Maryjoan D. Ladden, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a nurse practitioner whose work has focused on improving health care quality and safety through health professional collaboration.

Her work at the Foundation focuses on several critical areas in nursing in New Jersey and nationally: faculty recruitment and education to increase the capacity of nursing programs; developing collaborative partnerships to address local nursing issues; creating the next generation of academic nurse leaders; and building senior executive leaders in nursing. She also is senior editor for the Foundation’s quarterly publication, Charting Nursing’s Future.

Ladden welcomes her role at RWJF as “an opportunity to shape nursing issues and policies and to work on the intersection of nursing and health and health care on a national scope.” Seeking to “make a difference in nursing nationwide by improving the synergy between programs,” she views her work as a unique opportunity to build a diverse and well-trained leadership in health and health care.

Prior to joining the Foundation in 2008, she served as interim chief programs officer of the American Nurses Association (ANA), providing strategic direction, integration and coordination for ANA programs. She has also held several senior leadership positions at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. These included assistant professor of Ambulatory Care and Prevention at Harvard Medical School; director of the Office of Continuing Professional Education; director, Medicare Education Partnership; co-director of Current Clinical Issues in Primary Care, the largest inter-professional continuing education program in the world and two RWJF national programs, Partnerships for Quality Education (PQE) and Achieving Competence Today (ACT).