2024 Emerging Leaders Enhance Respiratory Career Path with Mentors

AARC’s 2024 Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) provided respiratory therapists with a prestigious opportunity to develop connections with a mentor and other RT professionals worldwide. The program helped participants focus on what it takes to be a leader in the profession. Thirteen highly qualified individuals, out of 71 applications, were selected for the program based on a set of stringent criteria.

Activities that the ELP recipients took part in 2024 included:

• Presentations at Summer Forum and Congress
• AARC committee meetings
• State affiliate meetings
• Regular one-on-one meetings with their mentor and other ELP participants

“The program’s highlight for me as a mentor was meeting with my mentee, Meliza Walsh, every Friday. The hour we spent each week allowed me to listen, provide feedback, and learn as well,” said Douglas S. Gardenhire, EdD, RRT, RRT-NPS, FAARC, Chair and Professor, and Assistant Dean in the Department of Respiratory Therapy at Lewis College and Georgia State University. “In Meliza’s position, she is leading pediatric respiratory therapists, whereas my work in leadership has been in an academic environment. I found that what we discussed was similar, no matter the setting. Good leadership is good leadership, no matter what the setting. I participated in the Emerging Leaders Program because I strongly support a servant leadership philosophy. I have been fortunate to be served by excellent mentors such as Allen Barbaro in my early years of learning respiratory therapy, to Drs. Joseph L. Rau and Lynda T. Goodfellow, during my time in academia. We need more RTs to serve and advance our profession so that it is easier for those who come after to continue to carry the torch and do even more to grow this great respiratory therapy profession,” said Gardenhire.

Congratulations to the Class of 2024 Emerging Leaders and their mentors:

Emerging Leader	Mentor
Meliza Walsh (Alvarez), MHA, RRT, RRT-NPS, AE-C	Doug Gardenhire EdD, RRT, RRT-NPS, FAARC
Sarah Bazelak, MSc, RRT, RRT-ACCS, AE-C	Jefferson Mixell, MBA, RRT-ACCS
Allison Schweizer, RRT, RRT-NPS, EMT-P	Maria Madden, MS, RRT-ACCS, FAARC
James Keith, BS, RRT, RRT-NPS, RRT-ACCS, AE-C	Dana Stauffer, MS, RRT-NPS
Amber Milem, MHA, RRT, RRT-NPS	Natalie Napolitano, PhD, MPH, RRT-NPS, FAARC
Wendy Fascia, MBA, MA, RRT, RRT-NPS, CES-A	Ken Thigpen, BS, RRT, FAARC
Jessica George, MHA, RRT, RRT-ACCS	Carolyn LaVita, MHA, RRT, RRT-ACCS, RRT-NPS
Chrysalis Ashton, BSRC, RRT	Scott Reistad, BA, RRT, CPFT, FAARC
Michelle Rausen, MS, RRT, RRT-NPS	Katie Burr, MSM-HCA, RRT, RRT-NPS, AE-C
Laura Taylor, MS, RRT, RRT-NPS, CTTS-M	Shawna Strickland, PhD, CAE, RRT, FAARC
Chris Mead, RRT, RRT-ACCS	Keith Lamb, RRT, RRT-ACCS, FAARC, FCCM
Valerie Koller, MEd, RRT, RRT-NPS	Steve Hardt, MA, RRT, RRT-ACCS
Jennifer Pedley, MPH, RRT	Keith Siegel, MBA, RRT, CPFT, FAARC

The AARC congratulates the ELP Class of 2024 and looks forward to seeing their accomplishments in the future! The Class of 2025 ELP applications will be available within the next several weeks. Keep an eye on your email and the website for more information and submission deadlines.