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Program Book

Rick García, PhD, RN, CCM, FAAOHN, FNYAM, FAADN (he/him/his)

Chief Executive Officer
Organization for Associate Degree Nursing
Washington, District of Columbia

Rick García, PhD, RN, CCM, FAAOHN, FNYAM, FAADN, is a distinguished healthcare professional with a rich and varied background in nursing education, administration, research, and clinical practice. He earned his Ph.D. in Nursing from Barry University, where his doctoral research focused on the cultural competence of nursing faculty teaching in BSN programs in Florida. He also holds a Master of Science in Integrated Health Systems Management from Georgetown University, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Miami, and an Associate of Science in Nursing from Miami-Dade College.

Dr. García is a licensed registered nurse in multiple states, including Florida, New York, and the territory of the District of Columbia. Throughout his career, he has held numerous leadership roles in prominent healthcare organizations and academic institutions, making significant contributions to the advancement of nursing education, research, and patient-centered care.

Dr. García serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Organization for Associate Degree Nursing (OADN) and the OADN Foundation in Washington, D.C. In this role, he oversees the organization's governance, day-to-day operations, fiscal management, and event planning. He ensures the delivery of member services through volunteer support, fundraising, educational opportunities, and recruitment initiatives. Dr. García represents OADN at state and national meetings, where he builds and nurtures relationships with key stakeholders and fosters alliances that support the associate degree pathway to nursing practice.

Before his current position, Dr. García was the Vice President of Nursing, Regulation, and Program Expansion at Unitek Learning in Newport Beach, California. There, he collaborated with a team to expand nursing educational programs, focusing on increasing capacity at workforce sites across the United States, particularly in areas with limited access to educational institutions.

From 2016 to 2022, Dr. García worked at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) in Washington, D.C., where he served as Director of Nursing Education. During his tenure, he played a pivotal role in developing and producing several significant position statements and resources, including the *Defining Scholarship for Academic Nursing Position Statement*, *AACN's Vision for Academic Nursing*, *The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education*, and the *Research-Focused Doctoral Program: Pathways to Excellence Position Statement*. Dr. García also coordinated a competency-based education webinar series and led initiatives to support nurse faculty in transitioning to competency-based education. He successfully secured over $1.3 million in grant funding, which provided mini-grants to member schools and supported various research and education initiatives.

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