Lynda Benton is a veteran of the healthcare industry. She has spent her entire professional career with Johnson & Johnson in sales, marketing, and management roles, leading brands and large-scale corporate sponsorships and stakeholder platforms. Today, she leads Johnson & Johnson Nursing, a platform representing the company’s 125-year commitment to supporting and advocating for the nursing profession. Lynda has seen first-hand the critical impact nurses have in healthcare and the lives of their patients every day. As the U.S. health system is ever more strained by greater patient, resource and systemic demands—and the challenges of the pandemic—she is passionate about elevating, advocating for, and empowering nurses as innovative leaders with the knowledge, mindset, and skills to move healthcare forward.

Dr. Dwayne Alleyne had quite the journey into nursing, but always knew he wanted to be in healthcare. He’s spent almost two decades working as a nurse practitioner, and earned his doctorate of nursing from the University of South Carolina in 2020. He continues to serve as a nurse practitioner and hospitalist at PRISMA Health, and works as an assistant clinical professor at his alma mater, the University of South Carolina College of Nursing. He also co-founded the Capitol Nurse Practitioner Group, a Columbia, S.C. networking, education, and policy advocacy group, and serves on the advisory board of DNPs of Color.

Dr. Rayne Soriano is a registered nurse, educator, and nurse leader with a lifelong career in healthcare. He currently serves as the regional director for operations and nursing professional practice at Kaiser Permanente Hawaii promoting professional development, innovative informatics, and co-leading the Magnet journey. He earned his doctorate in nursing science and healthcare leadership from U.C. Davis in California. He’s taught at several institutions, and right now works as an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco and a visiting professor at Chamberlain University teaching master’s level informatics courses. His career started in the emergency department, and he brings those foundational skills to his everyday work and leadership style.

Dr. Katie Boston-Leary is a nurse executive, national speaker, veteran educator, and leadership coach with over a decade in the field. She currently serves as the director of nursing programs for the American Nurses Association, leading the Healthy Nurse Healthy Nation program. She also teaches at Case Western Reserve University and the University of Maryland School of Nursing, and serves on the advisory board at the University of Maryland Nurse Leadership Institute and St. John’s University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. She has proven experience in leadership and management, and most recently joined Chief, a network built to drive more women into positions of power and keep them there.