Nicole Gooding, MSHS, BN, NPD-BC, is Director, Institute for Nursing Excellence supporting four hospitals in Oregon where she collaborates with nurses to build and maintain structures and processes that promote positive practice environments and exceptional patient outcomes. Early in her nursing professional development practice, she was charged with supporting a professional governance council conduct a hospital-wide needs assessment. This was the impetus for her passion for rigorous exploration of the causes of practice gaps. She has contributed to three editions of the Core Curriculum and has been an ANPD board member and chair of the conference planning committee.

Mary Harper, PhD, RN, NPDA-BC®, is the director of research and inquiry for the Association for Nursing Professional Development (ANPD). She obtained her master’s degree in nursing administration from the University of Florida and her PhD in nursing from the University of Central Florida. She is a former director on the board of directors of ANPD and has published widely on topics and research related to nursing professional development. She is the editor of the Leadership Column in the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development.

Dr. Harper led the workgroup that developed the advanced certification in NPD. She is co-editor of the 3^rd and 4^th (current) editions of the Nursing Professional Development: Scope and Standards of Practice and the editor of the upcoming 6^th edition of the Core Curriculum for Nursing Professional Development.

Melanie Rainford, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, is a board-certified nurse leader, with over 16 years of clinical nursing and professional development experience, specializing in the design, implementation, and evaluation of professional development initiatives, projects, and programs.

In 2017, Melanie received the ANPD Change Agent Award for her strength in project management and improvement processes, and in 2018 she graduated from the ANPD Leadership Academy. Melanie is a contributing author for the NPD Scope & Standards of Practice, 4th Ed. and chapter editor for the Core Curriculum for Nursing Professional Development, 6th Ed. She currently serves on the editorial board for the JNPD, the official publication of ANPD.

In her current role as an education program specialist at the American Nurses Association Enterprise, Melanie manages and implements educational content for conferences and symposiums through project management, influence, data analysis, and internal consultation; additionally, in this role, Melanie creates educational content using instructional design, educational technology (edtech), design learning, and innovation.