At the International Lactation Consultant Association® (ILCA®), we are deeply appreciative of our volunteers. The countless hours, energy, professional knowledge, and significant passion they offer allows ILCA to advance the International Board Certified Lactation Consultant® profession worldwide through leadership, advocacy, professional development, and research care. In honor of the United Nations’ International Volunteer Day, we have asked Meredith Parker, ILCA’s Assistant to the Executive Director, to offer up our thanks.
Dear ILCA Volunteers,
I would like to take this opportunity, on International Volunteer Day, to sincerely thank you for the time, effort, and enthusiasm that you have brought to ILCA over the past year.
Volunteers are essential to reaching ILCA’s mission of transforming world health through breastfeeding and skilled lactation care. You can see this clearly in our Strategic Map, which we use to inform every step of our work. Developed by our Board of Directors in 2015, this document identifies foundational elements like our vision, our mission, and our core values along with the themes, goals, and objectives that stem from these. We recognize that these ideas have a gigantic scope, a charge that is too great for any one person or group to complete. It is our volunteers who complete the work to activate our mission in the world. For this, we are incredibly grateful.
For example, our Professional Development Committee Research Team addresses Goal 2 from our strategic map: providing access to and interpretation of lactation research. One way in which they do this is by evaluating the poster and research abstract submissions for our annual conference. They have also been instrumental in compiling bibliographies and other resources for our newly-developed Resource Modules.
Also, our Advocacy Committee addresses Goal 5 from our strategic map: advancing breastfeeding on the global agenda. They regularly attend international meetings to collaborate with global health stakeholders.
This essential work is enriched not only by our volunteers’ professional expertise, but by their incredible diversity. We currently have 86 Committee and Task Force volunteers hailing from 22 countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Egypt, Spain, Croatia, Ireland, India, Kenya, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Nigeria, Netherlands, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Thailand, Thailand, the United States and Zimbabwe. They communicate in 18 languages, including Afrikaans, American Sign Language, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, Farsi, French, German, Hindi, Igbirra, Japanese, Malay, Punjabi, Spanish, Thai, Urdu and Yoruba.
As you might imagine, it is a challenge not only to schedule virtual meetings across the world but also to ensure that everyone’s ideas are communicated. I am touched by the grace displayed by our volunteers when they stop to ask for the input of all committee members before making a decision. I am impressed by their commitment when they are flexible with late night or early morning meeting times, inconveniencing themselves for the sake of their team.
Included below is the name of each current Committee and Task Force member. We would like to sincerely thank them for their work on behalf of ILCA, the IBCLC Credential, and Global Health at large. We could not be more proud of you and look forward to what we are able to accomplish together in 2018.
Warmly,
Meredith Parker
Assistant to the Executive Director
Advocacy Committee
Johanna Bergerman, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, Chair
Gihan Fouad Ahmad, Cairo, Egypt
Maryse Arendt, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Amy Kathryn Brandon, Barcelona, Spain
Decalie Brown, Katoomba, NSW, Australia
Geraldine Hirsch Fitzgerald, Bethany Beach, DE, United States
Deborah Lang, Columbia, MD, United States
Lisa Mandell, Havertown, MA, United States
Ghada Sayed, Cairo, Egypt
Angela Smith, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Linda J. Smith, Dayton, OH, United States
Equity Committee
Dana Hardy, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, Chair
Debbie Albert, Sacramento, CA, United States
Srikanthi Bodapati, Mississaugua, ON, Canada
Angie Bond, Chandler, AZ, United States
Liz Brooks, Wyndmoor, PA, United States
Rika Dombrowski, Oregon, WI, United States
Salma Fleewa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Eleanor Johnson, Muncie, IN, United States
Adele McHenry-Koenen, Chardon, OH, United States
Erica Morrell, Burlington, VT, United States
Asibi Onyioza Musa, Maitama, FCT, Nigeria
Mireya Roman, Miami, FL, United States
Ghada Sayed, Cairo, Egypt
Lindiwe Sibeko, Amherst, MA, United States
Jacquana Smith, Morrow, OH, United States
Natalia Villegas, Miami, FL, United States
Global Collaboration Committee
Prashant Gangal, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Chair
Dexter Chagwena, Harare, Zimbabwe
Amal El Taweel, Giza, Giza Governorate, Egypt
Manisha Gogri, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Mirjam Pot van-de Mey, Oegstgeest, Netherlands
Marion Rice, Portland, OR, United States
Zaharah Sulaiman, Khota Bharu Kelantan, Malaysia
International Code Committee
Linda J. Smith, Dayton, OH, United States, Chair
Ana Novina, Zagreb, Croatia
Ana Parilla-Rodriguez, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Jennifer Peddlesen, Chestermere, AB, Canada
Elisabeth Sterken, London, ON, Canada
Marsha Walker, Weston, MA, United States
Terrie Wefwafwa, Nairobi, Kenya
Professional Development Committee
Azza Ahmed, West Lafayette, IN, United States, Chair
Salma Abdel Magid, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Carmela Baeza, Galpagar, Madrid, Spain
Gini Baker, Sun City West, AZ, United States
Marian Cristina Cornelio Bernardo, Paranque, Metro Manila. Phillippines
Joaana Cole, Mercersburg, PA, United States
Elizabeth Collins, Port Jefferson, NY, United States
Paulina Erices, Littleton, CO, United States
Karen Foard, State College, PA, United States
Tipper Gallagher, Robbinsdale, MN, United States
Dominique Gallo, Roanoke, VA, United States
Jane Grassley, Meridian, ID, United States
Mona Liza Hamlin, Newark, DE, United States
Tar Hilton, Staten Island, NY, United States
Shela Hirani, Karachi, Pakistan
Robin Hollen, Reno, NV, United States
Phyllis Kombol, Kannapolis, NC, United States
Patricia Kostka, Cumberland, RI, United States
Marion Lou Lamb, Palmyra, VA, United States
Annette Leary, Orlando, FL, United States
Meabh-Anne McNamara, Maynooth, Co. Kildaire, Ireland
Jeanette Panchula, Vacaville, CA, United States
Jennifer Peddlesen, Chestermere, AB, Canada
Mirjam Pot-van de Mey, Oegstgeest, Netherlands
Merrie Rheingans, Mesa, AZ, United States
Wilaiporn Rojjansasrirat, Olathe, KS, United States
Libby Rosen, Topeka, KS, United States
Doria Thiele, Milwaukie, OR, United States
Benjamas Thussanasupap, Phayathai, Thailand
Amber Valentine, Lexington, KY, United States
Karen Wambach, Riverside, MO, United States
Shu-Fang Wang, Hualien, Hualien County, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
Janet Heger Waters, Powder Springs, GA, United States
Resource Development Committee
Kathleen McCue, Alexandria, VA, United States
Angela Love-Zaranka, Harrisonburg, VA, United States
Annual Conference Program Task Force, 2018
Stacy Davis, Detroit, MI, United States, Chair
Jennifer Day, Southfield, MI, United States
Felisha Floyd, Navarre, FL, United States
Stephanie George, Hagersville, ON, Canada
Camie Goldhammer, Seattle, WA, United States
Mona Liza Hamlin, Newark, DE, United States
Elisabeth Neighbors, Johnston, IA, United States
Mirjam Pot-van de Mey, Oegstgeest, Netherlands
Lourdes Santaballa, Dorado, Puerto Rico
Ghada Sayed, Cairo, Egypt
Jada Wright Nichols, Cordova, TN, United States
WABA-ILCA Fellowship Review Task Force
Asha Benakappa, Bangalore, India
Johanna Bergerman, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Pei Ching Chuah, George Town, Penang, Malaysia
Rukhsana Haider, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Pushpa Valli Panadam, Paraguay
Sue Saunders, Alfred Cove, WA, Australia
Angela Smith, Collaroy Plateau, NSW, Australia
Zaharah Sulaiman, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
Nominations Task Force
Decalie Brown, Katoomba, NSW, Australia, Chair
Gini Baker, Sun City West, AZ, United States
Cathy Carothers, Terry, MS, United States
Sue Jameson, Dublin, Ireland
Lisa Mandell, Havertown, PA, United States
Paula Oliveria, Salisbury, MA, United States
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