Quinn Franklin, PhD, CCLS – President Elect

The psychosocial needs of children and their families carries so much importance in the work that Quinn Franklin strives to support and enhance. Quinn started her career as an Emergency Center Child Life Specialist working directly with patients in a high acuity, fast-paced environment. Between her internships and the Emergency Center environment, Quinn learned that she wanted to help children in ways that partnered with clinicians, researchers and academicians. Over the years, Quinn transitioned into utilizing evidence - based practice, teaching and leadership to help shape the psychosocial care being delivered to children in healthcare settings through various roles ranging from being an adjunct instructor to a leader. Quinn has nearly 20 years working as a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) and considers this to be one of the greatest gifts, personally and professionally.

Quinn has been involved in many different aspects of the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP) spending the majority of her time working with the Child Life Certifying Commission (CLCC; 2006 to 2014) and continues to sit on the Appeals Committee.  During her tenure with CLCC, Quinn participated in Exam Assembly, co-chaired the Recertification Task Force, and chaired the Child Life Course Description Working Group. As chair of the CLCC, Quinn served on the ACLP Board. This is the time frame where Quinn gained an increased understanding and true appreciation for how evidence-based practice touches each decision we make as CCLS’ and how impactful it is to the work we do at the bedside and away from the bedside, as the field of child life continues to evolve.

In 2018, Quinn had the privilege of representing ACLP on the Disney Hospital and Wishes Advisory Group and participating in the Strategic Planning Summit. Currently, Quinn is the chair of the Scientific Advancement of Professional Practice Committee and the Assistant Director of the Psychosocial Division in the Cancer and Hematology Centers at Texas Children’s Hospital (Houston, TX). Quinn’s current role brings the world of evidence-based practice, education, and leadership together to support the psychosocial needs of children and their families, in addition to the faculty and staff that are working with them. Quinn is committed to ensuring that children and families receive the psychosocial support that they need, when they need it.

Abigail Rainey, CCLS – Secretary

After completing her bachelor of science at Indiana University, Abigail began working at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, Indiana. Over the past eight years, Abigail has worked in several different intensive and acute care areas. Abigail now serves as the Child Life Supervisor for the team and provides clinical care in an outpatient setting. Abigail is the Chair of the ACLP Mentor Program Subcommittee and is a member of the ACLP Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force. Abigail has authored and co-authored ACLP Bulletin articles, presented locally and nationally on a variety of topics, and has been both a mentor and mentee in the ACLP Mentorship Program. Abigail is grateful for all of the work that ACLP does to support excellence in psychosocial care and impact change within healthcare. Abigail has a passion for fostering engagement, learning, and reflective practice in herself and others. She currently resides in downtown Indianapolis with her husband Collin, son Booker, and dog Hobbes.

René Guilbeau, CCLS – Director

René Guilbeau considers herself a passionate advocate for children and families. In 2017, after working at Tulane for 22 years she accepted a position as the Director of Child Life and Creative Therapies at Children’s Hospital New Orleans. She has experienced much change and growth over the past three years and is now also the Director of Patient Experience and Arts in Healthcare.  

René truly believes that you should do what you love and love what you do. René loves to share her passion for child life by improving the lives of patients and families, providing evidence-based programming, creating educational opportunities for staff development, and contributing to the growth of the child life profession. The past 10 years have been both challenging and rewarding as she has been a member of the ACLP benchmarking committee and has been the Committee Chair for the past year. 

René attended Wheelock College and has been a Certified Child Life Specialist since 1994. Throughout the years she has challenged herself to meet the needs of the patients, families, staff, and community she serves. Whether it was becoming a Certified Infant Massage Instructor to help support babies and parents, a Child Passenger Safety Technician to help build an injury prevention program, or a Resolve through Sharing Trainer to help build a palliative care team, she is always committed to the needs of the patients, families, and colleagues she works with.    

Korie Leigh, PhD, CCLS – Director

Korie started her child life journey 15 years ago, graduating from Wheelock College with a BA in human development. Since then, she has worked as a child life specialist in hospital and community-based settings holding clinical and administrative roles. Obtaining an MA in Thanatology & Death Studies, Korie developed passion and expertise towards working in pediatric palliative and hospice care, including at the George Mark Children’s House. As her curiosity in areas of child life intervention at the end of life expanded, she obtained a PhD in Integral and Transpersonal Psychology. Then in 2015, she began teaching at the graduate level at Mills College in the early childhood and child life program. Currently, Korie is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Human Development & Family Science at the University of Georgia, where she coordinates the undergraduate and graduate child life programs. 

Tracy-Lynn Akitt, CCLS – Canadian Liaison

Tracy Akitt has been a part of the Child Life profession for 25 years, contributing in both a teaching and clinical capacity. She has worked in Canada and the United States. Presently, she is the Clinical Leader of Child Life, and Family Engagement Lead at McMaster Children’s Hospital, in Ontario, Canada.

CLCC Liaison – Sherwood Burns-Nader, PhD, CCLS

Jennifer Jewell, MD, MS, FAAP

Jennifer Jewell graduated from Knox College and Boston University School of Medicine. She is a pediatric hospitalist in Portland, Maine at The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital. She is interested in child advocacy and quality improvement.

Jen serves on the Maine Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Board of Directors and on the National American Academy of Pediatrics Committee Forum Management Committee. Some of her favorite people are Child Life Professionals, and she is honored to be a Public Member on the Association of Child Life Professionals Board of Directors.

Kari A. Mastro, PhD, RN, NEA-BC

Kari A. Mastro is the Director of Practice, Innovation and Research at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center. In this role, she is responsible for patient care excellence initiatives across Penn Medicine Princeton Health, driving innovation and leading the Center for Innovation and Excellence. Additionally, she serves as faculty teaching evidenced-based policy development in the Nursing PhD program at Rutgers the State University of New Jersey.

Dr. Mastro has served in many senior leadership roles as Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer of Nursing & Patient Care Services at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and the Sloane Hospital for Women of New York-Presbyterian and as Assistant Vice President, Nursing and Patient Care Services for Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. She began her nursing career Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and joined the staff of Robert Wood Johnson in 1991 where she held several nursing leadership roles.

Making a difference in the lives of children and their families is her passion. For over thirty years, she has focused on ensuring that the care provided to children is of supreme quality regardless of where the care is provided and who is providing that care. Her impact to children’s health has been far reaching. 

She has received many awards for her work and has been recognized for her leadership by the March of Dimes as Nurse of the Year, the NDNQI Award for Outstanding Nursing Quality in the Academic Medical Center, the Magnet Prize Honors for Innovation, and the HRET Community Outreach Award for Improving End-of-Life Care.

Dr. Mastro is well published in the field of Nursing Leadership, Children’s Healthcare, and Patient- and Family-Centered Care and speaks nationally and internationally on these topics. She has extended her influence in improving the care of children internationally as the key note speaker at the Beijing International Forum of Pediatric Development where she presented how nursing in the United States is leading children’s healthcare into the future. While in China, she organized a collaborative in which China’s nursing leaders came to the United States and partner with U.S. nursing leaders in an effort to bridge the gap in care and improve the quality of care for children in China. 

Dr. Mastro received her undergraduate degree in Nursing from Catholic University of America and a Master’s degree in Nursing from Seton Hall University and her Ph.D. in Nursing at the University of Colorado with a focus on Patient- and Family-Centered Care and the impact of patient and parent partnership in care on quality, safety, and satisfaction outcomes.