Cheryl Sullivan, PhD, CAE, FAAN, learned about the effect of policy while still a teenager and it led to a lifetime of professional contribution.
“It started when I couldn’t afford to go to college after high school and I went to a business school to learn to type and take shorthand,” she said. “I lived in the Washington, D.C. area and ended up at 18 as a secretary on Capitol Hill for Indiana Congressman John Brademas who was representing the South Bend area.”
She described a feeling of awe at witnessing how one person could do so much to influence change in policy.
“At the time, there was the beginning of national interest in expanding environmental protections, ensuring educational opportunities for students with disabilities, and enhancing arts and humanities. Congressman Brademas authored the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, co-sponsored the National Endowment for the Arts, and oversaw major legislation on higher education,” she said. “I saw first-hand how Congress operated from individuals bringing ideas to members of Congress, to observing the drafting of legislation, to witnessing hearings, and to appreciating the way legislation was enacted. It inspired me.”
Not only would Sullivan eventually go to college, but her education would stretch about half a century between her first higher education degree to her latest. She would also give anyone an education in how to have a policy-related career of service.
An Academy Leader
Sullivan may be best known for serving as the CEO of the American Academy of Nursing from 2010 to 2018, during which she led a share of policy initiatives.
“One of the opportunities that we had was in creating our leadership institute. Recognizing it is much easier to make policy when at the table than to change it after it is implemented, I was aware that all governors have opportunities for appointing individuals to state boards, commissions and councils,” said Sullivan, who is an IU School of Nursing Board of Advisors member. “Through our institute, we encouraged academy fellows to identify board openings in their state and to apply. We were thrilled that, only three years into this initiative, we had many fellows who were appointed by 41 governors across the country. The Academy was successful in facilitating policy development state by state, one nurse at a time.”
Another initiative had the organization working with Michelle Obama and Jill Biden to launch a veteran’s health initiative called “Have You Ever Served?”
“The initiative encouraged all hospitals and healthcare providers to ask that question because we were aware at the time that a number of military servicemembers had been exposed to toxic chemicals primarily in the Iraq War, whether it was burn pits, sodium dichromate, or other chemicals,” she said. “By asking the question, have you ever served, the health care provider perhaps could shorten the time between the symptoms and the diagnosis.”
She also served as deputy chief of staff for policy to then Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana from 2005 to 2010 and had a central staff role in developing important legislation leading to the identification of pediatric quality performance measures and to the coordination of federal Alzheimer's research. She also served as Cabinet Secretary for the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration from 1993 to 1997, overseeing Medicaid, mental health, public assistance, and other social service programs.
Supporting the IU School of Nursing Health Policy Initiatives
Sullivan and her husband, Honorable Frank Sullivan Jr., the former Indiana Supreme Court Justice, and current IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law professor, both support the School of Nursing’s health policy initiatives.
“We are not a family of wealth, but we do believe in supporting causes that are important to us,” she said. “We know that healthcare presents complex policy challenges. By supporting the School of Nursing's health policy initiatives, we hope in our small way to help educate nurses so they in turn can impact our policymakers.”
The Sullivans want nurses to be leaders in having healthcare be delivered in a more cost effective and equitable way, she said.
“(Our support helps) to facilitate understanding of these complex issues via the public,” Sullivan said. “We appreciate the opportunity to support the IU School of Nursing to create these opportunities,” Sullivan said.