Karen Drenkard serves a senior nursing advisor to the AARP Public Policy Institute and the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action. She advises on nursing and health care workforce, health systems, access to care, and programs that strengthen the nursing workforce.

Her experience spans academic nursing, having most recently served as an associate dean at the George Washington University School of Nursing. She also served as chief nurse at the technology company GetWell; was executive director of the American Nurses Credentialling Center and the Magnet Recognition® Program; and chief nurse of Inova Health System.

Drenkard is a past executive board member of the American Academy of Nursing. She also served on the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action‘s Strategic Advisory Committee. She is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for Indiana University School of Nursing and serves as chair of the Inova Alexandria Hospital Quality and Safety Committee. She is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and the National Academies of Practice. 

Drenkard has a PhD in nursing administration, policy, and ethics from George Mason University, is a Wharton Nurse Executive Fellow, and a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow.