Inspiring women to lead with heart

When Dr. Ebony Parker Waugh (’93) first laid eyes on the Quad, she didn’t know if JMU even offered a nursing degree. But that didn’t matter. She knew something deep in her heart: This was where she belonged.

“I saw this campus and said, ‘Oh, I’m coming here.’ I didn’t know if JMU had my major or not, but I was coming here,’” she said. And she never looked back.

A first-generation college student from Baltimore, Maryland, Waugh calls JMU her forever home. “I came here as a young girl who had already faced so many challenges. But this campus became my launching pad — the place where I found my courage, my voice and the confidence to dream bigger than I ever imagined.”

In the School of Nursing, Waugh joined the largest cohort in program history at the time — 44 students who would learn from a faculty she describes as “small but mighty.” These teachers didn’t just prepare students to pass tests; they taught them to care deeply, with empathy and strength.

“Dr. Vida Huber led the department, and her heart was enormous,” Waugh recalled. “She showed us what it means to serve, to care, and to never forget the humanity in every patient we touch. That helped shape the nurse — and the woman — I became.”

More than three decades later, Waugh’s story has grown into something bigger than herself. After earning her doctorate, she decided to teach, guiding new generations of nurses to see their potential. And now, as the leader of EPW Consulting, she coaches women to step into their confidence, embrace their purpose and walk boldly in their power.

“I’ve taken care of women at some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives,” Waugh said. “And I realized I could take that same care and attention — that same love — and help women discover their own light.”

Earlier this year, Waugh shared that light at the 2025 Women Who Amaze Summit, speaking to a room of women gathered to celebrate leadership, courage and their connection with JMU. She encouraged them to embrace lifelong learning, honor their stories and remember their dreams are meant to be lived — not just imagined.

No matter where life has taken her — as a nurse, an educator, an entrepreneur, a mentor and a mother — Waugh always comes home to Madison. “When I come back, I feel like I’ve returned to a place that holds my roots and my wings,” she said.

Her advice for the next generation? “Your undergraduate years are a canvas. Paint boldly. Take risks. Fall in love with what you’re creating, and let JMU become a place that lifts you up. It certainly did that for me.”