As the head of the NLN, which has more than 38,500 individual members and 1,300 institutional members, Malone has sought to advance the field of nursing education by promoting greater collaboration among stakeholders and by boosting diversity. To that end, under her leadership, the organization has teamed up with Walden University to create the Institute for Social Determinants of Health and Social Change. The program, housed in the NLN Center for Transformational Leadership, is aimed at advancing the role nursing education can play in achieving health equity, the organization says. A nurse since 1970, Malone has worked as a surgical staff nurse, clinical nurse specialist, director of nursing, assistant administrator of nursing and as dean of the School of Nursing at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. She is a former president of the American Nurses Association. Malone has also served as deputy assistant secretary for health in the Clinton administration.