Recap of RNAO’s 100th Annual General Meeting
On May 29-30, RNAO held its 100th Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Toronto’s Hilton hotel – and it was one for the books!
The two-day event, themed RNAO: 100 years of action & impact, featured an exciting lineup of events, beginning with the opening procession led by Red Sky, a contemporary Indigenous performance group. RNAO President NP Lhamo Dolkar introduced Ontario’s political leaders to share remarks – Premier Doug Ford (video message), Minister of Health and Deputy Premier Sylvia Jones, Minister of Education and Acting Minister of Long-Term Care Paul Calandra, Leader of the NDP Marit Stiles, Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party Bonnie Crombie, and Green Party MPP for Kitchener Centre Aislinn Clancy. RNAO also welcomed remarks from nursing leaders Dr. Pamela Cipriano, president of the International Council of Nurses; Sandra Bibb, president of Sigma Nursing; and Dr. Karima Velji, Ontario’s Chief of Nursing. Day one of the event also featured a ceremony to formally designate 11 new Best Practice Spotlight Organizations . During day two, attendees enjoyed members’ voices, RNAO CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun’s report, a consultation session on the 2025 proposed resolutions that saw all 12 resolutions pass, the President’s Reception and more. The results of One member, one vote were also announced, with Sue LeBeau being named as the incoming president-elect. Visit RNAO’s website to view the 2025-2026 board of directors. To end the AGM, Jimmy Dick Pow Wow Drum conducted a Big Drum Closing with a Traveling Song.
RNAO’s 100th anniversary celebration also featured an interactive history room for participants to explore the association’s past, a time capsule for nursing memorabilia and notes to be shared, and an RNAO boutique with exclusive anniversary merchandise. If you haven’t already, explore RNAO’s rich history online and leave your mark by signing the virtual yearbook.
For a closer glimpse of the event, see the thread of posts on X about day one and day two of the event. Video recordings of each day are available on our AGM portal.
To see highlights of RNAO’s work over the past year, we encourage you to read the 2024-2025 annual report. It also includes a decade by decade look at RNAO’s history since its inception.
Thank you to the more than 1,000 RNs, NPs and nursing students who attended in person or tuned in virtually. And thank you all for being part of RNAO’s strong collective voice of more than 54,400 nurses, nursing students, IEN associates and Friends of RNAO. We look forward to the next 100 years!
