Dr. Gaskins is a regular army Veteran, married to a Retired Disabled Veteran, and a mother of four. She grew up on the streets of Detroit's Northwest side. She graduated from Cass Technical High School in Detroit, Michigan. She is a doctoral prepared registered nurse of 30 plus years of service. She graduated from Baker University with a Master of Science in Management, an MBA without all the stats, and received her Educational Doctorate from Argosy University.