Ena Williams MBA, MSM, BSN, RN, CENP

Ena serves as chief nursing officer at Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH). After graduating from the University Hospital of the West Indies with a diploma in Nursing, she began her career in Jamaica. She later migrated to the United States, where she joined New York’s Lebanon Hospital as a staff nurse. The following year, she came to YNHH as an OR staff nurse, quickly progressing up the leadership ladder. During her tenure as nursing director, the OR expanded to 49 operating rooms, experienced record low turnover and vacancy and increased volume growth. In 2012, she was named VP and associate chief nursing officer for YNHH’s Patient Services. She later became interim chief nursing officer and ultimately senior VP and chief nursing officer.

A prolific volunteer, she has served as a parent/advisor to the ELM City youth club of the National Association of Negro Business and Women's Club; guest lecturer and mentor to Yale School of Nursing Howard Scholars Program; and past member of the Connecticut Women to Women Advisory Council. She also served as president of the Southern Chapter of the National Black Nurses Association and is now a member of the National Regional Action Coalition to advance the Future of Nursing Institute of Medicine initiatives. Ena received The Legendary Women Award, the National Black Nurses Association’s Trailblazer Award, the Cornell Scott Health Leadership Award from the NAACP of Greater New Haven, and the Trailblazer Award from the Black Heritage Ball. She was recognized by the West Indian Social Club of Hartford as an outstanding Jamaican in health care and as an outstanding Jamaican in America in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the independence. She also received the Mary E Mahoney Award from the Southern Connecticut Black Nurses Association and the National Award for Woman of Color in Health Sciences and Technology.

Ena holds a BSN from Western Governors University and an MSM/MBA from Albertus Magnus College and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree. She is a graduate of the GE Health Management Nurse Executive Fellowship and is Board certified in Executive Nursing Practice by the Association of Nurse Executives. She has published several journal and book chapters and is a frequent speaker at local/national nursing conferences.