Colleen Leners is a full-time Mid-Career Master in Public Administration candidate and American Service Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, bringing over four decades of service in military, clinical, academic, and policy leadership to her studies. A Bronze Star recipient and former dual-service officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve and U.S. Army Nurse Corps, she has led medical teams in combat and coordinated care under pressure throughout her career. She most recently served as Chief Health Officer at 1stCallHEALTH, a veteran-founded healthcare organization in Arlington, Virginia, where she directed clinical strategy and policy alignment, oversaw integrated primary and behavioral health services for more than 4,500 veterans annually, and supervised a team of ten clinicians. Her expertise spans a broad spectrum, including veteran and military health, federal health policy, nursing workforce development, precision medicine research, and interprofessional education. She previously served as Director of Policy at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, where she managed more than $1.3 million in NIH-funded initiatives, and as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow in the office of Senator John Thune (R-SD), contributing to bipartisan legislation on Medicare, Medicaid, and veterans’ health.

Dr. Leners’ academic credentials, including a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Case Western Reserve University and her current Mid-Career MPA studies at the Harvard Kennedy School, underscore her commitment to excellence in nursing practice and policy. Her dedication to the profession is further demonstrated by her active service on numerous boards and committees. She currently serves as President-elect of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and as a Board Member and Ambassador for the Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research. She has also served on multiple committees for the American Academy of Nursing. She was inducted as an Honorary Fellow into the Academy of Associate Degree Nursing (FAADN) by the Organization for Associate Degree Nursing (OADN) in November 2025. Dr. Leners is also a Fellow of the National Academies of Practice (FNAP), the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (2017), and the American Academy of Nursing (2019), and she was named an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow in 2015. Her career has been marked by a dedication to strengthening public systems that are efficient, accountable, and grounded in service to others.