JOCELYN C. ANDERSON. Credit: Penn State College of Nursing
Penn State's Jocelyn Anderson was recently elected Treasurer for the International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN) leadership board.
Her newly elected position, which began on Jan. 1, is effective through January 2025 and encompasses working with association staff who handle the day-to-day financial operations for the organization, reviewing annual budgets, approving expenses, and assisting in procuring new and existing grants that are a source of revenue for the organization.
While in her new role, Anderson has fruitful goals to help advance the organization based on what it hopes to accomplish and where it sees itself expanding in the future, in addition to her traditional financial responsibilities.
“One of the things that we're hoping to focus on over the next couple of years is different financial opportunities around growing their grant portfolio,” said Anderson. “Particularly as a researcher, I am interested in opportunities to partner with academic institutions because of their ties with clinical organizations across the country and the world and seeing how we can utilize those connections to do really great work.”
As well, Anderson has goals to improve the organization’s outreach internationally and outreach to increase membership opportunities and actively find ways to create spaces for Black, Indigenous and other persons of color in the organization.
Anderson has been a member of the IAFN since 2008 and in leadership since 2016, but whether she participated as a general member or in a leadership role, Anderson said she is committed to contributing to the organization that has given her so much.
“The IAFN has been an organization that has been really important to me and my career. I have met so many people who have helped me learn both clinical and research skills, and all of the things that have allowed me to get to where I am. But it is also an organization that is very important to the field of nursing and victims of violence and trauma so I wanted to find where I can fit in to give back.”
Anderson’s research focuses on the physical and mental health outcomes of sexual violence and preventing and responding to the violence using technology-based interventions. She examines health outcomes associated with substance abuse, how intimate partner violence impacts HIV treatment, challenges, and using text message-delivered content to share sexual violence resources with college students. Learn more about Anderson’s research here.
Learn more about the IAFN here.
Republished courtesy of Penn State.