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title: NGO CSW70 Forum Parallel Event RSVP
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# Join us at the NGO CSW70 Forum.

Thursday, March 19, 2026 | 2:30 - 4:00 p.m. ET  
*New York City*

In partnership with SONSIEL, TruMerit, and The International Council of Nurses, the moderated panel discussion will speak to the importance of career development, skills recognition, and globally harmonized standards in career advancement and gender equity in the health professions. 

Save the date and plan to join us! 

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## Innovating for Equity: Global Standards and Career Advancement for Health Professions 

### NGO CSW70 Parallel Event  Hosted by:  [SONSIEL](https://www.sonsiel.org/), [TruMerit](https://www.trumerit.org/), and [ICN](https://www.icn.ch/)  March 19, 2026 | 2:30pm–4:00 p.m. ET Church Center of the United Nations - 2nd Floor 777 First Avenue at 44th Street New York, NY 10017

This session will focus on career development, skills recognition, certification, and globally harmonized standards in health professional career advancement. 

Confirmed speakers (click to expand for bios):

Opening Remarks: José Luis Cobos Serrano, PhD, RN – President, ICN

![Jose Luis Cobos Serrano - Headshot](https://go.trumerit.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Jose%20Luis%20Cobos%20Serrano%20-%20Headshot.jpg?width=250&height=250&name=Jose%20Luis%20Cobos%20Serrano%20-%20Headshot.jpg)

Dr. Cobos Serrano is a distinguished Spanish nurse and global health leader whose work has made a significant impact on the advancement of nursing both nationally and internationally. A steadfast advocate for professional excellence and evidence-based care, he currently serves as the 30th President of the International Council of Nurses (ICN) for the 2025–2029 term, having previously been an influential member of the ICN Board of Directors (2021–2025). 

At the national level, Dr. Cobos Serrano has held the role of Third Vice-President of the General Council of Nursing of Spain since 2021, contributing to the strategic direction and professional development of nursing in the country. He has been a member of the Council’s Plenary since 2017 and formerly served as its Deputy Secretary General from 2019 to 2021. 

Dr. Cobos Serrano’s work exemplifies a blend of clinical rigour, academic scholarship and policy innovation, thanks to his professional experience in the clinical, teaching, research and management fields, making him a transformative figure in the global nursing landscape. 

Opening Remarks: Olga Kagan, PhD, RN, CIMI, FHIMSS, FIEL – President-Elect, SONSIEL

![Olga Kagan - Headshot](https://go.trumerit.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Olga%20Kagan%20-%20Headshot.jpg?width=250&height=250&name=Olga%20Kagan%20-%20Headshot.jpg)

Dr. Olga Kagan is the President-Elect of SONSIEL, Founder and President of the Food Allergy Nursing Association (FANA), as well as the current chair of the NYAM’s Nursing Section. She teaches at two New York-based universities, contributes to textbooks, mentors nurses, and advises start-ups. As a recognized thought leader, she has served on several committees and boards holding various positions, including HIMSS, ANA, NYAM, AAAAI, and ENRS. She has received multiple awards for her contributions to nursing leadership, mentorship, and research, including the 2025 HIMSS-ANI Leadership Award and the 2024 John Page Service Award. Dr. Kagan has been featured in media, numerous podcasts, and on HIMSS TV. Her recent book, The Informatics Guide to Healthcare: From Insights to Action, serves as a resource for the next generation of nurse informatics professionals and innovators.

Opening Remarks: Peter Preziosi, PhD, RN, CAE, FAAN – President & CEO, TruMerit 

![Peter-Preziosi-CGFNS](https://go.trumerit.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Peter-Preziosi-CGFNS.jpg?width=250&height=250&name=Peter-Preziosi-CGFNS.jpg)

Peter Preziosi, the President and CEO of TruMerit, is a leader in the global effort to strengthen health systems by improving career development and mobility for healthcare workers worldwide.

Dr. Preziosi was appointed to lead the organization in early 2023 when it was known as CGFNS International, the world’s largest credentials evaluation organization for the nursing and allied health professions. Since then, he has led its transformation into a new era of global impact, expanding its mission toward research and advocacy in support of healthcare workforce development solutions, including global standards and frameworks for certification of nurses and other healthcare professionals. This has included rebranding the organization as TruMerit and enlarging its profile to enable healthcare workers everywhere to work at the top of their capabilities and licensure.

Dr. Preziosi has also reinvigorated the organization’s global activism as a member of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO) and has guided its induction into the WHO’s World Rehabilitation Alliance (WRA), a network of stakeholders that advocates for improving rehabilitation management and investment, building a high-quality rehabilitation workforce, and enhancing data collection on rehabilitation.

Prior to joining the organization, Dr. Preziosi led quality, standards development, and credentialing at the World Health Organization’s initiative to build a technology-driven global learning center, the WHO Academy, with a goal of upskilling millions of health workers worldwide. After beginning his career as a registered nurse, Dr. Preziosi has spent nearly three decades in high-profile positions at corporations, government agencies and nonprofits. His work has included leading strategic innovation, partnership-building and healthcare reform initiatives for national and international organizations including Verizon’s healthcare innovation incubator, Concentrix Corporation, the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the National League for Nursing and the AMDEC Foundation, a New York-based biomedical research consortium. He also worked for the City of New York’s Health and Hospital Corporation, and he directed the Mayor’s Office of Medicaid Managed Care. Dr. Preziosi holds a PhD in health policy and a master’s degree in government administration from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a master’s degree in education from Columbia University’s Teachers College. His bachelor’s degree in nursing is from Florida State University. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Global Partners for Rehabilitation and is a member of the American Society of Association Executives, where he is a Certified Association Executive.

Opening Remarks: Joanna Vogel – Executive Officer, WHO New York 

 

![Joanna Vogel](https://go.trumerit.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Joanna%20Vogel.jpg?width=250&height=256&name=Joanna%20Vogel.jpg)

Joanna Vogel is the Executive Officer at the World Health Organization Office at the United Nations in New York, where she oversees business operations and supports strategic engagement across UN processes. 

With over two decades of experience working across multiple levels of the World Health Organization, she has contributed to programme operations, planning, and cross-organizational coordination through her roles in the Office of the Chief Scientist and the Office of the Deputy Director-General at WHO Headquarters. 

Her earlier work at WHO focused on programme and project management in maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health, as well as advancing gender, equity, and human-rights integration across global health initiatives. 

Prior to this, she served at the WHO Regional Office in Cairo, leading multi-country strategies on gender and health equity and supporting women’s health and development programmes. 

Joanna holds a Master of Public Health from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and a Master of Science in Community Services & Mobilization. 

Opening Remarks: Mary Muthoni Muriuki – Principal Secretary, State Department for Public Health and Professional Standards – Kenya

![Mary Muthoni Muriuki](https://go.trumerit.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Mary%20Muthoni%20Muriuki.png?width=250&height=250&name=Mary%20Muthoni%20Muriuki.png)  
Ms. Mary Muthoni Muriuki, is the Principal Secretary for the Kenyan State Department for Public Health and Professional Standards. She previously served as Principal Secretary for Correctional Services from 1st December 2022 to 16th May 2023, and the Deputy Dean of the Principal Secretaries up to 2025. Before appointment as the Principal Secretary, she served as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Women in Business Kenya (WIB) focusing on promoting women's empowerment in the delivery of Public Service, particularly in championing women’s access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO). Ms. Mary has also served as the Director of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) and a member of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA). During this period, worked closely with other reputable international and local organizations including the World Trade Organization (WTO) and, the United Nations Conference on Trade Development (UNCTAD) coordinating various trade initiatives on behalf of the private sector. Her experience spans over a decade in public and private sector management including policy, legislation, financial management, stakeholder management, risk management, and leadership. She was a Board Member of various educational institutions and community organizations including the Tobacco Control Board and Vice Chair, Kirinyaga Investment and Development Authority. Ms. Mary is an all-round public sector leader inspired by the idea that a progressive society depends on a facilitative government. She also deeply appreciates the health sector; its global and local challenges, and opportunities for social-economic growth. She holds a Master's in Business Administration (MBA) from Baraton University. She has received various recognition and awards including the Chief of the Order of the Burning Spear (CBS) in 2023, Head of State Commendation (HSC) in 2021 for community service, Uzalendo Award (2019), Regional Winner East Africa by the CEO Global for Pan African Awards (2019), Africa Business Leaders Awards in regards to Gender (2018), and Devolution Warrior Award- Gender Responsive Delivery Category (2017).   

Moderator: Rodrigo Gouveia, LL.M. MPA – Chief Global Affairs Officer, TruMerit 

![Rodrigo-Gouviea-TruMerit](https://go.trumerit.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Rodrigo-Gouviea-TruMerit.jpg?width=250&height=251&name=Rodrigo-Gouviea-TruMerit.jpg)

Rodrigo Gouveia is the Chief Global Affairs Officer of TruMerit, an organization with the mission to be a gateway to a world-class workforce delivering transformative healthcare and to serve the global community through programs and services that verify and promote the knowledge-based practice competencies of healthcare professionals. Rodrigo leads the organization’s global affairs strategy. 

Rodrigo has extensive experience in non-profit leadership and management, global policy and advocacy, including in the health sector, and has represented organizations at the United Nations and its agencies, the G20, the World Bank, and the European Union. He has developed engagement and organizational development strategies for international organizations, governments, and NGOs. 

He has a Master’s degree in Law, from the University of Lisbon, Portugal, and a Master’s degree in Public Affairs from the University of Missouri. 

Speaker 1: Josephine Agyei, BSN, RN – Clinical Nurse, Mount Sinai Hospital & Director-at-Large, Staff Nurse, American Nurses Association Board of Directors, Chair, ICN Alliance of Students and Early Career Nurses Steering Committee

![Josephine Agyei - Headshot](https://go.trumerit.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Josephine%20Agyei%20-%20Headshot.jpeg?width=250&height=250&name=Josephine%20Agyei%20-%20Headshot.jpeg)

Josephine Agyei, BSN, RN, is a clinical nurse in the Cardiac Surgery/ Cardiovascular ICU at Mount Sinai Hospital. She is currently pursuing a dual MSN in Healthcare Organizational Leadership and an MBA at Johns Hopkins University. At the state level, she co-founded and co-chairs the ANA–New York Young Professionals Special Interest Group, strengthening leadership pathways and engagement for early-career nurses. Nationally, she serves as a Director-at-Large, Staff Nurse on the American Nurses Association Board of Directors, contributing to professional governance and national nursing policy. Internationally, she serves as Chair of the International Council of Nurses Alliance of Students and Early Career Nurses Steering Committee, strengthening the participation and influence of student and early career nurses within ICN and supporting engagement between national nurses associations and emerging nurse leaders globally. Her work is grounded in clinical excellence and focuses on nursing leadership, policy, advocacy, and health equity.

Speaker 2: Yvonne Commodore-Mensah, PhD, MHS, RN, FAAN – President & Co-Founder, Ghanaian Diaspora Nursing Alliance (G-DNA)

![Yvonne Commodore-Mensah - Headshot](https://go.trumerit.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Yvonne%20Commodore-Mensah%20-%20Headshot.png?width=250&height=250&name=Yvonne%20Commodore-Mensah%20-%20Headshot.png)

Dr. Yvonne Commodore-Mensah is a renowned cardiovascular nurse epidemiologist with national and international recognition. Her research focuses on reducing cardiovascular disease risk among African populations both in the United States and in Africa through community-engaged research and implementation science. With expertise in immigrant health, global health, cardiovascular disease epidemiology, and social determinants of health, Dr. Commodore-Mensah leads groundbreaking studies to improve cardiovascular outcomes. She serves as the principal investigator for several significant projects, including the ADHINCRA Program, a randomized control trial addressing hypertension control in Africa, and the LINKED-BP and LINKED-HEARTS Programs, which are cluster-randomized controlled trials implementing multi-level interventions to enhance hypertension control and chronic condition management in primary care settings in the United States. 

Her contributions to the field have earned her fellowships and awards from the American Academy of Nursing, American Heart Association, and the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association. Her leadership extends to serving on the boards of several prestigious organizations, including the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association, Greater Baltimore and Maryland American Heart Association, Horizon Foundation, and the Nursing is STEM Coalition. As President and Co-founder of the Ghanaian-Diaspora Nursing Alliance (G-DNA), she works to advance nursing and healthcare in Ghana. Dr. Commodore-Mensah directs the Global Cardiovascular Health Equity Lab and co-directs the Cardiometabolic Health Interest Group at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. Through her research, leadership, mentorship, and advocacy, she continues to make significant strides in advancing cardiovascular health equity and promoting better health outcomes for African communities worldwide.

Speaker 3: Mary Joy Garcia-Dia, DNP, RN, FAAN, FHIMSS – Program Director Nursing Informatics, NewYork-Presbyterian

![Mary Joy Dia - Headshot](https://go.trumerit.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Mary%20Joy%20Dia%20-%20Headshot.png?width=250&height=250&name=Mary%20Joy%20Dia%20-%20Headshot.png)

Dr. Mary Joy Garcia-Dia served as the 21st President of the Philippine Nurses Association of America (2020–2022). During her tenure, she represented the organization as a commissioner for the American Nurses Association’s Racism in Nursing initiative, contributing to the Policy and Contemporary Context of Racism workgroups. 

A strong advocate for the ethical recruitment of internationally educated nurses, she champions fair employment practices, equitable contracts, and effective acculturation programs. As former Chair of the Kalusugan Coalition, she helped build inter-agency partnerships to advance minority health in collaboration with NYU-CSAAH (Center for the Study of Asian American Health) and the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF). 

With a specialty in nursing informatics, Dr. Garcia-Dia writes and speaks extensively on leadership and technology. She is currently the Co-Chair of the Nursing Informatics Committee of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and continues to elevate the role of informatics in advancing patient care. She is the co-editor of *The Informatics Guide to Healthcare: From Insight to Action*, published by Routledge in February 2026.

Speaker 4: Jouhanna Menegaz, PhD, RN – Professor, University of Santa Catarina, Brazil & Board of Directors, SONSIEL

![Jouhanna Menegaz](https://go.trumerit.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Jouhanna%20Menegaz.jpg?width=250&height=250&name=Jouhanna%20Menegaz.jpg)

Jouhanna Menegaz, PhD, is a global health leader focused on workforce development, professional standards, and entrepreneurship. She works to promote career mobility and recognition for nurses and allied health professionals through policy, innovation, and international collaboration.

 

Speaker 5: Julia To Dutka, EdD – Chief, Global Health Workforce Development Institute, TruMerit

![Julia-To-Dutka-TruMerit](https://go.trumerit.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Julia-To-Dutka-TruMerit.jpg?width=250&height=250&name=Julia-To-Dutka-TruMerit.jpg)

With an extensive background as a leader and assessment strategist in higher education, healthcare, and non-profit organizations, Julia To Dutka provides TruMerit with strategic guidance and expertise across its assessment activities. As Executive Director of the TOEFL® program at Educational Testing Service (ETS), she guided its transformation with measurement and technology capabilities leading to the current TOEFL iBT®, which continues to set the global standard for English language assessment. From 2016 to 2018, Julia was chairperson of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES), after serving four years as chair of its strategic planning committee. Coming from an interdisciplinary background between linguistics and cognitive psychology, she has served as a professor, dean, and associate provost and is widely published in the field of education, regulation, credential assessment, and language teaching and testing, as well as global labor mobility. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Hong Kong University and a Master of Arts, Master of Education, and a Doctor of Education, all from Columbia University. She is CITI certified for social and behavioral science research.

 

Closing Remarks: Peter Preziosi, PhD, RN, CAE, FAAN – President & CEO, TruMerit 

![Peter-Preziosi-CGFNS](https://go.trumerit.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Peter-Preziosi-CGFNS.jpg?width=250&height=250&name=Peter-Preziosi-CGFNS.jpg)

Peter Preziosi, the President and CEO of TruMerit, is a leader in the global effort to strengthen health systems by improving career development and mobility for healthcare workers worldwide.

Dr. Preziosi was appointed to lead the organization in early 2023 when it was known as CGFNS International, the world’s largest credentials evaluation organization for the nursing and allied health professions. Since then, he has led its transformation into a new era of global impact, expanding its mission toward research and advocacy in support of healthcare workforce development solutions, including global standards and frameworks for certification of nurses and other healthcare professionals. This has included rebranding the organization as TruMerit and enlarging its profile to enable healthcare workers everywhere to work at the top of their capabilities and licensure.

Dr. Preziosi has also reinvigorated the organization’s global activism as a member of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO) and has guided its induction into the WHO’s World Rehabilitation Alliance (WRA), a network of stakeholders that advocates for improving rehabilitation management and investment, building a high-quality rehabilitation workforce, and enhancing data collection on rehabilitation.

Prior to joining the organization, Dr. Preziosi led quality, standards development, and credentialing at the World Health Organization’s initiative to build a technology-driven global learning center, the WHO Academy, with a goal of upskilling millions of health workers worldwide. After beginning his career as a registered nurse, Dr. Preziosi has spent nearly three decades in high-profile positions at corporations, government agencies and nonprofits. His work has included leading strategic innovation, partnership-building and healthcare reform initiatives for national and international organizations including Verizon’s healthcare innovation incubator, Concentrix Corporation, the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the National League for Nursing and the AMDEC Foundation, a New York-based biomedical research consortium. He also worked for the City of New York’s Health and Hospital Corporation, and he directed the Mayor’s Office of Medicaid Managed Care. Dr. Preziosi holds a PhD in health policy and a master’s degree in government administration from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a master’s degree in education from Columbia University’s Teachers College. His bachelor’s degree in nursing is from Florida State University. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Global Partners for Rehabilitation and is a member of the American Society of Association Executives, where he is a Certified Association Executive.

### RSVP to Parallel Event