Martha A. Dawson, DNP, RN, FACHE
Her work has included a focus on career-mobility barriers, systemic and institutional obstacles. She is a co-convenor of the 2020 National Black Coalition Against COVID which has reached over a five million during the pandemic. Dr. Dawson is a co-lead on the 2020 National Commission Addressing Racism in Nursing that is ground breaking work to improve the image and healing within the nursing profession for Black and Brown nurses. She serves on the Advisory Board for Direct Relief Health Equity Fund that is addressing social justice and SDOHs through the act of generous donors. This fund has awarded 170 grants providing 42.2 million to address health inequities. Dr. Dawson early career centered around health system administrative leadership. She served in senior level positions such as, Vice President of Clinical Affairs/Operations and Chief Nurse Officer – University of Louisville, Associate Chief Operating Officer – Duke University, Nursing Director, and nurse manager. She managed her own healthcare consultant business. Then, she entered academia in 2008 as an instructor. Dr. Dawson served as the inaugural director of Nursing and Health Systems Leadership Division and the coordinator of the Nursing and Health System Administration track. Under her leadership, the Nursing and Health Systems Administration track at UABSON was ranked #1 in the US and has been ranked in the top 10 for 12 years by US Word News. She served as the President for Birmingham Regional Organization of Nurse Leaders, and in 2018 the President for the Alabama Organization of Nurse Executives.
Dr. Dawson is a Scholar in the Sparkman Global Health Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and is on two interdisciplinary research teams. Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE), Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Executive Fellow alumina, and a Johnson & Johnson Wharton Nurse Administrative Fellow, alumina, and a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN). She has served as the principal investigator, project director and coordinator on HRSA and foundation grants exceeding $4.7 million. In 2020, she received funding to start the NBNA national Mini Nurse Academy. In 2004, a mayoral proclamation declared Dr. Dawson a Distinguished Citizen of Louisville, KY. Dr. Dawson served as the West Louisville Performing Arts Academy (WLPAA) Board Chair for 6 years and developed the strategic direction to expand the academy to include a girls’ choir. She was instrumental in creating a partnership between WLPAA and the University of Louisville to develop a perpetual scholarship program.
In 2015, Dr. Dawson received University of Alabama at Birmingham President’s Teaching Excellence Award (2015) and the Graduate Dean’s Mentorship Award in 2014. In 2017, she was the recipient of the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) Prism Award for Diversity. In 2019, Dr. Dawson was inducted into the Alabama Nurses Hall of Fame. In 2021, Dr. Dawson received a proclamation from the State of Georgia for her national, regional, and state work to educate the public, nursing and professionals, politicians, and faith-based communities on COVID-19. She honored as a 2021 visionary leader by UABSON. In 2022, she a named President of the Year by the American Nurses Association, and appointed to the Bettye Irene Moore Nurse Leadership and Innovator Fellowship Advisory Board. In 2022, she was selected to be featured in Who’s Who in American. She has publications in books, journals, newsletters, and podcasts. During her leadership the University of Louisville Hospital was the first hospital in the US to provide drive through flu shots the model that the CDC is using with COVID-19. She was a contributing author in the Drive-Thru Flu Shots: A model for mass immunization. Carrico, R. 2002, ISBN: 1-879260-45-X. She is dynamic speaker and workshop leader. In 2006, Martha A. Dawson Genesis Scholarship was established with The National Black Nurses Association.
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