ONS Leadership

ONS is governed by our President Danya Garner, PhD, RN, NPD-BC, OCN®, CCRN; an elected Board of Directors; and Chief Executive Officer Brenda Nevidjon, MSN, RN, FAAN. These dedicated representatives set our strategic direction so that we can best influence oncology nursing and the care of patients with cancer. Each leader has a long history of involvement with ONS, and together, they combine decades of experience in nursing practice, research, administration, and nonprofit leadership.

Danya Garner, PhD, RN, NPD-BC, OCN®, CCRN-K

President
Danya Garner, PhD, RN, NPD-BC, OCN®, CCRN

Danya Garner, PhD, RN, NPD-BC, OCN®, CCRN, is the ONS president from 2023–2024. 

An ONS member from the beginning of his nursing career, Garner has served the organization in many leadership roles, including four years on the ONS Congress® Content Planning Team and as chair during his last year and two years as an ONS Board director-at-large. Additionally, Garner led presentations for ONS Bridge™, the Society’s virtual conference. 

Garner has been invited to present across the nation on topics such as nursing education and development, interprofessional education, racism in nursing, and diversity in nursing. He is a Jonas Nurse Leader Scholar and was named to the national 40 Under 40 in Cancer Class of 2021, sponsored by the Lynx Group, Upstream Partners, Swim Across America, and the National Community Oncology Dispensing Association. 

Garner earned a BSN from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX, MSN in nursing education from the University of Houston–Victoria in Texas, and PhD in nursing from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. He serves as the associate director of continuing professional education at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.  


Brenda Nevidjon, RN, MSN, FAAN

 

Chief Executive Officer
Brenda Nevidjon, MSN, RN, FAAN

Brenda Marion Nevidjon, MSN, RN, FAAN, is the Chief Executive Officer of the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS).  Prior to joining the ONS staff, she had an extraordinary nursing career of leadership in service and education.  Through diverse clinical and administrative experiences in Canada, Switzerland, and the United States, she has devoted her energy to bridging practice settings and academic environments to advance patient care, creating innovative work environments, promoting scholarship in practitioners, and developing leaders.  After two decades in oncology clinical and administrative settings, she transitioned to health care executive practice, culminating with her being the first nurse and the first woman to be chief operating officer of Duke University Hospital. Immediately prior to her position at ONS, she was a professor at Duke University School of Nursing.   

Nevidjon has helped develop professional nursing organizations at the local, national, and international levels.  She is past president of ONS and the Oncology Nursing Foundation.  Other board service has included the Association of Community Cancer Centers, the International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care, and the National Cancer Policy Forum. Her bachelors is from Duke University School of Nursing, masters from University of North Carolina School of Nursing, and doctoral study at the Fielding Graduate Institute and Duke.  In addition to being a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, she completed the Johnson & Johnson - Wharton Fellows Program in Management for Nurse Executives and the Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Executive Program. Among her awards are the Duke University School of Nursing Distinguished Alumni Award, the ONS Trish Greene Quality of Life Memorial Lectureship, and the American Nursing Association’s Honorary Recognition Award for sustained contribution to the nursing profession.


ONS Board of Directors

2023-2024 ONS Board

The ONS Board of Directors is a dedicated group of professionals who serve three-year terms and meet monthly to guide the strategic direction of the Society. Together, they represent decades of experience in oncology nursing clinical care, education, research, and leadership.

To contact members of the Board, please email onsboard@ons.org.

Danya Garner, PhD, RN, NPD-BC, OCN®, CCRN
President (2023–2024), Director-at-Large (2021–2023)
Houston, TX

Deborah "Hutch" Allen, PhD, RN, CNS, FNP-BC, AOCNP®
Secretary (2023–2025), Director-at-Large (2022–2023)
Pittsboro, NC 

Kris Mathey, MS, APRN-CNP, AOCNP®
Treasurer (2023–2025), Director-at-Large (2022–2023)
Hillard, OH  

Valerie Burger, MA, MS, RN, OCN®, CPN
Director-at-Large (2023–2024), Treasurer (2021–2023)
Bellmore, NY

Patricia Geddie, PhD, APRN, AOCNS®, FCNS
Director-at-Large (2021–2024)
Winter Park, FL

Jeanene "Gigi" Robison, MSN, RN, AOCN®
Director-at-Large (2022–2025)
Cincinnati, OH 

Susan Brown, PhD, MSN, CENP
Director-at-Large (2023–2026)  
Glendora, CA

Jessica MacIntyre, DNP, MBA, APRN, AOCNP®
Director-at-Large (2023–2026)
Coral Gables, FL 

Trey Woods, RN, MSN, NP-C
Director-at-Large (2023–2026)
Madison, MS

 

Leadership Development Committee

Meet the members of the Leadership Development Committee and the slating process on our ONS Leadership Process page.