CNM Appointed Leaders

Newsletter Managing Editor
Agnieszka Sowa, MS, RD, LD

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
Kerry Clark, RDN, CD, FAND

Kerry is recently retired from Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children’s Hospital in Spokane, WA after 37 years. Her roles have included acute care staff dietitian on adult and pediatric units, serving as a provider in various Outpatient clinics, Clinical Nutrition Manager, and Director of Food & Nutrition Services. She previously obtained certifications as CNSD and Clinical Transplant Dietitian. Kerry has been both member and active on the CNM DPG board for many years holding positions as Chair of Nominating Committee, Member Services Chair, and Chair.

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, FAND

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, leading system-wide Food and Nutrition software implementation and interoperability projects. Sue has served on the Academy’s Nutrition Informatics Committee (NIC) and was a founding member of the Nutrition Informatics Dietetic Practice Group, currently holding the position as Education Committee Co-Chair. Sue serves on the Commission on Dietetic Registration Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) Task Force.

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.

Nominating Committee
Daya Cherian, MS, RD, CSO, LD, CNSC

Daya Cherian is a Clinical Nutrition Manager for Sodexo at SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City. She oversees and manages approximately 14 dietitian across 4 facilities. She has 13 years of acute care experience in a variety of areas. She is a Certified Specialist in Oncology Nutrition and a Certified Nutrition Support Clinician. As a vital part of the critical care team, she is passionate about providing nutrition care. She has presented a few performance improvement studies at the poster sessions for the 2023 and 2024 CNM Symposiums, 2024 OKAND Spring Convention, and upcoming 2024 FNCE. To balance her work, she enjoys spending her time with family, reading, and yoga.

Nominating Committee
Lauren Sullivan, MSAN, RD, LD

Lauren is a 30+ year clinical dietitian working for the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (Main Campus Inpatient Clinical Nutrition Manager). She completed her MS in Applied Nutrition at the University of New England (2021), a BS in Dietetics from the University of Akron (1990), and pre-professional practice at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, DC.  She is passionate about connecting with people, developing high-impact teams, advocating for professional growth, and lifelong learning.

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 8 years’ experience as a Registered Dietitian and over 7 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.

Communications Committee
Jessica Leonard, MBA, RD

Jessica Leonard is a 2011 graduate of West Virginia University and became an RD in 2012. In 2020, she graduated from LSU- Shreveport with a Master of Business Administration. She began her career in long-term care then became a Program Director in Bariatric Surgery. She has worked for Aramark Healthcare+ for 8 years and is currently the Regional Director of Clinical Nutrition Development and Deployment for the Northeast and Southeast Regions.

Fundraising Chair
Denice 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.