2025 National Leadership Award Recipients Announced
Media Contact: Bryan Black
Drs. Karen Sue Hoyt and Mimi Secor will be honored at the 2025 AANP National Conference in San Diego, California.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — The American Association of Nurse Practitioners® (AANP) is pleased to announce Karen Sue Hoyt, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, ENP-C, FAEN, FAANP, FAAN, as the recipient of the 2025 Towers Pinnacle Award, and Mimi Secor, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN, as the recipient of the 2025 AANP Sharp Cutting Edge Award. Both nurse practitioners (NPs) are exemplary leaders who have made significant contributions to advancing the NP role nationally or internationally.
The Towers Pinnacle Award was launched in 2013 by the AANP Board of Directors in honor of Jan Towers, PhD, NP-C, CRNP, FAAN, FAANP. It is presented annually to an individual who has made outstanding national contributions resulting in the increased recognition of NPs and the advancement of health policy or regulations.
Hoyt, the 2025 AANP Towers Pinnacle Award recipient, has spent her career advocating for nurses, especially NPs in emergency care. A long-standing Fellow of AANP, she has served as a state representative, member-at-large of the Fellows, a PAC representative and co-chair of the AANP Emergency Community.
A visionary leader, Hoyt has published extensively and presented nationally and internationally on emergency nursing. In 2016, she led the Emergency Nurse Practitioner Practice Analysis grant, producing foundational research on the specialty role of NPs in emergency care. As Editor-in-Chief of the Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal, her research and advocacy have heightened NP visibility among stakeholders, legislators and the public. She has played a critical role in promoting the recognition of high-quality, reimbursable NP services in emergency settings and has worked to ensure emergency NPs gain certification and policy support to expand their practice. Her leadership has opened doors for NPs to practice to the fullest extent —strengthening NP-led care models.
The Sharp Cutting Edge Award was created in 1996 in honor of Nancy J. Sharp, MSN, RN, FAAN, and recipients of this award have shown leadership through innovative services, technologies or advocacy activities that have advanced NP practice and patient care on a national level.
Secor, the 2025 AANP Sharp Cutting Edge Award recipient, is a family NP whose dedication to the role has led to nearly 50 years of NP practice, education, advocacy and leadership. She has served as CEO and President of Nurse Practitioner Associates for Continuing Education (NPACE) and founded the Massachusetts Coalition of Nurse Practitioners. Secor also founded, owned and operated the first NP-owned practice in Massachusetts.
For more than four decades, Secor has delivered exceptional women’s health care and received numerous certifications that highlight her expertise. She has given hundreds of presentations to health care providers and the public nationally and internationally. Secor’s well-established relationships and partnerships with elected officials; business and community leaders; national and professional associations enhance the understanding of NP practice. She was a key leader in establishing prescriptive authority and reimbursement for NPs in Massachusetts as an early adopter. Secor has authored and co-authored numerous textbooks and publications and has provided her expert commentary on the NP role across peer-reviewed articles and media outlets, such as the Wall Street Journal, Good Morning America and others.
“Drs. Karen Sue Hoyt and Mimi Secor exemplify the highest ideals of the nurse practitioner role,” said AANP President Stephen A. Ferrara, DNP. “Their exceptional leadership, groundbreaking research and unwavering commitment to advocacy have helped transform health care by advancing the NP profession and improving access to quality care for patients nationwide.”
Hoyt and Secor will be honored on Wednesday, June 18, during the Opening General Session at 2025 AANP National Conference in San Diego, California.
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The American Association of Nurse Practitioners® (AANP) is the largest professional membership organization for nurse practitioners (NPs) of all specialties. It represents the interests of the more than 431,000 licensed NPs in the U.S. AANP provides legislative leadership at the local, state and national levels, advancing health policy; promoting excellence in practice, education and research; and establishing standards that best serve NPs' patients and other health care consumers. As The Voice of the Nurse Practitioner®, AANP represents the interests of NPs as providers of high-quality, cost-effective, comprehensive, patient-centered health care. To locate an NP in your community, visit npfinder.com. For more information about NPs, visit aanp.org.