As the nomination process for the 2022 AL DÍA Top Nurses event nears its end, the esteemed Advisory Board for the event will have a tall task to fulfill.

Once the nomination period ends, the six women who make up the Advisory Board will sort through each nomination and make the final selection of this year’s pool of 12 honorees. 

The Advisory Board is composed of nursing professionals in their own right, all in different stages within their respective careers and journeys.

Learn a bit about them below:

Dr. Margarita David

Dr. Margarita David has turned her career as a doctorally-prepared registered nurse into a simultaneous career as a #1 best-selling author and entrepreneur.

She is the founder of the Dr. Registered Nurse Success Academy, LLC, where she provides coaching and mentorship to nurses and students in graduate and doctoral programs. 

In less than two years, Dr. David turned an idea and desire to help advanced-practice students throughout their graduate and doctoral journeys to over 300 doctoral and 100 graduate students.

Dr. David holds a bachelor’s in business management & administration , and dedicates her time to educating her followers on how to invest in the stock market, real estate, and the creation of generational wealth.

Dr. Daisy Lara

Dr. Daisy Lara is a double board-certified nurse practitioner specialist — Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner — by the American Nurse Credentialing Center (ANCC). 

Her advanced practice nursing experience expands to both outpatient and inpatient settings, where she has worked as a lead nurse practitioner providing care coordination within the hospital system providing psychiatric services and consultations. She has provided care to the adult, geriatric and adolescent populations, and also has experience with individuals with dual diagnosis. 

Dr. Lara is the founder and owner of Resilio Mental Health Solutions, LLC, a nurse practitioner-led psychiatric clinic, which has helped her tap into her passion for educating the community, decreasing stigma and providing excellent mental health services to individuals in her care. 

She is a graduate of West Chester University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, with a minor in health sciences. Dr. Lara also holds a doctorate from Wilmington University. 

Dr. G. Adriana Perez

Dr. G Adriana Perez is an assistant professor and senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Nursing. Her research program is focused on the influence of multi-level factors on physical activity, cognitive health, cardiovascular health and sleep among Spanish-speaking older Latinos with Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias. 

She is also a scientist at the Center for Improving Care Delivery for the Aging, Penn’s Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) and a board-certified Adult Nurse Practitioner at Mercy LIFE, where she provides community based long-term care for diverse, frail elders in the North Philadelphia area. 

Dr. Perez holds a doctorate in nursing from Arizona State University. 

Betzaida Medina Sasse

Betzaida Medina Sasse is a critical care nurse in the intensive care unit at Jefferson Health. 

She is also the President of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses’ Philadelphia chapter. 

Medina Sasse holds a bachelor’s of science degree in registered nursing from La Salle University. 

Azucena Villalobos

Azucena Villalobos is currently a registered nurse in the surgical intensive care unit at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Villalobos earned her BSN from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

Prior to entering the nursing field, she earned bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Spanish from UCLA and also worked in mental health and clinical research. 

As the daughter of Mexican immigrants, she was exposed firsthand to the social factors that disproportionately affect the health and well-being of underprivileged communities, including language barriers, lack of education, insurance, access to care, and more, and has worked to close those gaps.

Villalobos will soon be returning to Penn Nursing to begin the Family Nurse Practitioner program. 

Ana Cristina Pichardo

Ana Cristina Pichardo is a clinical nurse at Temple University Health System; however, her path to a nursing career wasn’t immediate. 

After graduating from Temple University with a bachelor’s of science degree in public health, she worked at non profit organizations Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Inc., and Action Wellness, Inc. 

She then became a certified medical interpreter (CMI) as a way to hone her skills in medical terminology and health care in English and Spanish. While working as a full-time professional medical interpreter, she also attended classes on nights and weekends, graduating magna cum laude from La Salle University with a bachelor’s in nursing. 

Pichardo is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in nursing at Temple University to become a family nurse practitioner.

Nominations will remain open until Thursday, May 5. To nominate someone, click here. 

The 2022 AL DIA Top Nurses event will take place Friday, June 10, 2022 at the Pyramid Club, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Ticket and registration information can be found here.