MCNP Leadership and Staff

Laura Black has been a long-term active member of the MCNP, previously serving as President-Elect, Co-Chair of the MCNP Legislative Committee and member of the Legislative Steering Committee, having helped advance FPA legislative efforts.

With 30 years of health care experience, Laura is an expert in the design, implementation, and leadership of care management and direct clinical care systems for Medicare-Medicaid and Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans having served as Senior Vice President and Care Management Solutions for Commonwealth Care Alliance and more recently as Vice President Population Health Management at Point32Health.

As MCNP President, Laura has provided visionary leadership as MCNP continues to grow and evolve following the passage of Full Practice Authority.

Chris Reeves has been a nurse since 2014, and an AGACNP-BC since 2016. Chris is a graduate of the MGH IHP and completed a NP residency in Trauma Surgery and Critical Care at George Washington University Hospital.

Chris joined the MCNP Board of Directors in 2023 as Region II Director and during his time on the board has been a driving force behind efforts to advance the MCNP legislative agenda, enhance programs to engage more members, and support new NPs as they transition into the NP role. He is excited to continue this work as President-Elect.

Chris currently works as a Nursing Professional Development Specialist at Boston Children’s Hospital in Boston, MA and maintains a clinical practice in the adult Neuro ICU at Mass General Hospital. He is actively engaged in health policy work with the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners as well as the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Nurses Association.

Chris is actively enrolled in a PhD program at UMass Boston where his research interests focus on generating nursing science around novice NP transition to practice, professional identity, and considering how effective transition (yet to be defined) may influence outcomes measured at the level of the practitioner, the patient, and larger health care systems.

Dorothy has been a registered nurse for more than 40 years, having worked as an inpatient acute care nurse and clinical educator in the management of complex critically ill cardiovascular patients. She transitioned into the NP role in 2020 and is now working as Nurse Practitioner in Transplant Heart Infectious Disease at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.

Throughout her nursing career Dorothy has been engaged in professional service, having been an active member of the Greater Boston Chapter of AACN where served on the Board of Directors and in multiple officer positions. She has been the co- chair of many hospital-based committees and more recently on the Tufts Medical Center APRN Council.

Dorothy is excited to bring her professional experience to the MCNP Board of Directors where as a newer NP, she is eager to champion efforts to support novice practitioners. 

Tracy Markwell is a long-term MCNP member who is currently practicing as a nurse practitioner on the Complex Care Medicine Service at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Tracy is a clinical nurse practitioner instructor and term lecturer at MGH Institute of Health Professions and regularly precepts NP students, instilling in them the importance of professional involvement.

Tracy brings her experience from the acute care setting and as an educator to the MCNP leadership team and is eager to support organizational efforts to advance and support the role of the Nurse Practitioner in Massachusetts.

Allison is a Family Nurse Practitioner at Harvard University Health Services and is graduating in May 2025 with a DNP in executive leadership and MPH in May 2025.

With a policy-focused doctoral project aimed at improving access to treatment for opioid use disorder, she brings a unique blend of clinical experience and policy insight to her new role as State Legislative Policy Director.

Throughout her career, Allison has demonstrated leadership through education, collaboration, and advocacy. She has served as a teaching assistant for graduate-level health policy courses, frequently precepts NP students in primary care, has served on multiple committees where she has effectively collaborated with other NPs and disciplines to advance care. 

As a new member of the MCNP Board of Directors, Allison is committed to engaging members through active listening and open communication, advancing patient-centered policies, and promoting the role of Nurse Practitioners through education, advocacy, and inclusive leadership.

Aissatou (Aysha) Gueye is a dedicated advanced practice nurse (APN) with nearly a decade of experience as a primary care nurse practitioner specializing in refugee and immigrant health. During her tenure at Boston Medical Center (BMC), she embodied the institution’s mission, “Exceptional Care without Exception,” earning recognition as one of the top 11 providers among 150 nominees in 2023 with the prestigious BMC Be Exceptional Award.

Aissatou holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from Senegal, her home country, and brings a deep passion for language, communication, and patient care. As a multilingual and multicultural practitioner, her compassion and professionalism have been particularly impactful in effective healthcare communication and diabetes care, where she served as a trained facilitator in Motivational Interviewing during a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded clinical trial on diabetes self-management for minority women in Boston at Boston University School of Medicine.

As she is currently completing her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) at Boston College, Aissatou has strengthened her leadership, management, and research skills, preparing her to lead transformative initiatives. She envisions nursing values and perspectives shaping the future of primary care delivery, ensuring it remains compassionate, inclusive, and effective.

In her new role as Director of DEI at MCNP, Aissatou will use her clinical expertise, communication skills, and leadership experience to build a stronger, more inclusive community for nurse practitioners across Massachusetts. She is committed to advancing DEI initiatives that empower NPs, foster connection, and enhance healthcare delivery statewide.

Colleen has been a Nurse Practitioner since 2019 and an active member of the MCNP since 2020, having served on the Legislative, Membership, Political Action Committee, and Research Committees.

Colleen is currently in practice at Massachusetts General Hospital where she works as a Family Nurse Practitioner in the Orthopedic Surgery Department where she focuses on pre and post operative care of pediatric and adult patients.  

In her role as Region I Director, and as a newer nurse practitioner, Colleen aspires to be a voice and advocate for other nurse practitioners particularly as they navigate the transition to full practice authority.

Shannon Kriehn is a family nurse practitioner with 18 years of experience as a RN and 9 years of experience as a FNP, having completed her ADN in 2006, BSN 2009, MSN 2012, FNP 2015.

She has worked in a variety of healthcare settings including 17 years in an emergency department, 5 years working in the prison healthcare system, 7 years in urgent care and for the past 9 years in primary care.

Shannon is the owner of Better Way Primary Care in Wareham, MA where she offers comprehensive and holistic healthcare for her patients and is committed to transforming their primary care experience.

Shannon hopes to bring the knowledge she has attained in starting her own practice to her service on the Board so that MCNP can better support NP practice owners and remove barriers to NP practice that make it harder for them to succeed and care for patients.

She is also eager to increase engagement with NPs in the Metro South, S/E MA and Cape & Island Regions.

Sherri is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP) at Tri River Health Center in Uxbridge, MA and an assistant professor of the practice at the Connell School of Nursing at Boston College.

Sherri has been a member of the MCNP since the mid 90s when still in graduate school and has remained actively involved - as a member of the MCNP Education Committee and as long-term Regional Representative in the Greater Worcester Marlboro region.

Sherri is passionate about her work as a PNP and educator and recognizes the importance of health policy advocacy in addressing barriers to care. In her role as Region IV Director, she is excited to get more involved in MCNP advocacy efforts and initiatives to support new NP graduates as they navigate the NP role.

Chris is a Family Nurse Practitioner and a leader in healthcare clinical and operations and the current Executive Director of Performance Management, Ambulatory Services at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA.  

Chris served 2-terms as MCNP President and under her dynamic and visionary leadership, helped transform the MCNP through a period of tremendous organizational growth and restructuring. 

Chris is finishing a DNP/MBA program at Johns Hopkins University and is excited to remain engaged as an MCNP volunteer and mentor our incoming Board members in her capacity as Director at Large.

Tina Hughes is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and Certified Dementia Practitioner.

Tina currently owns her own practice where she provides holistic and medication management of behavioral disturbances in Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias to patients that live in assisted living communities. Through her practice, Tina has collaborated with countless providers and worked within an extensive network of health systems where she has promoted awareness and respect for the NP role.

She is also a NP entrepreneur and is the proud owner of The Skin Lounge, a medical spa in Plymouth, MA.

Tina sees educating community members and healthcare partners on the value of Nurse Practitioners as both a challenge and opportunity and is excited to continue this work in her capacity as Director at Large of the MCNP.

Catherine (Cathy) has been a Nurse Practitioner since 1992 and an active member of the Massachusetts Coalition of Nurse Practitioners (MCNP) for more than 25 years. She was a founding member of the Metro South Region of the MCNP and played an integral role in uniting the regions of the MCNP in its early years.

Cathy has held the elected offices of Treasurer and Corresponding Secretary and as a member of the Legislative Steering Committee and Co-Chair of the MCNP Legislative Committee helped lead legislative efforts to pass legislation for full practice authority for NPs in Massachusetts. 

Cathy is a board-certified Adult Nurse Practitioner and in 2020 became the first Executive Director of the MCNP after leaving her most recent clinical position at UMass Medical Center in Worcester where she provided specialty care in an outpatient Pulmonary and Sleep Clinic.

Stacy has been a member of the MCNP team since 2018, initially as Director of Operations and more recently as Director of Finance. In both of these roles Stacy has worked tirelessly to streamline MCNP business and financial operations and put systems in place to ensure the MCNP functions as efficiently as possible. With more than 25 years’ experience, Stacy possesses an innate knowledge of the specific needs of an organization and what is required for an organization to run smoothly and successfully.

Stacy is an ardent supporter of the NP profession and has been committed to increasing the visibility of the organization.  She has been instrumental in establishing important partnering relationships with other professional organizations. Stacy holds a B.S. in Business Management-Finance from the University of Massachusetts.

Elaina has been a member of the MCNP team since 2019 and in her role as Regional Program Coordinator has worked with our regional representatives to plan pharmaceutical sponsored MCNP education and networking programs throughout the state - including countless virtual programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Elaina has also supported MCNP programming and conference appearances and in 2023 will be leading our conference sponsorship efforts as Conference Exhibitor Manager.