President's Speeches
On Purpose With AACN President
Rebekah Marsh
In her address, AACN President Rebekah Marsh invites 6,000+ nurses to slow down and ask: What does it mean to live and lead On Purpose? Drawing on conversations with nurses from coast to coast, and her years as a clinical nurse educator at a Level I Trauma Center, Marsh explores how nurses navigate polarity without losing connection. She also celebrates how AACN's grassroots, decades-spanning work transformed Healthy Work Environments from a glimmer of an idea into a movement, and how, even now, we can find small "glimmers of joy" that sustain us through the hardest shifts. Equal parts reflection and rallying cry, this keynote is a tribute to relationships, incremental change and the trust nurses earn one moment at a time.
Every Voice. Every Story. Every Table: AACN President-Elect Tonka Williams Reveals Our New Theme for 2026-2027
AACN President-elect Tonka Williams carried a story into her NTI address. That story starts in fourth grade, with a panda and a teacher who tried to shrink her voice and vision. It continues through a nursing-school failure that nearly derailed her. And it leads to the colleague who pulled up a chair and told her she belonged. Along the way, silence gives way to voice. Self-doubt gives way to presence. All of it traces back to a kitchen table, where every opinion had room to be heard. Now, as the first Black president-elect of AACN, Williams introduces this year's theme: “Every Voice. Every Story. Every Table.” Her question for all of us: What kind of table are we building together?
Past NTI Speeches
- NTI 2026 - Rebekah Marsh's President's Address
- NTI 2026 - Tonka Williams' President-Elect Address
- NTI 2025 - Jennifer Adamski's President's Address
- NTI 2025 - Rebekah Marsh's President-Elect Address
- NTI 2024 - Theresa "Terry" Davis' President's Address
- NTI 2024 - Jennifer Adamski's President-Elect Address
- NTI 2023 - Amanda Bettencourt's President's Address
- NTI 2023 - Theresa "Terry" Davis President-Elect's Address
- NTI 2022 - Beth Wathen President's Address
- NTI 2022 - Amanda Bettencourt President-Elect's Address
- NTI 2021 - Elizabeth Bridges President's Address
- NTI 2021 - Beth Wathen President-Elect's Address
- NTI 2019 - Lisa Riggs President's Address
- NTI 2019 - Megan Brunson President-Elect's Address
- NTI 2018 - Christine Schulman President's Address
- NTI 2018 - Lisa Riggs President-Elect's Address
- NTI 2017 - Clareen Wiencek President's Address
- NTI 2017 - Christine Schulman President-Elect's Address
- NTI 2016 - Karen McQuillan President's Address
- NTI 2016 - Clareen Wiencek President-Elect's Theme Address
- NTI 2015 - Teri Lynn Kiss President's Address
- NTI 2014 - Vicki Good President's Address
- NTI 2013 - Kathryn E. Roberts President's Address
- NTI 2012 - Mary Stahl President's Address
- NTI 2011 - Kristine Peterson President's Address
- NTI 2010 - Beth Hammer President's Address
- NTI 2009 - Caryl Goodyear-Bruch President's Address
- NTI 2008 - Dave Hansen President's Address
- NTI 2007 - Mary Fran Tracy President's Address
- NTI 2006 - Debbie Brinker President's Address
- NTI 2005 - Kathy McCauley President's Address
- NTI 2004 - Dorrie Fontaine President's Address
- NTI 2003 - Connie Barden President's Address
- NTI 2002 - Michael Williams President's Address
- NTI 2001 - Denise Thornby President's Address
- NTI 2000 - Anne Wojner President's Address