Dr. Earlene Avalón grew up in Boston, Massachusetts and attended the Boston Public Schools. She received her Bachelor’s of Science degree from Suffolk University in chemistry and secondary education and her Master’s degree in Public Health from Tufts University School of Medicine. While working in public health, Dr. Avalón realized the correlation between post-secondary education, workforce diversity and health disparities and has since dedicated much of her career to the development of workforce diversity initiatives. Prior to completing her PhD in Health Professions Education at Simmons College, Dr. Avalón held positions at the Latin American Health Institute, Bunker Hill Community College and the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers. She was also the Chair of the Parent Advisory Group for Massachusetts General Hospital for Children’s Connect 4 Health/PCORI Project. In 2010, Dr. Avalón was featured as a “Women of Excellence” by Unity First Magazine, a publication targeting corporations, cross-cultural communities and the multicultural media. She was named to the Honor Roll of Harvard Medical School’s Biomedical Sciences Careers Program in 2015. Dr. Avalón has authored and co-authored various publications including a chapter for the Association for Nursing Professional Development 5th edition textbook as well as prestigious journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics and the Journal of Nursing Administration (JONA). Dr. Avalón has served on the Board of Directors for The Boston Club, the YWCA Boston and New England Sinai Hospital. She is also the former President of the Public Health and Professional Degree Programs Alumni Association at Tufts University School of Medicine.  As the former Director of Nursing Diversity Initiatives at Boston Children’s Hospital, she helped to secure a $5 million endowment, the largest gift ever awarded to the Department of Nursing and Patient Care Services, to develop and implement a workforce development initiative designed to increase and support nursing diversity and inclusion. Dr. Earlene Avalón is currently an Assistant Professor and the Lead Faculty member of the Health Management and Health Sciences Programs at the College of Professional Studies at Northeastern University.