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Vedna Lacombe-Heywood is a Registered Nurse of over 20yrs, who currently works at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in the Surgical Trauma Burn I.C.U. Prior to the ICU, she’s worked in geriatrics, corrections, and the Emergency room. She has been a part of several hospital committees, as well as a recent Essence of Nursing honoree. In 2019 she helped implement one of the first “Stop the Bleed” trauma programs for students at Ma public schools which was featured nationally on CBS Morning News. She has served on several boards, which include but aren’t limited to the S.E. Ma Division of the March of Dimes, and Plymouth Area Advisory Board for the Dept of Children & Families. She is currently the appointed Chair of the Diversity Committee for the town of Plymouth and a state board Director for the League of Women Voters. She was most recently appointed as a member of the LWVUS Advocacy & Litigation Committee and assisted in drafting the Social Justice Reform Resolution for National. She is also the immediate past vice-chair for the Haitian American Chamber of Commerce of Ma. She was an appointed member to the Managed Care Ombudsman Committee for the State of Florida and is an elected School Committee Member for the Plymouth School Committee. She was recently awarded the Massachusetts School Committee, All-State award as well as the Old Colony Memorial Person of the Year. After the loss of 2 children during late pregnancy, Vedna became certified in Thanatology, which is the study of death and bereavement. She co-leads a Perinatal, Infant & Toddler loss group for parents at Hope Floats in Kingston, MA, and was a Bereavement specialist for Boston Medical Child Loss Center, often going into people’s homes after the loss of their children. She is a daughter of a missionary and as a teenager and young adult, she did missions work at various orphanages in the Caribbean and Central America. As a teenager, she was exposed to the importance of community service, advocacy, and social activism through church and family. She believes in the “ lifting as we climb” mantra and often mentors young women, especially those from marginalized communities. Exposing them to areas of civic engagement and leadership. She is a devoted wife and a mother of a precocious 10yr old son. She enjoys reading, music, dancing, drawing, traveling, cooking, and writing, with published works.