Leadership Lunch Series

Friday, September 18th, 2026, 12:00-1:30 PM ET

The Myth of the Solitary Leader: The Impact of Mentoring on a Leadership Journey

No leader succeeds alone; the most impactful leaders are shaped by the mentors, colleagues, and communities that support them along the way. Drawing from her recently published memoir Overcoming, Dr. Karen Daley will share how mentoring relationships, professional partnerships, and collective action shaped her journey as a nurse leader—from bedside practice to national advocacy to promote passage of new state and federal laws that updated OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens Standard following a preventable sharps injury she experienced. Through personal stories and leadership insights, participants will be challenged to consider how they can both seek and provide mentorship to strengthen the future of nursing leadership.

Karen Daley, Ph.D., RN, FAAN

Dr. Karen Daley is a nurse leader whose remarkable career spans more than fifty years. In November of 2025, she published Overcoming, a personal memoir in which she shared stories of numerous personal and professional challenges which she overcame to become an influential and respected healthcare leader. Daley spent more than 25 years in clinical practice at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston until January of 1999 when she left due to a needlestick injury resulting in her infection with both HIV and hepatitis C. In recognition of the integral role she played in the passage of federal legislation to update the 1991 OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, Daley was among those invited to the Oval Office to witness President Clinton sign the “Needlestick Safety Prevention Act” into law on November 6, 2000. In 2006, she was inducted as a Fellow into the American Academy of Nursing and, most recently, Daley served from 2010 to 2014 as the president of the American Nurses Association, the nation’s largest nursing organization representing the interests of the nation’s 3.5 million registered nurses. In 2011, Daley was listed among Modern Healthcare’s “100 Most Influential People in Health Care” and, in 2013, was selected by Modern Healthcare as one of the “Top 25 Women in Healthcare.” She has been honored for her excellence in practice and outstanding leadership and, in recognition of her global public health advocacy, has been awarded two honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. She is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and the Barnstable Land Trust, a non-profit focused on land conservation on Cape Cod.

Friday, October 16th, 2026, 12:00-1:30 PM ET

Emotional and Relational Intelligence: How to Manage Yourself and Your Relationships Well

The most effective leaders combine strength in how they manage themselves with warmth in how they connect with others. In this practical and engaging session, Del Gilbert will explore the principles of emotional and relational intelligence, sharing strategies to help nurse leaders respond rather than react, build stronger relationships, adapt to different personal styles, and increase their leadership influence. Participants will leave with actionable tools they can immediately apply to become a person of warmth and strength in service of leadership impact.

Del Gilbert, MBA

Del Gilbert is the founder of Accelerating Excellence, where he speaks, trains and consults on building high-performance in people and organizations. Del has held many leadership positions in his career, including Chief Learning Officer and Director of Organizational and Service Excellence at St. Joseph Healthcare for 15 years. While at St. Joseph, employee engagement ranked in the upper 20% nationally. In addition, all 6 service lines were ranked in the upper 33% in Patient Satisfaction. He is a Certified Master Trainer and Certified Leadership Coach, and he authored the book, The 7 Senses of Employee Engagement: How to Be the Best Boss Your Employees Ever Had

Friday, November 20th, 2026, 12:00-1:30 PM ET

Health Equity Through a Historical Lens

Ashley Graham-Perel, Ed.D., RN, NPD-BC, MEDSURG-BC, CNE, FAAN

Dr. Ashley Graham-Perel is a registered nurse and is triple board-certified in Medical Surgical Nursing, Nursing Professional Development, and as a Certified Nurse Educator. Currently, she serves on the faculty of Columbia University School of Nursing as an assistant professor. Previously, she worked as a clinical instructor at New York University and as a clinical nurse educator in an acute hospital setting. Dr. Graham-Perel’s research focuses on her passion for diversity and inclusivity in nursing, specifically nursing education, and the admission, retention, and success rates of diverse nursing students. She is also investigating the historical impact of the training of Black women in nursing at New York City’s Lincoln School for Nurses and the persistence of health care disparities in African American communities.

Friday, December 18th, 2026, 12:00-1:30 PM ET

Dealing with Joy Interrupters: A Human-Centered Approach

Kay Kennedy, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, CPHQ

Dr. Kay Kennedy is a nurse executive, entrepreneur, and expert in human-centered leadership. Currently, Dr. Kennedy is Chief Executive Officer of uleadership, an educational program designed to teach leaders to focus first on personal transformation (it starts with you), and lead in service to others which results in sustainable cultures of excellence, caring and trust (but it’s not about you). By combining a love for nurses, patients, and quality improvement, she has led large nursing teams to create healthy work environments, satisfied patients, and consistent, high quality care. Dr. Kennedy has held multiple leadership roles from the bedside to Chief Nursing Officer. Her goal as a leader is to ignite innovative problem solving, develop others to be their best, and lead by serving others.