About Me: Sharon Brownie is Dean at the Aga Khan University and in her role she defines nursing educational needs in East Africa and develop programmes that meet those needs. She is an experienced nurse and midwifery educator with a specialty interest in health workforce capacity development

Professor Sharon Brownie began her career as a registered nurse and midwife and over the past thirty years has continued to be active in professional practice, which is the foundation of her roles as clinician, educator, researcher and policy advisor. She has over 25 years of executive experience in health and education including New Zealand-based roles such as Associate Head of Nursing and Health Studies at Manawatu Polytechnic, General Manager of Templeton Hospital, Nursing and Professional Services Advisor for Health Link South followed by roles in Australia including Deputy CEO of the Australian Health Workforce Institute, Executive Director of Clinical Education and Training for Queensland Health, and Professor Health Workforce Development at Griffith University.

Her executive capacity is strengthened by additional experience in social welfare and economic development sectors in which she served for three years as the Regional Commissioner of Employment for North New Zealand followed by a two year national posting as General Manager of Regional Coordination and Development for New Zealand. These experiences form the basis of her special interest in local and regional capacity building roles and in health workforce development initiatives such as establishing and enhancing nursing education programmes and scopes of practice.