Dr. Maria Valentin-Welch is Frontier Nursing University’s Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer. Valentin-Welch holds the title of Assistant Professor at FNU, where she has worked since 2013. She has been teaching in academic settings since 1997. Valentin-Welch has over 30 years of public health, clinical, and teaching experience and has worked with vulnerable populations such as pregnant homeless women, uninsured, underprivileged and undocumented women from various cultures. She was the State Maternal Health Consultant for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services from 2008-2013. Valentin-Welch believes nursing is public health and that advanced nurses such as midwives and nurse practitioners can provide care not only in clinical settings but also in public health settings at the local, state and national level, where they can serve as catalysts for positive policy decision-making.
