Leveraging the Legislative POWER of Nurses

Dr. Denise Coppais a nationally board-certified Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and a Family Nurse Practitioner, researcher, and professor at URI. Dr. Coppa is an avid champion for advancing full scope of practice for nurse practitioners and transforming the APRN workforce to enhance nurse practitioner education for the medically underserved. Her contributions have been recognized through her selection as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and, more recently, as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. She is a past recipient of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners State NP Advocate Award and the RI State Nurses Association President’s Award for Leadership.

Weayonnoh Nelson-Davies is a leader, attorney, and advocate for equity and social justice. As the Executive Director of the Economic Progress Institute, she champions transformational and equitable budget and policy changes to improve the well-being of Rhode Island’s low- and modest-income communities. Weayonnoh’s career spans over 14 years as a legal aid attorney, where she specialized in poverty law, the effects of structural racism, medical-legal partnerships, public benefits, and housing law. She previously served as the managing attorney for Community Legal Aid’s Worcester County offices, leading critical projects such as the Medical-Legal Partnership, Asian Outreach, Veterans Legal Assistance, and the CORI/Reentry, and serving as chair of CLA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Weayonnoh has also served as faculty and mentor at Brown University Medical School and as an adjunct professor at the Community College of Rhode Island and has earned numerous awards and accolades. A proud alumna of Rhode Island College and Roger Williams University School of Law, Weayonnoh is deeply committed to cultivating partnerships and building movements for racial and economic justice.

Stephanie Marrotte has been a registered nurse for 15 years. She has worked all shifts in med surg and critical care and led the Miriam Hospital Green Team. She attends national environmental health policy calls with the American Nurses Association and is a leader in the area of environmental health in Rhode Island. She chairs the Environmental Health Committee for ANA-Rhode Island and is a member of the Alliance of Nurses for a Healthy Environment where she serves on the Policy Sub-committee. She has led initiatives within her institution that have reduced waste and raised awareness from the patient room to the board room of issues related to the intersection of healthcare, climate change, and nursing practice.