Jim D'Alfonso

Jim D’Alfonso, DNP, RN, PhD(h), NEA-BC, FNAP, FAAN

Jim is Executive Director of Professional Excellence for Kaiser Permanente (KP) and the Founding Executive Director of the KP Scholars Academy in Oakland, California. He leads several nationally recognized programs, including the Exemplary Clinical Practice Partnership Award, granted by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) in 2018 and a Telly Award in 2017 for a documentary he produced on KP’s 70-Year Legacy of Disruptive Innovation in American Nursing.

Dr. D’Alfonso received his Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) with a focus in executive leadership from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he serves as Adjunct Faculty and president of the Beta Gamma Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing honor society. He is a board-certified nurse executive (NEA-BC), WCSI Certified Caritas Coach®, Master HeartMath Executive Trainer (HMET), Distinguished Fellow of the Nursing Academies of Practice (FNAP) and a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN). Dr. D’Alfonso has published over 30 peer-review articles, text chapters and books on leadership, nursing theory and clinical best practices.

In 2015, Jim was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Caring Science by theorist Dr. Jean Watson, honoring his career-long devotion to transformative leadership, scholarly teaching, and practices in human caring. As an early member of Watson’s International Caritas Consortia (ICC), he helped champion the articulation of ontological competencies of caring literacy and other innovative approaches to bridge theory and praxis.

As an international scholar and keynote speaker, Jim has conducted workshops, consulted, and lectured worldwide for over 30 years, including the Philippines, Japan, Italy, Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom and Canada.