Archive | ILCA Board of Directors

The ILCA Board of Directors has presented a ballot for ILCA voting members to select their next Director.

All ILCA members who are certified as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant® (IBCLC®) and are in good standing should have received an email from ILCA on 23 April 2018 containing a link to the ballot (subject line: Your 2018 ILCA Board of Directors Ballot). If you did not receive an email and you should have, please contact the ILCA Office at admin@ilca.org (or) 1+ 919-861-5577 (or) 888-452-2478. Our ILCA staff is eager to make sure you get a ballot so your vote can be counted. To ensure a timely and secure election, all voting will take place through an online survey.

Prior to casting a vote, all voting ILCA members are encouraged to thoughtfully consider all information provided below. This will enable you to make an informed decision. Vote carefully: Once your vote is cast, it cannot be changed, repeated, or cancelled.

The balloting commences 23 April 2018 and concludes 07 May 2018, at which time all electronic votes will be tallied by the ILCA staff.

Board of Director Elections

On behalf of the Board of Directors, we are pleased to present the 2018 ballot for election of one Director. The Nominations Task force used an objective scoring system to conduct a fair and impartial assessment of each application. After thorough review and analysis, the following candidates were approved by the ILCA Board of Directors. This year, we will be electing one new director.

A Director must be elected by a majority of ILCA voting members. (Note: ILCA Bylaw 3.4 confers voting privileges to those dues-paying ILCA members who are also IBCLC certificants.)

To run for the position of ILCA Director, ideally, candidates would:

1. Have prior experience within ILCA; or experience in other national or international breastfeeding/professional advocacy groups, preferably in a board/director post or demonstrated leadership in other positions;
2. Have verbal, written, organizational, teamwork, and delegation skills;
3. Be sensitive to the challenges of ensuring equitable access to positions of leadership within ILCA for historically underrepresented groups; and
4. Be sensitive to the challenges of ensuring equitable access to breastfeeding and skilled lactation care in areas where breastfeeding practices are unequal.

Please take time to review the profiles of each nominee, by clicking on their names, prior to casting your vote. You will vote for one.

Stephanie George, Bachelor of Arts (Honors), Aboriginal Midwife, IBCLC, Postpartum Depression Support Person, Crisis Trauma Responder; Jarvis, Ontario, Canada

Meena Sobsamai, Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics, Registered Nurse Midwife, Graduate Diploma in Childbirth Education, IBCLC; Bangkok, Thailand

The ILCA Board extends a special thanks to the Nominations Task Force for their efforts on behalf of the entire membership.

Questions? Comments? Share them here! We want to hear from you.

This week, ILCA is launching a new, occasional series featuring the voices of ILCA board members. We hope you will learn about the people behind the many decisions the board makes every day to bring ILCA closer to our core values of knowledge, equity, and diversity.

ILCA strives to be transparent to our members.

Wondering about the priorities for ILCA Board of Directors? Or actions we’ve taken or decisions we’ve made? The minutes of the Board of Directors meetings are one way to keep up with ILCA’s actions.

Making the minutes readily available to members and making other key documents easier to find on our website are two ways the ways the ILCA board is working towards transparency with our community.

I have been an ILCA member for over 10 years, and have been honored to serve as Secretary of the Board of Directors for almost 5 years.

As Secretary, it is my job to report the Board’s decisions in minutes of our meetings. While the recommendation for organizational meetings is to simply report the actions and motions made at the meeting, I almost always include some of the background or discussion behind those actions and motions to further inform members about those decisions.

The minutes are reviewed for accuracy and approved by the Board. Additionally, I write minutes for the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the association, which is held each July at the Conference. The minutes from the previous year are presented there and approved by members.

If you haven’t found the minutes or other organizational documents on our new website, I’d like to guide you to them. You can visit them now by clicking HERE.

To locate them later, click on “about ILCA” on the website and scroll to Board of Directors. You will find the content at the bottom of the page here:

Full public access is available for:

Bylaws – these are the rules by which the association is governed.

Organizational Chart – showing how the different parts of the association fit together, and how we work with outside organizations.

Strategic Map – identifies the vision, mission, core values, goals, and objectives of the association, and generally guides all Board decisions.

Form 990 – an annual reporting form that certain nonprofit organizations in the United States of America must file with the Internal Revenue Service, and which provides information on the organization’s mission, programs, and finances.

Lisa Mandell, MBA, IBCLC, Secretary, ILCA Board of Directors

Additionally, ILCA members have access to all the minutes of Board meetings that I mentioned previously, from January 2015 on. We are working to add the Electronic Motions and Actions documents (a record of decisions made on the online platform used by the Board between meetings), and minutes of the Annual General Meeting (AGM). Also here are the reports of our financial audits for the last several years. An audit is an independent examination of a nonprofit’s financial records by a licensed certified public accountant; it is an examination of the financial records, accounts, business transactions, accounting practices, and internal controls.

I hope that access to this information helps you to feel more informed as a member of ILCA. The ILCA Board of Directors is committed to transparency – that is, we want our members to know what decisions we are making, and why. We do this work for you, and as an effort to advance the International Board Certified Lactation Consultant profession worldwide through leadership, advocacy, professional development, and research. This will help us to achieve our vision of world health transformed through breastfeeding and skilled lactation care.

As always, we welcome your input and your questions.

ILCA voting members will be sent an email on 24 June 2014, with a link to a secure on-line ballot to vote on changes to the organization’s bylaws. The balloting will be open 24 June – 6 July 2014.

The ILCA Board of Directors supports the proposed changes. Voting ILCA members are encouraged to make an informed decision after thoughtful consideration of the issues.

Didn’t I just do this?

Yes! However, the bylaws portion of the recent ballot has been called into question. The ILCA Board has called for a new vote, on the bylaws alone.

How is this ballot different?

ILCA has re-formatted the ballot, allowing bylaws elements to be voted on by section (instead of all-or-none). We are using a different election platform to assure one-member-one-vote. Vote carefully: Once your vote is cast, it cannot be changed or cancelled.

How will I know my vote counts this time?

ILCA members are urged to confirm that their Profile on the secure Members Only portion of the ILCA website has their current email and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant^® ( IBCLC^®) certification status. A 16 June 2014 listserv, and 17 June 2014 Lactation Matters blog, describe the detailed steps.

If a dues-paid, IBCLC-certified ILCA member does not receive an email on 24 June 2014 containing a link to the new ballot, please contact the ILCA Office at info@ilca.org (or) 1+  919-861-5577 (or) 888-452-2478. Our ILCA staff are eager to make sure members receive a ballot so their votes can be counted.

Are the bylaws changes proposed in this new ballot different from in the last one?

No. The proposed 2014 amendments to the ILCA bylaws remain the same. Only the ballot itself is different. It now allows members to vote on bylaws in sections, instead of all-or-none.

I’m an auditory learner! Where can I learn about all these bylaws changes?

This 10 minute recorded webinar will explain the ILCA Board’s reasoning for the proposed changes to the bylaws, for those who prefer to hear (rather than read) about the amendments.

I love the printed word. What should I read?

This document shows the Proposed 2014 ILCA bylaws, providing “tracked changes” to the 2007 bylaws. It lets you compare the old version with the new. The document also summarizes all the changes, and the Board’s rationale for each, section-by-section.

Can I discuss this with my colleagues before I vote?

Please do! This ILCA Lactation Matters blog, and other social media venues, have allowed shared and vibrant conversation about ILCA’s governance! Use the comments section below. Be certain of your position before you vote: You cannot change or cancel your vote once it is cast.

Ballot Vote No. 1: Why does the ILCA Board support a “representative board?”

The new bylaws create a board of directors designed to fairly represent the interests of its diverse international membership. ILCA must meet the needs of its 5400 individual members around the world, without giving any one geographic region more decision-making weight. Board directorships are guaranteed to be held by someone who represents each of the Partner (Tier 1) Affiliates (Partner Affiliates: Canadian Lactation Consultant Association, CLCA, Lactation Consultants of Australia and New Zealand, LCANZ, and the United States Lactation Consultant Association, USLCA). But there is also a seat to be held by a director who is not from those regions.

This matrix of autonomously-governed organizations is a unique model, developed after extensive discussion between ILCA, CLCA, LCANZ and USLCA. We envision a better-defined operational and financial relationship between these organizations, without compromising individual ILCA member benefits and resources. The representative board is an important element of our collaboration going forward.

The ILCA Board supports this amendment because the bylaws must be changed to allow for a representative board to be guaranteed in ILCA’s governance.

Ballot Vote No. 2: Why does the ILCA Board support changes to directors’ selection and term limits?

The old and new bylaws are the same on certain key elements: All Directors of ILCA must be IBCLC-certified. All directors have a legal duty to uphold the Purposes of ILCA: To provide leadership, advocacy, professional development and research for the IBCLC profession.

Under the revised bylaws, terms for Board members are clearly defined to end after two terms (whether originally appointed or elected). Any Director who is invited for a second term would require ratification by member vote to retain office. The President-designate would also need member vote ratification before taking office.

The ILCA Board supports this amendment because it infuses new leadership on a faster track. It requires members to periodically affirm their support of the leaders in office. This reduces the “disconnect” between the elected board and the members whose interests they are to uphold.

Ballot Vote No. 3: Why does the ILCA Board support giving voting powers to all dues-paying ILCA matters?

ILCA members have power to vote to (1) elect Directors, (2) ratify bylaws changes, and (3) make motions at the Annual General Meeting.

Since 1985, ILCA has invited open membership, to anyone who supports our mission (“ILCA Mission: To advance the International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) profession worldwide through leadership, advocacy, professional development, and research”). From 1985-2007, any dues-paying ILCA member could vote.

In 2007 voting rights were confined to IBCLC-only members, to demonstrate strong ILCA advocacy for the IBCLC. Yet, in 2014, ILCA’s IBCLC-promoting mission faces increased threat from external economic, political and governmental influences. Our mission is not undermined by internal member-voters, who elect IBCLC-credentialed Directors who are legally-bound to uphold ILCA’s IBCLC-promoting purpose.

Undeniably, demographics of ILCA membership, and the pathways of entry into our profession as a whole, show significant race- income- and geographic-based barriers.  ILCA’s Strategic Plan seeks to increase diversity by creating meaningful, accessible entry into the profession, and our professional association. A 27 July 2014 Lactation Summit Addressing Inequities within the Lactation Consultant Profession (co-hosted by LEAARC, ILCA and IBLCE) will commence a top-to-bottom look at how to increase diversity, and enhance equity for IBCLCs.

Right now, those who are actively seeking IBCLC certification do not have a professional “home.” The burden falls to the individual to cobble together education and training that will be acceptable to meet pathway requirements of the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners. ILCA wants to attract, and keep, these members, who will otherwise turn to competing organizations for education and support. ILCA’s international role has always been: Serve current IBCLCs, and engage and help others who believe in our work, and want to become a part of our profession.

Inclusion will propel this profession into growth and sustainability. To address the challenges of current members, and generations of IBCLCs to come, there must be an invited and equitable voice by those in our association. Inclusion assumes full acceptance; in a membership organization, that includes voting rights.

The ILCA Board supports this amendment to giving voting rights to all dues-paying members as means to increase diversity and enhance equity.

Ballot Vote No. 4: Why does the ILCA Board support all these other little edits?

Any bylaw amendment, no matter how small and non-controversial, requires member vote in support. There are several such changes that we have “saved up” for the next bylaws vote, which is now, in 2014.

The ILCA Board supports changes that will correct typographical errors and provide consistency of language.

I have a question, and a few comments!

Excellent! Please use the comments section in this blog to tell us what you think, or to seek more information before you vote (if you are a current ILCA voting member).

Thank you for your membership, and for helping to build a better ILCA!

Editor’s Note: This update was sent to all ILCA members on 16 June 2014. If you are an ILCA member in good standing and did not receive the email, please check your promotions box (Gmail). If you still did not receive the email, it is particularly important that you complete the steps for confirming your email listed below.

The ILCA Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Lisa Akers has been elected by a near unanimous vote (98%) as the new Director of Marketing. Her three-year term will commence July 2014. The Board of Directors welcomes Lisa and looks forward to working with her to continue ILCA’s mission: to advance the International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) profession worldwide through leadership, advocacy, professional development, and research.

During the voting process, ILCA discovered several voting irregularities pertaining specifically to the vote on revisions to ILCA’s bylaws. There were reports of the ballot being misread, or misunderstood, and at least one known instance of a single member submitting multiple votes. While these inconsistencies did not statistically impact the outcome of the Director election, they do raise some question as to the validity of the bylaws vote.

A second issue surfaced during the election process regarding the inability of voting members to selectively vote on specific bylaws changes. Those individuals who objected to specific changes felt obligated to vote “no” for the entire proposal or not vote at all.

The ILCA Board of Directors is grateful that, during a spirited members’ discourse on the LM blog, ILCA members brought these issues to our attention.

Thus, the BOD has decided that the bylaws vote should be repeated under a modified format. First, internal controls will be changed to allow voting members to cast a single vote only that cannot be changed once cast. Second, the bylaws vote will be reformatted to allow voting members the opportunity to vote selectively for individual bylaws changes.

The modified vote will take place between 24 June and 6 July 2014. To ensure the fullest participation possible in the revised election and the most accurate voting process possible, each ILCA member is asked to confirm their ILCA profile email address and IBCLC status no later than 22 June 2014. To do so, please comply with the following steps:

1. Proceed to the ILCA website and complete your Member Login
2. Select the “Edit My Profile” link at the top of the page
3. Verify your email address
4. Select “Update” at the bottom of the page
5. Select the “Custom” link at the top of the page
6. Change your “IBCLC?” status from “False” to “True” (if appropriate)
7. Insert your “IBCLC ID #” in the space provided
8. Select “Save” at the bottom of the page

The first role of the ILCA Board of Directors is to uphold ILCA’s mission: to advance the International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) profession worldwide through leadership, advocacy, professional development, and research. ILCA will continue to be led only by those who hold IBCLC certification. The Board of Directors, committee chairs, and liaisons must all be IBCLC certified. We know that those in our profession are best suited to leading and advancing the profession. If you are concerned about threats to the IBCLC credential, it is critical that you remain a member of ILCA (or join if your membership has lapsed). ILCA, and our partner affiliates Canadian Lactation Consultant Association (CLCA), Lactation Consultants of Australia and New Zealand (LCANZ), and United States Lactation Consultant Association (USLCA), are working hard with governments, non-governmental organizations, insurers, other healthcare providers, and other organizations involved in breastfeeding support and promotion, to ensure that the IBCLC is the globally recognized professional authority in lactation.

One measure of excellence within an organization is its ability to adapt. The Board of Directors recognizes that it is essential that ILCA remain relevant and responsive to its members around the world, and continue to work with the hundreds of organizations throughout the world that can help us achieve a vision of world health transformed through breastfeeding and skilled lactation care.

To this end, the ILCA Board of Directors is urging each voting member to carefully consider the merits of each bylaws change proposals and make your voice be heard. We also heard you call for a more robust discussion of the issues. We are grateful to everyone who has spoken up about these issues so far. Your comments have shown your deep commitment to your profession and your desire to be active, not passive, members of your professional organization.  To those who have surfaced questions and points of view, you have been heard. To those who have yet to express your opinions, the ILCA Board of Directors stands ready to hear you as well.

Editor’s note: your comments matter! Have questions about the proposed bylaws change? Please post them below. 

By ILCA President Liz Brooks, JD, IBCLC FILCA

During 1-15 June 2014, International Lactation Consultant Association^®  (ILCA^®) voting members will be asked to vote to change the organization’s bylaws.

The ILCA Board of Directors supports the proposed changes, and encourages members to vote YES on their on-line ballot (the link to which was sent to ILCA members, via email listserv).

Why do ILCA’s bylaws have to be changed?

ILCA’s bylaws were last amended in 2007.  They are an important part of ILCA’s structure and governance.  Along with the Vision, Mission, and Strategic Plan, they are the blueprint for defining the policy and strategic direction of our professional association.  The International Board Certified Lactation Consultant^® (IBCLC^®) faces new challenges in 2014 in the clinical, educational, professional development, advocacy and reimbursement arenas.  The professional association should adapt to meet evolving needs of its members.

Any change to the Bylaws requires a vote of the members.  The proposed revisions are explained step-by-step here, in ILCA Bylaws OUTLINED. Click here on the 2014 Bylaws Changes ACCEPTED to read a draft “clean” version of the bylaws with all changes incorporated. The major changes are outlined below.

What is an ILCA “representative board?”

The new bylaws create a board of directors that more fairly represents the interests of its diverse membership.  It allows ILCA to meet member needs around the world, without giving any one geographic region more decision-making weight.

ILCA is comprised of individual members: Each of us around the world joins as a single member; each of us enjoys the same benefits of ILCA membership.  ILCA also has an innovative affiliation model, whereby members who live in the regions where a Partner (Tier 1) Affiliate (Partner Affiliate) has been established are automatically given joint membership in both organizations. ILCA provides extra operations and services to the Partner Affiliates: Canadian Lactation Consultant Association (CLCA), Lactation Consultants of Australia and New Zealand (LCANZ), and the United States Lactation Consultant Association (USLCA).

Each Partner Affiliate maintains autonomy to develop policy and advocacy within their region. Over the past 18 months, an extensive collaborative effort by ILCA, CLCA, LCANZ and USLCA reviewed the ILCA-Partner Affiliate relationship, to find the best way to meet member needs with better-defined operational and financial relationships between organizations.

The reconfigured ILCA Board assures one ILCA Board seat (with full director rights and responsibilities) is designated to be filled by each Partner Affiliate.  Also, one seat elected by all voting members (also with full rights and responsibilities) is to be held by a person from any country that is not a Partner Affiliate.  The rest of the ILCA Board seats are elected by all voting members and may come from any country.

To offer an example: A future ILCA Board would be comprised of 3 directors from the 3 Partner Affiliates, 1 director elected from a country with no Partner Affiliate, and 4 more directors elected at large, from any county, for a total of 8 directors.  The changes will actually occur as current ILCA Board members rotate off the Board, and openings arise.

How does changing voting power change ILCA?

Leadership positions on the ILCA Board and Committees require IBCLC certification, but ILCA membership has always been open to anyone who supports our primary activities of education, professional development and advocacy for the IBCLC.  But the demographics of ILCA membership, and the pathways of entry into our profession, show there are significant race-  income- and geographic-based barriers.  ILCA’s Strategic Plan seeks to increase diversity by creating meaningful, accessible entry into the profession, and our professional association.   We can be the “professional home” for those who support our work, and hope to join our IBCLC ranks.

Members with the power to vote have a vested interest in the future of the organization and should have the right to vote. Thus, the suggested bylaws provide voting rights to all dues-paying ILCA members.

Why change the directors’ term limits?

New voices, new leadership, and different experiences maintain the vitality of a professional association.  Under the revised bylaws, terms for Board members are clearly defined to end after two terms (whether originally attained by appointment or election).  This increases opportunities for members to move up through the organization into leadership; this provides for fresh perspectives in setting new policies and strategic goals.

I have a question, and a few comments!

Excellent!  Please use the comments section in this blog to tell us what you think, or to seek more information before you vote (if you are a current ILCA voting member).

Thank you for your membership, and for helping to build a better ILCA!

[Editor’s note: All comments on the ILCA blog are moderated, which means that they will appear once “approved” by the editor of Lactation Matters. All comments will be approved unless they violate community guidelines. The comments are moderated twice a day Monday – Friday and occasionally on the weekend when the interest in the topic warrants it. If you have questions about your comment, please contact media@ilca.org. Thank you!]