ail Washington believes in paying it forward.

She’s spent the past four decades uplifting new generations of nurses—first at a hospital in South Carolina where she was the first African American nurse, then in community college classrooms in Compton, and now as the director for Cal State LA’s Patricia A. Chin School of Nursing.

She’s giving back to Cal State LA with her knowledge, experience and commitment to education—as well as with a gift to the university’s nursing school. She’s seen the benefits that gifts provide, including one of the university’s largest gifts from alumna Patricia A. Chin, who holds a Doctor of Nursing Science, and her husband Dr. William Chin.

“We serve a student population that will greatly benefit from these contributions, and will take their knowledge back to their communities and beyond,” Washington says.

She sees that spirit in current and former Cal State LA pupils. Her students mentor and support one another in class, and alumni are often willing to share their expertise when students visit their clinics and hospitals as part of their coursework.

“Our nurses have a mindset of wanting to give back. Wanting to share their knowledge,” she says.

Washington launched her own career in nursing and education almost 40 years ago, and quickly moved up the hospital ranks to serve for 12 years as manager of emergency room nurses. As a first-generation college student, she was determined to pursue higher education, so she went back to school and earned her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in nursing.

That inspired her to support other nurses by providing the sort of opportunities that she’d been given by mentors who opened her eyes to educational options.

Washington went back to the classroom, but this time as a teacher working to improve nursing test scores and clinical experiences for community college students. She offered study skills courses and test preparation exercises that gave her Compton students the confidence to do their best on nursing exams.

She understands that many Cal State LA nursing students are pursuing their education while working full time or taking care of families. They benefit greatly from the extra financial aid and scholarships that gifts to the nursing school provide. That assistance helps prepare them to excel as nurses, allowing them to stay focused on their studies, gain access to high-end facilities, and even study abroad.

And that support is paying off.

“Our university is ranked number one for the upward mobility of its students,” Washington notes with pride. “That says a lot about who we are and what we stand for. We are empowering future nurses to be change-makers, leaders, innovators and policymakers.”