Nursing and a Certificate in Public Participation from the International Association of Public Participation. In addition, Leah is a Certified LEADS Coach, a Licensed Trainer of the 5/5/5 Coaching Skills Training ProgramTM, Coaching Out Of The Box, a Certified TotalSDI® Facilitator, Personal Strengths Canada, and a Certified EQ-i 2.0 & EQ 360 Coach & Facilitator. Described as warm, compassionate and committed, she offers a practical and insightful approach to leadership development and coaching, encouraging people to take their performance to a new level.

TallTrees Leadership®, founded by Leah Wuitschik and Carol Gray, was established on the belief that you have to make a change to make a difference. They are experienced and respected health-care professionals, leadership development consultants and coaches, dedicated to fostering innovative thought and impactful results.