Eldonna Chesnut, RN, BSN, MSN is employed by the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment (JCDHE) as Division Director of Child Care Licensing. She is a member of the inaugural class of the Kansas Public Health Leadership Institute and completed a graduate certificate in Public Health Ethics. Eldonna serves as the JCDHE representative to many county and statewide organizations related to child care and to public health, including the Kansas Public Health Workforce Development Coordinating Council, JCDHE Workforce Committee, Kansas City Early Learning Collaborative, and University of Kansas External Advisory Committee.
Ms. Chesnut has served the Kansas Public Health Association (KPHA) as past President, President, President Elect, Director at Large, Section Chair, Affiliate Representative to the APHA Governing Council (ARGC), and in an ex officio capacity. She has also served as Chair of the Membership and Conference Committees, as well as a member of both committees. Ms. Chesnut received the Samuel Crumbine award, KPHA’s highest honor, in 2012. She is one of the founding members of MINK – (Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas Public Health Associations).
Ms. Chesnut is an APHA member, since 2008, and is currently a member of 3 sections: Health Administration, Ethics, and Public Health Nursing. Within APHA, she has served as Council of Affiliates (CoA) Chair, CoA Liaison to the Intersectional Section Council Steering Committee (ISC-SC), and Region 7 (MINK) Representative to CoA. She was actively involved in the APHA Joint Membership Pilot (JMP) for 6 years. In 2016, she served on the APHA Executive Board (EB) as the CoA representative. During that time, she was an active participant in the Committee on Social Responsibly (CSR), Membership Committee, and Annual Meeting Speaker Vetting Subcommittee. At the 2017 APHA annual meeting, she was elected to the EB to finish a partial term. During her current term on the EB, Ms. Chesnut has been a member of the membership, development, and governance committees, as well as the CSR. She has chaired the CSR and membership committees and worked closely with the development chair.