Growing from the Ground Up: Chapters as Leadership Development Catalysts | eNews Leadership Update

Last month, I shared the vision for our AONL chapters entering 2026. This month, we focus on the first pillar: Chapters as Leadership Development Catalysts. Every chapter offers nurse leaders a place to find their footing. It is where emerging leaders test their voice, mid-careerists grow their impact and executives sharpen their vision. Our goal is to support every chapter in becoming a true catalyst for that growth, aligned with AONL's national strategic plan.

Every chapter town hall includes a strategic spotlight that connects local chapter work to national priorities. Earlier this year, Duke Lim of the Florida Organization for Nursing Leadership (FONL) and Ashley Capps of the South Carolina Organization of Nurse Leaders (SCONL) shared how their chapters build the next generation of nurse leaders. Florida has established scholarships covering conference fees, membership dues and one-on-one mentoring for emerging leaders, while sharpening programming around member needs and social media outreach. SCONL is rallying CNOs and boards to recruit new members, expand networking and education (including joint programming with their state hospital association) and partner with the state board of nursing on workforce development pathways. Both chapters show how deliberate, local investment in people builds the bench strength our profession needs.

We are also launching an inaugural Chapter Annual Report, giving chapters a national platform to celebrate accomplishments and share replicable ideas and innovations. To strengthen the leaders who govern our chapters, AONL will offer governance excellence programming to equip chapter boards to lead with clarity, accountability and strategic focus. Strong chapters require strong governance and we are investing in both.

Finally, chapters will have a direct voice in revising criteria for the AONL Chapter Award, ensuring recognition reflects what chapters themselves define as excellence.

When chapters catalyze leadership development, every member and every patient benefits as we transform healthcare through expert and influential nursing leadership. Next month, we will build on this by exploring how chapters also serve as engines of strategic advocacy. 

Stuart Downs, DNP, RN, CENP, FAONL, FAAN

President-Elect, American Organization for Nursing Leadership