Karen Drenkard is Chief Nursing Advisor at the AARP Public Policy Institute. She works on multiple projects and priorities within the AARP Center for Health Equity through Nursing^SM . This includes leading its Volunteer Nurse Ambassador Program, a network of influential nurse leaders committed to efforts to strengthen and diversify the nursing workforce, improve access to care, and expand the network of nurses committed to improving health equity.

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 an executive board member of the American Academy of Nursing and serves as the board liaison to the Academy’s Institute for Nursing Leadership.

She also served on the Strategic Advisory Committee of the Future of Nursing:  Campaign for Action, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that is building a healthier America through nursing. 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.