Rebecca H. Bryan, DNP, APN

Rebecca H. Bryan, DNP, APN, is the new Executive Director of the Office of Resilience for the State of New Jersey. Her previous position was at Rutgers University School of Nursing-Camden, where she was Director of Community Engagement and Professional Development. There, she and her colleagues discovered that the risk factors for wound generation and poor healing overlap with the risk factors generated by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).

Rebecca also supervised three cohorts of AmeriCorps members in COVID vaccine and testing initiatives, targeting underserved populations. As a nurse, Rebecca saw firsthand the intersection of adversity and complex medical histories in patients, causing her to focus her doctoral project on Getting to the Root of Why. Additionally, she founded and directed the UrbanPromise Ministries Wellness Center in Camden, during which time she was first introduced to the science generated by ACEs research.

Rebecca has decades of experience as a nurse, primary care nurse practitioner, a social justice advocate, a clinical instructor and wellness lecturer and presenter. Rebecca is well-published in healthcare journals and participated as a member of the NJ and Philadelphia ACEs Task Forces. She earned her undergraduate degrees in Nursing from Gwynedd-Mercy College, her Master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania, and her Doctor of Nursing Practice from Rutgers University in Camden; she holds certifications in Adult Learning and Lakeside Global Institute’s Trauma Competency (60 week training).