Dr. Karen Bankston

Lifetime Achievement in STEM

Inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, Karen Bankston, Ph.D., M.S.N., FACHE,FAAN is a Professor Emerita, a leadership consultant, a retired hospital executive and former Associate Dean fo r Clinical Practice, Partnership and Community Engagement of the College of Nursing at the University of Cincinnati. A Fellow in the American College of Health Care Executives, she is the president and CEO of KDB and Associates Consulting Service, a company she founded after completing 5 years as the senior vice president/CEO of Drake Center, Inc., part of the Health Alliance (now UC Health).

Dr. Bankston previously served as the senior vice president of external affairs for the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati responsible for local, state, and federal government relations, community relations, marketing, and public relations. She also briefly served as the Executive Director of the Child Poverty Collaborative (CPC), Cincinnati. The CPC was a collective impact organization designed to lead the community’s planning and implementation of efforts to ameliorate poverty by providing guidance on public policy, employment, housing, transportation, education, and health care concerns. Dr. Bankston is known for collaborating and engaging others for the benefit of changing culture, organizations, and communities to meet individual and group needs.

Earlier in her career she held positions as vice president of operations/chief operating officer and vice president for patient care/chief nursing officer at University Hospital in Cincinnati. While also serving in the capacity of associate dean of clinical services and clinical assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing and Health. Her past experiences also include numerous nursing and nurse manager positions at the former Western Reserve Care System in Youngstown, Ohio.

Bankston’s reputation for invoking positive change dates to her early professional life when she enhanced primary care delivery, discharge planning and quality assurance in a large regional health care system in Youngstown, Ohio. In the process, she worked to decrease health disparities within the community, improve infant mortality rates, and create support networks for African American nurses and nursing students while undertaking policy work with the American Nurses Association and Ohio Nurses Association.

She played a key role in the development of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber’s Agenda 360, Diverse by Design Committee, having served as its first chair. As an advocate she played a role in getting state legislation changed for distribution of medication for the charitable pharmacy established by St. Vincent DePaul, and was a member of its founding board. She is founding chair and former member of the board of the Center for Closing the Health Gap and was intimately involved in the formation of this organization.

While at UC, areas of Bankston’s focus included enhancing the diversity of the health care workforce pipeline, improving the acceptance and retention of underrepresented individuals interested in health care careers, and partnering with area high schools to positively affect students’ educational outcomes. She is also a national leader in promoting holistic admissions review processes to recognize leadership potential, a largely overlooked aspect of underrepresented students’ entries into higher education.

Dr. Bankston is a published author, having written a book, book chapters, and multiple academic articles. As a funded researcher, she has been able to disseminate information that enhances positive outcomes in the lives of Black students and African American women. Additionally, she has identified interventions that support health care leadership.

She is currently a member of the boards of the Center Link Center, the Council on Aging of Southwest Ohio (vice chair), and The Children’s Home, now known as Best Pointe Behavioral Health and Education (chair).

She is a member of the University of Cincinnati’s Cancer Scientific Advisory Council, the Osher Integrative Medicine and Wellness Center, and its Center for Translational Research Advisory Board. Recently, she was appointed to the Hospital Commission by the Hamilton County Commissioners. In the past she served on the boards of the Live Well Collaborative, United Way of Greater of Cincinnati, the Urban League of Southwest Ohio, Legal Aid of Southwest Ohio, the Society of St. DePaul, and the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati, to name a few.

She has received numerous awards and honors, including: 2018 American Association Colleges of Nursing Leadership in Diversity and Inclusion, 2017 Cincinnati Woman of the Year; American Nurses’ Association Mary Eliza Mahoney Award 2016, University of Cincinnati Distinguished Alumni Award 2016, Kent State University Professional Achievement Alumni Award 2016, UC Kautz Leadership Alumni Award 2013, United Way James A. Hall Diversity Leadership Award 2010, University of Cincinnati Linda Bates Parker Legacy Award 2010, 2007 Corporate Woman of the Year–USA Regional Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce; 2001 YWCA Career Woman of Achievement Award; Business Courier Health Care Hero; Cincinnati Human Relations Pope Leadership Award; Girl Scouts Woman of Distinction Award, and Cincinnati YMCA Black Achiever.

She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, Delta XI, International Nursing Honor Society, the Queen City (OH) Chapter of the Links, Inc., and the Cincinnati Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta. She is a graduate of Leadership Cincinnati Class XXVII.

Dr. Bankston earned an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree from Youngstown State University, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) from Kent State University, and a doctoral degree (PhD) from the University of Cincinnati with a focus on administration and organizational behavior.