2020 Legislative Summit Speakers

Daniel Carey, M.D. was appointed Secretary of Health and Human Resources by Governor Ralph Northam in January 2018. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Carey worked for over 20 years as a cardiologist in Lynchburg and served as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Centra, where his responsibilities included information technology services, patient quality and safety efforts, performance improvement initiatives, and functions of the medical staff at Centra’s 3 acute care facilities.

Andrew Lamar has served as Principal of Lamar Consulting since forming the company in late 2012. Since that time, he has represented a variety of clients before the General Assembly and three gubernatorial administrations. Lamar Consulting works with trade associations and businesses, large and small, to develop and advocate for good public policy in Virginia. The firm also assists clients with multi-state government affairs. Andrew currently works on issues related to energy, health care, technology, gaming, economic development, and more. He has represented the Virginia Nurses Association since December of 2015. Andrew lives in Midlothian with his wife, Marit, and his 2 year old daughter Betsy Ann.

Kristin Jimison is an English teacher-turned-nonprofit-executive passionate about helping people find their voice in advocacy. As the Director of Engagement for the Virginia Nurses Association, Kristin is responsible for all aspects of the organization’s member and volunteer engagement, legislative advocacy, and strategic communications.

Prior to this role, Kristin was the Director of Communications at VNA and held communications and program management roles at CFA Institute and Sylvan Learning.

Kristin holds a B.A in English and Education from the University of Richmond and is currently preparing to take the CAE exam in December 2020.

She believes that voting is everyone’s superpower.

Sallie has held key leadership positions at health systems that serve large and diverse populations. She has pioneered delivery models that take health care directly to people where they live, many of them medically underserved. From Greater Southeast Community Hospital in Washington, DC to Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center in Woodbridge, VA to Kaiser Permanente, she has worked in Labor and Delivery, Primary Care, and Pediatrics. She has been a nurse practitioner, manager and fundraiser. Currently, Sallie works in her retirement on the Virtual Home Care COVID team at Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic.

Jen Kiggans, a former Navy helicopter pilot who currently serves as a Geriatric Nurse Practitioner, was elected to Virginia’s 7th Senate district seat in November, 2019. The seat was previously held by Senator Frank Wagner and includes parts of Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

After the Navy, Jen went back to school using her GI bill to become a board-certified Adult-Geriatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner. She is a graduate of Old Dominion University’s Nursing School and Vanderbilt University’s Nurse Practitioner program. Jen serves as a primary care provider for a small private practice in Virginia Beach and has worked in several long-term care and nursing facilities in Virginia Beach and Norfolk. In addition to geriatrics, Jen is a passionate advocate for accessibility and affordability of mental health care and mental health screening. She is a voice for our aging population and their families and has the expertise to make an impactful difference in standards of care.

24th District Virginia State Senator Emmett Hanger has a strong voting record of limited government and fiscal conservatism. He values the protection of individual rights, coupled with a keen sense of individual responsibility. More importantly, Emmett believes common-sense solutions in government should win-out over party politics. As a life-long Republican and resident of Augusta County, Emmett first served as Commissioner of the Revenue and then in the House of Delegates. As Senator, Emmett has served in a multitude of leadership positions, including just completing a term as Co-Chair of Senate Finance, and he currently serves as a budget conferee and as Co-Chair of the Health and Human Services subcommittee on Finance and Appropriations. He is very involved in all aspects of the legislature but has become an ardent supporter of all matters dealing with education, mental health, agriculture and the environment. He holds several positions on national organizations such as the Southern Legislative Conference and the National Conference of State Legislators.

Emmett is the former Commander of the Harrisonburg National Guard and obtained the rank of Captain in the US Army as an Infantry Officer. He and his wife Sharon have five grown children and fifteen grandkids.

The 24th District stretches from parts of Culpeper County, all of Madison County, parts of Rockingham County, and all of Augusta and Greene Counties, including the Cities of Staunton and Waynesboro.

Dr. Dawn M. Adams is a certified adult nurse practitioner, Delegate in the Virginia House for District 68, small business owner, and author.

She earned her Doctorate of Nursing practice from Old Dominion University (2013) where she earned the "Scholar Award" and her research focused on access to care barriers in the United States. She earned her BSN (1986) from James Madison University, MSN (1989) from the University of Virginia and a postgraduate certification as an ANP (1999) from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Dr. Adams has nearly thirty-five years of clinical experience in a variety of settings, and has been a pioneer nurse practitioner for each of her employers. As such, she developed the role that led to the expanded utilization of nurse practitioners and growth of the respective programs.

Dr. Adams has spent her career as a fierce patient advocate and more recently a policymaker. As a legislator with the Virginia House of Delegates her committee assignments include Health, Welfare and Institutions, where she is also Chair of Health Profession, General Laws, and Privileges and Elections.

She was recently appointed to the Joint Commission on Health Care, the Disability Commission, the Committee on Coal and Energy, and the Joint Subcommittee on Block Grants. Dr. Adams will begin her tenure as a Board Member for the Virginia Diabetes Council in September 2020.

Delegate Clinton Jenkins is an Army Veteran and former Subcontracts Administrator for BAE Systems Shipyard. He later went on to serve as the Ethics Officer for the shipyard. While employed in the ship repair industries, he also worked as a part-time real estate agent and soon after became a real estate broker. Presently, along with his daughter Ashlin, they manage their own real estate. In 2019, he was elected to the House of Delegates’ 76^th District, which includes Suffolk and parts of Chesapeake. As a legislator, his committee assignments are Counties, Cities and Towns; Public Safety; and Communication, Technology and Innovation. Delegate Jenkins is committed to continuing the progress to improve healthcare, funding for education (teacher’s salaries, school construction, Pre-K as well as K-12 programs) and the push to rebuild Virginia’s small businesses.

As Senior Associate Director for Policy & State Government Affairs with the American Nurses Association (ANA), Janet serves as a resource to the state nurses associations by monitoring and analyzing legislative and regulatory trends, sharing intel, and providing possible strategies and tools with which state affiliates can use to advance their legislative and regulatory agendas.

Throughout her forty-nine years’ experience in nursing, Janet has held numerous staff and leadership roles in a variety of settings: acute, long-term and home care, managed care, and academia.

For the past 19 years, she has been dedicated to the policy and advocacy arena; first at the state level before joining ANA. While with the New York State Nurses’ Association, she was responsible for the Practice & Government Affairs program; during which time, Janet and her team celebrated such legislative successes as title “nurse” protection and safe patient handling & mobility. In addition to a number of other initiatives, her portfolio includes the number one issue for direct care nurses – safe staffing. Eleven years ago, Janet launched the American Nurses Advocacy Institute, a year-long mentored program designed to develop nurse’s political competence.

Janet completed her undergraduate degree in nursing at Russell Sage College in New York and master’s degree in nursing with a concentration in administration at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.

Jeannine leads the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Public Health Nursing and those nurses who are critical in the overall execution of health promotion, disease prevention, and community health and wellness across the entire lifespan. Jeannine has more than 30 years of nursing experience and has served in school health, frontline public health nursing, and health district and state leadership positions. With a passion for public health, Jeannine supports the integral role of public health nurses in improving the health and well-being of the commonwealth’s citizens in an effort to make Virginia the healthiest state in the nation.