CNM Appointed Leaders

Newsletter Managing Editor
Agnieszka Sowa, MS, RD, LD, CNSC

Agnieszka (Agnes) completed her undergraduate degree in Food and Nutrition Sciences at Hunter College, CUNY and her graduate degree in Nutrition and Exercise Sciences at Queens College, CUNY. Agnes has been in the field of dietetics for the past 17 years and currently works as an Outpatient Clinical Nutrition Manager at the Cleveland Clinic. She is passionate about improving access to nutrition services, team growth and development, promotion of evidence-based practice, and supporting our professional licensure.

Membership Chair
Nakia Spencer, MBA, RDN, LD

Nakia Spencer is the Director of Clinical Nutrition Development and Deployment for Aramark Healthcare Hospitality and has worked in various professional areas including clinical nutrition and patient dining for over 20 years. Nakia is passionate about building clinician capabilities through the development of resources that simplify the agenda, improve patient outcomes and fosters continuous learning. Nakia received a BS in Nutrition and Dietetics from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and a MBA from Belmont University. Currently, Nakia serves as the CNM DPG Member Services Chair. 

Professional Development Chair
Angela Lago, MS, RD, LDN, FAND

Angela is the Clinical Nutrition Manager at Novant NHRMC in Wilmington, NC. She obtained her BS & MS in Nutrition from East Carolina University. Angela has been a part of the Malnutrition Quality Improvement Initiative Learning Collaborative since 2017 and has focused on malnutrition, food insecurity, and SDOH throughout the continuum of care for the hospitalized patient. In 2022, Angela became a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, demonstrating her tenure, innovation, and commitment to the advancing the field of dietetics. 

Quality Performance Improvement Sub Unit Chair
Kelly Danis, RD, LDN, FAND

Kelly Danis is the Director of Nutrition at UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside where she is directly responsible for the nutrition programs for 2 large academic medical centers, Computrition Team, Western Psychiatric Hospital, an acute inpatient Psychiatric facility, the Ambulatory Nutrition Program, and the Hillman Cancer Center. In addition to her immediate facility-related responsibilities, Kelly also leads the UPMC Clinical Nutrition System Integration Team where she leads numerous system-wide projects and new hospital integrations.

Pediatric Sub Unit Chair
Caroline Steele, MS, RD IBCLC

Caroline Steele is a Clinical Consultant for Timeless Medical Systems assisting hospitals with implementation of centralized human milk/formula handling and bar code scanning.  Caroline was previously the Director of Clinical Nutrition and Lactation at CHOC Children’s.  Caroline has 30 years experience as a pediatric RD and lactation consultant.  Caroline has many professional publications on topics including human milk/formula handling, parenteral nutrition, and malnutrition documentation and was co-editor of the Academy publication, Infant and Pediatric Feedings.

Nutrition Informatics Sub Unit Chair
Susan Evanchak, RD, LDN

Sue Evanchak is the Nutrition Data Manager for the UPMC Health System in Pittsburgh, PA. As the Computrition Software Systems Administrator for UPMC, Sue is the Project Manager for several recent and ongoing system-wide software implementation and interoperability projects. Sue has served on the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Nutrition Informatics Committee (NIC) and was a founding member of the Nutrition Informatics Dietetic Practice Group (NI DPG), previously holding the position as Nominating Chair.

Policy and Advocacy Leader
Renee Welsh, MS, RD, LD, CNSC

Renee is currently the Senior Director of Nutrition for the Center for Human Nutrition at the Cleveland Clinic. Prior to taking this role she had been the Clinical Nutrition Manager and Lead Dietitian for the Nutrition Support Team for four years. Before transitioning into leadership roles, Renee's clinical area of practice was critical care nutrition for over nine years.

Nutrition Services Payment Specialist
Valerie Shurley, MBA, MS, RDN, CD, FAND

As a CNM with Touchpoint in Wisconsin, Valerie manages employees in 4 hospitals and 5 outpatient clinics. She has implemented state-wide standardization initiatives, including those addressing electronic documentation, malnutrition, coding and billing, productivity, policies and procedures and successfully provided guidance for clinical expansion via telehealth. Valerie is also an active member of the Academy and the Wisconsin affiliate. She recently served on the Nutrition Services Payment Committee and was Chair for the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

IDEA Liaison
Jacqueline Daughtry, RDN

Jacqueline is the CNM at Regional One Health in Memphis, Tennessee. Currently the I.D.E.A. Liaison for the DPG (Mini-grant Award recipient - #SEE ME Initiative), and State Affiliate of Tennessee. She is a member of several Dietetic Undergraduate and ACEND accredited Internship Advisory boards. Past professional roles include CNM DPG’s Nominating Committee Chair, Memphis District President, chair and secretary in the Gubernatorial appointed position on the State of Tennessee Board of Dietitian and Nutritionist Examiners.

Communications Chair
Allison Taormina, RDN, CDCES

Allison is currently a Regional Clinical Nutrition Manager with Morrison Healthcare, managing dietitians at Emory Decatur, Emory Hillandale, and Emory LTAC hospitals in Decatur, GA. She has over 6 years’ experience as a Registered Dietitian and over 5 years’ experience managing both inpatient and outpatient clinical nutrition teams. Allison has served on the Social Media Committee for the CNM DPG prior to becoming the Communications Committee Chair in 2020.

Sponsorship Chair
Denise M. Wehausen, MPH, RDN

Denice received her Master’s in Public Health Nutrition from Hunter College, and her Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Computer Information Systems from Georgia State University. She currently supports clinical nutrition programs in acute and long term care facilities across the United States. In the past she has served as an independent health contractor, providing nutrition and health education to individuals and groups in multiple countries, and as an information technology consultant for system integration.