Sandra Dunbar-Smalley named chief learning officer for AdventHealth

AdventHealth has named Sandra Dunbar-Smalley vice president and chief learning officer for the system, effective May 5.

Dr. Dunbar-Smalley will help lead the organization’s learning strategy across four communities – leaders, team members, future talent and clinical talent – through educational resources and opportunities offered by the AdventHealth Leadership Institute, the AdventHealth Learning Network, AdventHealth University and other educational partners.

She reports to Olesea Azevedo, executive vice president and chief administrative officer, and Randy Haffner, senior executive vice president and group CEO for AdventHealth Clinical and AdventHealth’s operations in Florida.

"As AdventHealth continues its journey to become a dynamic learning community, I’m confident that Sandee will help us reach this foundational aspiration,” said Haffner.

“Sandee is a veteran educator who is passionate about nurturing and developing learners to be the most effective leaders in their field, and I know she will continue to do so as she steps into this new role,” said Azevedo.

Dr. Dunbar-Smalley most recently served as vice president of the AdventHealth Leadership Institute, located on the corporate campus. Before joining the corporate team, she served as the provost at AdventHealth University where she had oversight of several academic units, in addition to institutional effectiveness, community integration and faculty development. While there, she also helped develop the university’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee. Dr. Dunbar-Smalley transitioned to academia after several years working as an occupational therapist, and served in progressive teaching and administrative roles at Nova Southeastern University.

“I am excited about supporting the integration of leadership and learning for advancing our dynamic learning community,” she said. “My vision is that we create a culture for learning that occurs everywhere in every way, with a mindset of lifelong learning for supporting the mission of AdventHealth. As we continue to build future talent, team members skills, leadership development and clinical learning communities, this integration is essential.”

Dr. Dunbar-Smalley has a Doctor of Public Administration from Nova Southeastern University, an Advanced Master of Science in Occupational Therapy with a concentration in developmental disabilities from New York University, and a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy from Loma Linda University. She is a member of the National Association of Health Services Executives as well as the Orlando College of Osteopathic Medicine board. Additionally, she has written three books with contributing authors related to leadership and occupational therapy practice.