I believe trust in leadership does not come with a title. It is earned over time, through the work people have watched you do, the difficult moments when you chose to show up and the willingness to listen when what you hear challenges what you believe.

 

I am a critical care nurse with experience as a CPCU nurse, in intermediate ICU and now in PACU. Throughout my nursing career, I have been a strong advocate for patients and nurses.  Serving as a student nurse preceptor was one of the highlights of my bedside nursing experience.  Creating a safe place where student nurses could begin applying their knowledge in practice, ask questions and build confidence was incredibly rewarding and strengthened my commitment to supporting the next generation of nurses.  

 

I became involved in the organizing effort at Corewell Health East in October 2023 around a belief that stayed with me throughout the campaign: nurses don’t disappoint.

 

At a time when many nurses were still uncertain about organizing and concerned about retaliation, I made the decision to become visible. I helped organize nurses, participated in outreach and organized the nurses’ parade that brought us together publicly.

 

I was present at the NLRB office for the vote count when Corewell Health East nurses won our union election, and I later signed the charter establishing Teamsters Local 2024.

 

I served as a bargaining representative during negotiations for our first collective bargaining agreement. Like the other nurses on our bargaining team, I participated in developing and drafting proposals, serving on committees, reviewing language and working through the decisions involved in building our first contract. It was a team effort, and I believe collective work deserves collective credit.

 

One part of that work that was especially important to me was helping nurses bring their own staffing concerns and proposals forward. The nurses closest to the work often understand the problems and potential solutions better than anyone else. Leadership should create ways for that knowledge to reach the people making decisions.

 

I currently serve as a steward, advocating for nurses, answering questions and helping members navigate workplace concerns.

 

Those experiences have shaped what I believe Local 2024 needs next.

 

Knowledge. Structure. Accountability. Vision.

 

Our members should understand their contract and their union. We need the structure to effectively represent nearly 10,000 nurses across nine campuses. Our leaders should be accountable to the members they serve, and we need a vision that reaches beyond today, builds our strength over the next three years and prepares us for our next contract.

 

My experience has taught me that leadership requires more than being willing to speak. It requires being willing to listen.

 

I believe good leaders should be confident enough to make decisions, humble enough to question themselves and independent enough to respectfully challenge people whose experience they value when something does not seem right.

 

Most importantly, we should never forget where the authority of a union ultimately comes from.

 

Its members.

 

Nearly 10,000 nurses built Local 2024. I am not running to become their voice. I am running because I believe the responsibility of Local 2024’s leadership is to make sure our nurses have a voice and the knowledge, structure and opportunity to use it.

 

Trust cannot be transferred from an organization. It cannot be manufactured by a campaign, and it does not automatically come with an elected position.

 

It has to be earned.

 

I am asking the nurses of Local 2024 for the opportunity to continue earning it.  

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