MCNP Welcomes First Executive Director

MCNP is excited to welcome Catherine (Cathy) McKinnon as the first Executive Director (ED) of the Massachusetts Coalition of Nurse Practitioners!

With the help of our Human Resources consultant and an ED search sub-committee, over 30 qualified applicants were screened, and multiple rounds of interviews conducted with our final candidates.

The level of engagement and dedication that Cathy has shown to the MCNP over the past 25 years is second to none. 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. She has held the elected offices of Treasurer and Corresponding Secretary and has served on the MCNP Membership Committee, Awards Committee, Conference Planning Committee, Legislative Steering Committee and as Co-Chair of the MCNP Legislative Committee.

For the past 6 years, Cathy has helped lead legislative efforts to pass legislation for full practice authority for NPs in Massachusetts; working closely with our lobbying team and crafting messaging and leveraging technology and social media to launch multiple grassroots campaigns. She is the engine that propels the legislative agenda of the MCNP forward and for this work was awarded the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners State Award for Advocacy in 2019.

In her current role as MCNP Corresponding Secretary, she is the primary contact for the organization and serves as a member resource for legislative, policy and regulatory issues.

In addition, Cathy manages the MCNP website, member database, MCNP Career Center and worked last year with a 3rd-party vendor to redesign and modernize the MCNP website. She handles all member email communications and has trained and supervised MCNP staff.

Cathy completed a Master of Science in Nursing at Simmons College and has an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Bates College. She is a board-certified Adult Nurse Practitioner and as she assumes her role as Executive Director, will be leaving her clinical position at UMass Medical Center in Worcester where she has provided specialty care in an outpatient Pulmonary and Sleep Clinic for the past 13 years.

During the interview process, Cathy identified one of her top priorities as bringing together the more than 11,000 nurse practitioners in MA around shared goals to advance the NP profession and strengthen a unified NP voice in our state. 

I have had the distinct pleasure of working closely with Cathy since my involvement with the MCNP began nearly 10 years ago. On a more personal note, she is a thoughtful listener, warm-hearted and has great sense of humor.

Given her extensive institutional knowledge of the MCNP, wisdom and NP practice in MA, and her proven ability to transform strategy into action, I have no doubt Cathy will hit the ground running and will lead us closer to fulfilling our mission to Advance NP practice by means of Leadership, Education, Advocacy, and the Delivery of Exceptional Care.

Congratulations to Cathy and a sincere thank you to the ED Search Committee for spending time with so many qualified and talented candidates.

Cheers to a new chapter for the MCNP!

Chris Malagrida, FNP
MCNP President