Executive Leadership of the Board of Registered Nursing

Loretta (Lori) Melby RN, MSN, has 25 years of healthcare experience, 19 years as a Registered Nurse with 13 of those years being in a variety of nurse management and leadership roles with key participation in strategic planning for growth while staying recent in bedside nursing. She joined the Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) in 2014 as a Nursing Education Consultant (NEC). In this role she upheld the mission of public protection by ensuring compliance with nursing education laws and regulation while providing consultative services to local, State, and National agencies and supporting Board committees. She was appointed to serve as the Acting Executive Officer in February and then the Executive Officer for the BRN in June 2020.

In Nursing Academia, Lori spent 16 years helping to develop over 2,500 students to become the next generation of nurses and healthcare professionals. She worked her way up from a Clinical Teaching Assistant to Director of Nursing; serving in both Private and Public institutions at the Associate and Baccalaureate degree levels.

Lori has direct bedside nursing experience in inpatient, outpatient, ambulatory, and procedural settings. She has worked within GI nursing, Sexual Assault/Forensic nursing, Maternal Child nursing, Plastic Surgery nursing, and Pediatric nursing. Prior to becoming an RN her healthcare experience included working in the Intensive Care Unit, Emergency Department, Hospital Admissions, Private Practice, and Psychiatric Mental Health services.

Lori is a highly accomplished nursing leader with vast experience in service excellence, staff recruitment and retention, education, and regulatory affairs. She has received honors and awards throughout her career and has presented on topics of Teen Pregnancy and Sexual Assault.

Loretta.Melby@dca.ca.gov

Evon Lenerd Tapps has a diverse employment background and commitment to public service for over 30 years. Her state experience includes but is not limited to, service with the State Controller’s Office, California Department of Justice, Department of Health Services, California Department of Public Health, and California Department of Social Services.

As a manager and leader, she has been responsible for establishing short- and long-term strategic plans, the development of performance measures, policies, and programmatic improvements that yielded performance measures. Additionally, she has experience in: budget management, enforcement oversight, responding to frequent legislative inquiries and providing board updates. She was also instrumental in staff development, communication with Department of Finance, Department of Justice, Legislatures, Attorney General's Office, and other key stakeholders. She has also appeared and presented at Legislative hearings on several topics and prepared written statements accordingly.

Currently, as the Assistant Executive Officer for the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN), she brings her experiences and desire to foster a culture which ensures that the ethical practices and mission of the BRN are valued and adhered to. She has the knowledge to help in the advancement of the BRN. Evon can effectively develop, maintain and enhance communication and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders.

She has a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Business Administration from CSU Sacramento and Western Governor’s University (Utah), respectively. Evon completed the California Health and Human Services Agency Leadership Academy and other various managerial and leadership trainings and opportunities.

Direct Reports: Information Technology, Enforcement Division, Consumer Services & Board Operations, Legislation, and Licensing

Evon.Lenerd@dca.ca.gov

Marissa Clark has over 10 years of experience working on legislation and policy in the public sector. Her state career includes service with the California Workforce Development Board, Employment Development Department, and the Department of Rehabilitation.

Marissa’s primary area of focus has been overseeing legislative and policy efforts related to the public workforce development system. This includes tracking and analyzing state and federal legislation, developing bill analysis that clearly outline policy, administrative, or budgetary concerns, negotiating bill language, and representing state departments both in person and in writing before members of the legislative branch, administrative branch, and key external stakeholders. In her previous role, Marissa was also in charge of developing California’s Unified Strategic Workforce Development Plan during which she collaborated with a wide variety of stakeholders at the federal, state, and local level in order to establish a framework for guiding public policy, fiscal investment, and operations of the public workforce and education system over a four year period.

In her current role as Chief of Legislative Affairs for the Board of Registered Nursing, Marissa brings her experience with navigating the public policy process from bill introduction through statewide implementation. She thrives in taking a big idea or broad vision, working through how it would be operationalized at the state and local level, and then use that information to draft thoughtful and impactful policy.

Marissa earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Gonzaga University and a Master of Public Administration from the University of San Francisco.

Marissa.Clark@dca.ca.gov

For over twenty years, McCaulie Feusahrens has dedicated her career to public service having worked in arenas that serve and protect California’s most vulnerable individuals. Her public service experience includes, but is not limited to, working for the Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance, the California Department of Education, and the California Department of Social Services.

McCaulie’s primary focus during her career has been on policy analysis, project management, licensing, and continuous quality improvement. In her prior leadership position, she designed and implemented a new licensing program for clients needing home care services, monitored implementation and program activities, streamlined numerous business processes, and conducted program evaluations with internal and external stakeholders to ensure the most efficient and effective manner of operations.

In her current role as the Chief of the Licensing Division for the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN), McCaulie brings knowledge and experience working across many areas of licensing. She values input from all levels of staff and prides herself on facilitating and supporting innovative and diverse work teams, and encouraging creative thinking. McCaulie’s primary goal is to maintain consistent communication with both internal and external stakeholders to best serve, protect, and advocate for the health and safety of the public by promoting the mission of BRN and ensuring the highest quality of Registered Nurses in the State of California.

McCaulie completed the California Health and Human Services Agency Leadership Academy and other various leadership trainings and she holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from California State University, Monterey Bay.

McCaulie.Feusahrens@dca.ca.gov