USF School of Nursing and Health Professions Hosts Florence Stroud Conference Series

The conference, titled “CARE: Healing Ourselves, Healing Our Community,” was opened and emceed by Randy B. Shields Jr., MSN, RN, BABNA Vice President, who set the tone for the day and introduced the powerful voice of S.W.I.R.V., who guided an inspiring spoken-word session. USF professor Dr. Ann Lawani, PhD, RN, welcomed us and began unpacking the theme of the day, and Kim J. Scott, MSN, MBA, RN, BABNA President, launched the morning by centering us on Florence Stroud and her advocacy for improving care, as well as her role as an innovator of health care initiatives that addressed disparities.

There were many amazing speakers. Dr. Shelitha Campbell, DNP, RN, presented “Building a Culture of C.A.R.E.: Honoring History, Advancing Collective Healing.” Asmara Gebre, CNM, MS, shared her experience at the Black Center in San Francisco. Brianna Rogers, MPM, of the San Francisco Foundation led a powerful panel on partnerships alongside Rashida Hanif and Maya Lefao from RepresentED, Christopher Tran from Homebridge, and Eileen Norman from IHSS/Community Care Initiative (CCI) Partners. Erica Anderson, DNP, RN, led a self-healing session, and Marcia Canton, PhD, RN, and Natalie Henry-Berry, LCSW, spoke about their SFSU clinical experience at the Dr. George W. Davis Center. We also had the honor and pleasure of welcoming Willard Harris. Check out the oral history interview with Willard Harris by Christy-Ann Pierre.

About Florence Stroud

Stroud was born was in Oklahoma in 1933 at the time of the Great Depression and at the start of the Dust Bowl years. Her parents moved to Washington, where she graduated from Seattle Pacific University and earned her nursing degree at the University of Washington. Stroud later worked as a staff nurse for the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health. While earning her master's degree in nursing, she delivered obstetrical care in Nigerian villages through a World Health Organization program. Her scholarly work took her to the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, where she earned a master’s degree in Public Health while conducting several population-based studies. Stroud taught nursing at UCSF from 1967 to 1976 and was appointed head nurse of pediatrics at the UCSF Medical Center. She conducted research on health disparities in ethnic communities, and taught cultural sensitivity to nonminority health professionals. After six years as the Berkeley health director, she was recruited in 1982 to San Francisco to become deputy director for Community Health Services. She served throughout the most difficult years of the AIDS epidemic, before antiviral drug combinations began saving lives. Stroud authored critical guidelines for the prevention of prenatal transmission of HIV and the care of mothers, infants and children infected with the AIDS virus. Filled with energy and a sense of mission, Stroud was active in organizing and serving on organizations of health care professionals and programs promoting health care in the African American community. She was a co-founder of the Bay Area Black Nurses Association; the Bay Area Consortium for Quality Health Care; and the California Black Health Network. Stroud was the first registered nurse appointed to the Medical Board of California. Stroud was a former president of the California Board Medical Quality Assurance and of the Division of Licensing. She also served as chairwoman of the California State Black Health Conference and the Berkeley Mental Health Advisory Board; and was a director of the Western Addition Early Childhood Education Project.