Our members participate in volunteer events and take part in a wide range of community service initiatives. Upon graduation, they apply the interpersonal skills they've acquired to start businesses, pursue promotions, and more, using what they have learned to Build Leaders Who Make a Better World.
Check out the headlines made by NSLS members who used their leadership skills to level up in their careers, earn outstanding academic honors, and help make a positive impact on their communities this month.
Yoga Entrepreneur Recognized Among Top Health and Fitness Executives
Mary Grayson Nix Caden, Auburn University, has been recognized by Marquis Who's Who Top Executives for her leadership in the health and fitness industry, an honor built on years of turning a passion for movement into a growing family of businesses.
Caden owns and leads The Yoga Room in Auburn, Alabama, where she first taught in 2020 before taking ownership in 2024. She now runs daily operations, coordinates schedules for roughly 25 instructors, handles hiring and finances, and still teaches classes herself. The studio was named Best of Alabama in 2026. Her reach extends online through Yogalete, a studio she founded in 2021. As its sole instructor, she has coached football, soccer, and baseball teams along with NFL players and other professional athletes. In 2025, she launched The Yoga Room Academy to develop the next generation of instructors.
A former collegiate soccer player whose athletic career ended in injury, Caden pursued culinary school and ran a cake business before finding her calling in exercise science. She earned a bachelor's degree in kinesiology and exercise science and a master's in physical education, both from Auburn University, and holds certifications spanning personal training, inclusive fitness, and yoga.
Read More from Marquis Top Business and Financial Professionals >>
Healthcare CEO Honored for Bringing Advanced Care to Overlooked Patients
Christian Rodriguez, University of Puerto Rico–Río Piedras, has been recognized by Marquis Who's Who Top Executives for his leadership in value-based and care-delivery healthcare, where he has made expanding access to treatment his central mission.
As Chief Executive Officer of Woundtech since 2023, Rodriguez leads a global workforce of more than 400 employees and oversees every side of the business, from clinical operations and technology to product development and financial sustainability. Under his direction, the organization delivers advanced wound care directly to patients in their homes, in skilled nursing facilities, and to people experiencing homelessness, reaching medically complex individuals who are often overlooked and providing interventions that can prevent limb loss and stop the spread of infection.
His career reflects a steady climb through healthcare leadership. Before Woundtech, Rodriguez served as president of CenterWell Senior Primary Care in Florida and, earlier, as a market vice president and Chief Operating Officer who guided a diverse team through the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. He spent more than a decade at AXM Medical in Puerto Rico earlier in his career, and he has paired his executive work with advocacy, co-chairing a Hispanic employee resource group and volunteering with Shriners burn and orthopedic clinics since 2002. He earned a master's in health administration and, in 2025, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Puerto Rico.
Read More from Who's Who of Top Executives >>
Overcoming Cancer and Loss, Graduate Builds a New Educational Legacy
Ora Scales, University of Phoenix, has been featured for her commitment to educational impact, a mission that grew out of one of the most demanding chapters of her life.
Scales returned to college at 55 with a clear goal: to build a new legacy through education. The years that followed tested that resolve. She kept attending class while undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, recovering from multiple knee replacement surgeries, and grieving the loss of both parents in 2016. She refused to let those circumstances define what she could achieve, graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in business administration and a certificate in human resource management before pursuing a Master of Business Administration. She plans to begin doctoral studies in education curriculum development in January 2027.
Her accomplishments carry added weight because Scales is a first-generation college graduate and, across several generations of her family, the first to advance beyond a fourth-grade education. That perspective fuels her work as a mentor, especially with neurodivergent learners. As someone who identifies as a kinesthetic learner with dyslexia, she knows firsthand that a single approach to education does not serve every student. Her long-term goal is to become a university professor who can combine her academic experience, professional development background, and passion for mentorship to support students directly.
Read More at the Kitsap Sun >>
Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Earns Doctorate in Nursing Leadership
Samantha Agee, Aspen University, has been recognized for a career of service that spans more than 27 years of leadership, from the U.S. Army to the frontier of nursing education.
A native of Georgetown, Guyana, who was educated in New York's public schools, Agee enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a medic and licensed practical nurse before entering the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program in 2001. She was commissioned to active duty in 2004 as a Distinguished Military Graduate of Hofstra University and retired from the Army Nurse Corps in 2023 as a lieutenant colonel and certified registered nurse anesthetist, capping more than 26 years of service. Along the way, she held staff and leadership roles in trauma hospitals, Army medical centers, combat support hospitals, and surgical teams across the United States, the Middle East, and South Korea.
In 2026, Agee earned a Doctor of Nursing Practice specializing in leadership from Aspen University, adding to a deep academic record that includes degrees in nursing education and nursing anesthesia. An internationally recognized published author and keynote speaker, she continues to advocate for stronger communities, greater awareness, and fewer health disparities.
Read More from Tennessee Association of Nurse Anesthetists >>
Higher Education Leader Champions Student Success as Assistant Provost
Je'Nai Righter, Neumann University, has been featured for her higher education leadership and named to Influential Women, recognition earned across more than two decades of advancing student success and building stronger institutions.
Righter serves as assistant provost at Thomas Jefferson University, where she focuses on strategic systems, operational excellence, leadership development, and initiatives that strengthen both institutional outcomes and student experiences. Her career began in K–12 education, working with children in an inner-city community as an aspiring English teacher. That experience showed her that her desire to serve reached beyond a single classroom and toward the broader systems and leaders who shape future generations, a realization that carried her into higher education and leadership roles at several universities.
Righter holds a Doctor of Education in educational leadership and a master's in educational leadership and administration from Saint Joseph's University, along with a bachelor's degree from Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. She is certified in suicide prevention and trauma-informed leadership and is pursuing a restorative justice practice certificate. With her husband, she also cofounded Pure Living Enterprise, a group of organizations focused on the holistic development and restoration of leaders across generations and sectors.
Other NSLS Members Receiving Recognition This Month:
Morgen Bond, University of Phoenix, was named to Influential Women for her rise through the food and beverage and hospitality industry. As food and beverage general manager for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, she oversees operations spanning revenue, compliance, food safety, and guest experience. Bond began her career as a restaurant server at 16 and has advanced from supervisor to general manager. Full Story >>
Alice Nelson-Sidibe, Walden University, was showcased by Influential Women for her work as a life strategist, educator, and executive coach. Through her advisory practice, ClarionPoint Advisors, she helps women founders and seasoned leaders develop the ability to make intentional, values-driven decisions under pressure. She holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from Walden University and has taught management communication to MBA students as an adjunct lecturer at The Wharton School. Full Story >>
Tanner Dohrman, National Online Chapter, has been awarded a $1,000 scholarship from the American Coalition for Ethanol as one of its 2026 scholarship recipients. Dohrman is pursuing a double major in electrical and computer engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology and competes on the school's Formula SAE design team. Full Story >>
Shannon McDow, National Online Chapter, was named to Influential Women for her leadership in the automotive and transportation industry. A corporate transportation manager at Standard Motor Products, she has spent more than three decades with the company, beginning as a part-time high school employee in 1989 and working across departments before finding her calling in shipping and transportation. Full Story >>
Carmelita Gusman, Western Governors University, was named to Influential Women for her leadership in the pension system industry, where she serves as a deputy director overseeing investments, portfolios, budgets, and administration. In 2021, Gusman founded the accounting firm C&Y Accounting Services. Full Story >>
