Ingela always wanted to be a nurse, but her motivation went through several changes over the years. As a very frightened and sick 8-year-old, she was enchanted by her night shift nurse, who was kind and wore beautiful eye make-up. As an O.R. nurse she was fascinated by medicine’s ability to fix problems by cutting and sewing and replacing organs (she describes herself as an “adrenaline junkie,” like many in healthcare). Her union experience began in 2001 when she helped organize her facility at Northridge Hospital Medical Center in the San Fernando Valley.
There were many people over the years who have inspired, supported, and encouraged Ingela, and with whom she has had the pleasure of working. When organizing the facility at Northridge Hospital in 2001 she was fortunate to work with Mary Kay Henry, who was running the organizing campaign on the West Coast. From that time on, Ingela loved organizing and continued to work with other facilities to spread the benefits of being unionized and having a voice for their patients. SEIU decided there was a need for a dedicated nurse Local, so Luisa Blue, RN, came down from San Francisco and they founded Local 121RN on April 1st 2002. “Luisa became my mentor and friend as she guided me through some very difficult times as a nurse organizer. She also introduced me to the SEIU International Union and before I knew it I started flying around organizing other nurses with the SEIU Flight Team.”
Ingela was then offered a job by her old Local 121RN. Sue Weinstein, Executive Director of Local 121RN, is an inspiration and a nurse leader who helped propel Ingela into her next project. Jamie Cohen from SEIU International, called one day and asked her to consider the position of Executive Director for the SEIU Nurse Alliance of California. “I told her she had the wrong number, but Jamie persisted.” Jamie pointed out to Ingela all the opportunities she had in front of her and, according to Ingela, “it was like being given the tools to start making the dreams come true.” She attended the first Steering Committee meeting in February 2009 and was voted in as the Executive Director of Nurse Alliance of California. Ingela would like to close by saying that “the Steering Committee is a large group of RNs from all SEIU Locals here in California and they are the strength and wisdom of our organization. I am honored to be able to work with all of them so we can make all nurses’ voices heard loud and clear across the state and nationally. “Our journey together has just begun.”
