Piri Ackerman-Barger is a senior health equity fellow for the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to improve America’s health through nursing.  She leads the Campaign’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee. She is also the associate dean for Student Affairs and Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion as well as a clinical professor at the University of California Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.

As associate dean for Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Ackerman-Barger leads the University of California Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing’s efforts to create a diverse and welcoming setting in which to learn, work and collaborate. She also designs initiatives to ensure  the school’s learning environments, workforce, programs, services and partnerships are more diverse and inclusive.

Over her career, Ackerman-Barger has combined her expertise in nursing and education to advance inclusive learning environments, health equity, and workforce diversity. She is a national consultant and speaker on strategies to help underserved and under-represented groups in health professions thrive academically.

Ackerman-Barger earned a doctor of philosophy in nursing education from the University of Northern Colorado, a master of science in nursing education from California State University, Sacramento, and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Humboldt State University.