st 2021. Bernard now serves as interim chair and associate professor in East Tennessee State University’s Department of Counseling and Human Services. She holds a doctorate in child development and family studies from Purdue University, where she also received a master’s in marriage and family therapy, and her bachelor’s degree in psychology. She is also a certified nursing assistant who holds numerous certificates in disciplines including: leading in equity, diversity and inclusion in higher education; ecopsychology; clinical trauma; mental health first aid; mediation and several others Bernard served as the first chair of the Diversity and Belonging Task Force at Clemmer College; and currently serves on the Council for Standards in Human Service Education (CSHSE; CHEA accredited); and as an executive board member of the ETSU/Ballad Health Strong BRAIN Institute, a first-of-its-kind institute to promote the awareness and empirical study of adverse childhood experiences.