GOLD Learning Speakers

Lashea has been practicing in the area of obstetrical/perinatal nursing for nearly 26 years. Her clinical and educational experience and expertise span labor/delivery, antepartum and mother/baby areas. Lashea has worked as a board-certified clinical nurse specialist for women’s services at a large healthcare system, she was a nursing instructor and a previous perinatal outreach educator. These roles allowed her the ability to provide continual high-risk perinatal education to various hospitals and to reach audiences across her region. This has led to her current role and success as founder and owner of her own nursing mentoring and education consulting company Perinatal Potpourri. She is also a Designated Instructor Trainer in Fetal Monitoring and Obstetric Patient Safety through AWHONN. Lashea holds two certifications through NCC and currently provides in-services and seminars nationally for Inpatient OB and EFM reviews, respectively.

​In addition to being an active AWHONN member, Lashea was recently elected as the Vice Chair of the AWHONN Section Advisory Committee. She was appointed to this position because of her activism and success as the 2-term elected Georgia section chair. LaShea was appointed as the lead for Georgia in the AWHONN Postpartum Hemorrhage & Empowering Women projects. She was selected as the lead facilitator in the state of Georgia to assist with the rising rate of maternal deaths because she has successfully moved her region to become more active with lectures, networking, and current trends. Lashea’s expertise in this area is demonstrated in her most recent honor, AWHONN's highest honor the Distinguished Professional Service Award Winner of 2022 and The Award of Excellence in Education, respectively. It's also noteworthy to mention she has won the March of Dimes 2018 Georgia Nurse of the Year Award and the 2015 AWHONN Award of Excellence in Community Service. She is an energetic speaker, whose goal is to fully engage the audience in her presentations, leaving them excited and ready to learn more.

Laurel Wilson, IBCLC, CLE, CCCE, CLD is a TEDx and international speaker, author, pregnancy and lactation expert, and consultant. She served as the Executive Director of Lactation Programs for CAPPA, the Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association for 16 years and now is on the Senior Advisor Board. She served on the Board of Directors for the United States Breastfeeding Committee from 2016-2019. She also is on the Advisory Board for InJoy Health. She owns MotherJourney, focusing on training perinatal professionals on integrative and holistic information regarding pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding. She has her degree in Maternal Child Health: Lactation Consulting and is an internationally board certified lactation consultant. As the co-author of two books, The Attachment Pregnancy and The Greatest Pregnancy Ever, original Editor of the CAPPA Lactation Educator Manual, and contributing author to Round the Circle: Doulas Talk About Themselves, she loves to blend today’s recent scientific findings with the mind/body/spirit wisdom. Laurel has been joyfully married to her husband for nearly three decades and has two wonderful grown sons, whose difficult births led her on a path towards helping emerging families create positive experiences. She believes that the journey into parenthood is a life-changing rite of passage that should be deeply honored and celebrated.

I am a board-certified general pediatrician and board certified lactation consultant. I have practiced general pediatrics and newborn medicine for 12 years. I have practiced breastfeeding medicine for 4 years. I teach medical students and residents in my office practice and in the hospital setting for newborn nursery. I am the medical director for the newborn nursery at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ which has about 4000 deliveries per year. I am the chair person for our hospital-wide breastfeeding committee and utilize the American Academy of Pediatrics Residency Curriculum for breastfeeding. I founded and coordinate the Dr. MILK support program for physician mothers that are breastfeeding.

Laurie-Anne Muldoon has supported families both as an RN and as a Social Worker in a variety of hospital, public health and community mental health settings in the U.S. and Canada for the last 25 years. She has felt privileged to have companioned many women, families and groups through their experiences of loss, upheaval and life transitions. Her passion for perinatal mental health was reignited following her own birthing and breastfeeding experiences with her son 11 years ago. Laurie-Anne brings her compassion and respect for human dignity to her work with parents transitioning into the world of parenthood. She is founder of The Ottawa Integrative Mental Health Collective. A proud Franco-Ontarian, Laurie-Anne was born and raised in Ottawa Ontario. She currently works in private practice specializing in perinatal mental health, birth trauma and loss.

Leah De Shay studied Psychology and Speech Language Pathology in undergrad before embarking on a series of international research projects with that launched her journey to CLEC and IBCLC completion. Has worked both in patient and out patient, runs community support groups and is the current president of LACTWORLD and chief operating officer of LacBoMa. She is saving to do her bridge doctoral studies in physiology of lactation.

Dr. Leigh Ann Cates-McGlinn's academic qualifications include a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, Texas, Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) from The Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, an Associates in Applied Science (AAS) - Nursing and Respiratory Care each from Odessa College in Odessa, Texas. She maintains national certification as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP-BC) and registered respiratory therapist (RRT) and is recognized by North Carolina Board of Nurse Examiners as a Registered Nurse (RN) and Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN). Dr. Cates-McGlinn also holds a subspecialty certification in pediatric and neonatal respiratory care (NPS) and is certified as a healthcare simulation educator (CHSE). She has over 25 years of clinical experience; over 11 years are as neonatal nurse practitioner (NNP). Academically, she has taught over 11 years in NNP programs across the country. Dr. Cates-McGlinn specializes in research, presentations, workshops, and courses using hi-fidelity simulation and neonatal procedure labs. She is recently published and serves as reviewer for multiple healthcare journals. For more information please visit http://leighannmcglinn.myefolio.com

Dr. Lenora Marcellus is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Victoria. She has practiced as an RN for over 30 years in a range of maternal-infant settings and roles. Her current research interests include perinatal substance use, neonatal opioid withdrawal, and supporting infants in foster care. She is a member of the Canada Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Partnership Network Action Team on FASD Prevention from a Women’s Determinants of Health Perspective.

Leonie graduated as a Nurse in 1977, a Midwife in 1980 and a Post Grad Cert in Higher education in 2012. In 2018 Leonie founded ‘Caesarcare’ offering resources and a self published eBook titled ‘Woman-Centred Caesarean Care’ for women having surgical births. Leonie also has a special interest in helping women who experience neonatal loss and in 2005, she founded an health promotion charity Pastoral Health Care Network Australia,(PHNA) to assist families living with grief and loss. Her initiative to gift adult comfort shawls to parents after still birth has since been adopted by the Nations SIDS foundation. Currently Leonie serves Vice president of PHNA and as the Australian College of Midwives Liaison officer at Australian Catholic University. In 2010 Leonie was recognised for her service to Nursing and duly admitted as a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing Australia.
In March 2019 Leonie’s wound splint invention the SAC (surgical after care )splint designed to help women support their c-section wounds was shortlisted for the Australian College of Nursing innovation award during Australia’s National Healthcare Week .Leonie lives in Brisbane Australia and teaches online classes for women preparing for and recovering from C-section births.

Dr. Lesley A. Tarasoff is a Canadian Institutes of Health Research-funded Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Health and Society at the University of Toronto Scarborough. She is a leading scholar on the perinatal health of women with disabilities; Dr. Tarasoff is a co-author of the first known clinical practice guidelines on labour, delivery, and postpartum care for people with physical disabilities (see Berndl et al., 2021, JOGC) and of several systematic reviews and studies on the perinatal health outcomes and care experiences of women with disabilities in Canada. Primarily drawing on qualitative methodologies, her broader program of research aims to understand and address disparities and inequities in reproductive, perinatal, and mental health and health care experienced by often-stigmatized and marginalized groups, namely women with disabilities and sexual minority women. She holds a PhD in Public Health Sciences, with a Specialization in Women’s Health, from the University of Toronto. She is an advocate of midwifery care and even more so after the birth of her son in 2021.

Lesley Everest has been practising as a birth, postpartum, and end-of-life doula in Montreal over the last 26 years. She is the founder of MotherWit Doula Care and MotherWit Doula Training. Lesley's professional background in many forms of somatic/emotional support therapies and inter-spiritual ministry informs her work as a teacher of human resilience , as do the births and parenting of her own four kids, and her experience of healing from cancer. She has learned over the years that a good birth and early parenting experience is less about goals being met and more about feeling safe and respected. Lesley believes that the journey into family-hood matters for all members, serving as a transformational event that has the power to shape early parenting and the next generations. Lesley's diplomatic and collaborative nature has made her a sought after speaker in the North American birth and parenting conference circuits, as well as a facilitator of workshops geared towards soft skills building for medical care providers. Lesley is resourced by long walks in nature, late night dancing with friends to ‘80’s music, and visits to the spa.

Leslie Parker has a dual position at the College of Nursing and the College of Medicine at the University of Florida where she is a professor. She has been a neonatal nurse practitioner since 1990 and continues to practice as a neonatal nurse practitioner in the NICU at UF Health. She was the tract coordinator of the neonatal nurse practitioner program from 1992-2011. She has been involved in human milk research for nearly two decades and focuses on improving milk production in mothers of critically ill and premature infants. She is funded by the National Institutes of Health for her team’s work regarding neonatal nutrition including the risk of feeding tube contamination, risks and benefits of gastric residual evaluation and optimizing consumption of breast milk for preterm infants.

Leslie has been providing lactation support in Central New Jersey for over 18 years - as a La Leche League (LLL) leader since 2002, an IBCLC at Mercer County WIC from 2014 to 2016, and as a private practice IBCLC since 2011.

Leslie grew up in New York and New Jersey. She graduated from Cook College/Rutgers with a BS in Biochemistry, and from Rutgers University/UMDNJ with a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Leslie's difficulties with early breastfeeding, the help she received from LLL, and challenges with returning to work laid the foundation for her understanding of the importance of skilled and compassionate lactation and infant feeding support.

Lia Bello is a Family Nurse Practitioner, educated at the University of Virginia, and is Certified in Classical Homeopathy. Lia is the founder of the Homeopathic Nurses Association www.nursehomeopaths.org and past president of the Council for Homeopathic Certification. As America’s foremost homeopathic nurse educator, Lia loves to open up the world of Homeopathy to mothers, nurses and other healthcare practitioners and teaches courses around the U.S. which award CE’s for nurses. Her website, www.learnhomeopathy.org, features video courses and many informative articles. Residing in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Lia has had a private practice specializing in holistic and homeopathic acute and chronic healthcare for over 43 years.

Lina Mazzoni is a Lactation Consultant, IBCLC with a Bachelors Degree in Speech and Language Therapy. Since 2013 she has been working primarily with children and specialized in the treatment of sucking, swallowing and feeding disorders. In 2019 she became a Lactation Consultant to be able to work equivalent with the children and the mother. As a working mom she worked part time as a Lactation Consultant in a hospital in Hamburg, started her own privat practice in 2019 and since october 2021 she works exclusively in her private practice as a lactation consultant and SLT. She also works as an Instructor in lactation education and further education regarding feeding developement and disorders . Lina has two children and lives with them and her husband in Hamburg, Germany.

Linda J. Smith, MPH, FACCE, IBCLC, FILCA is a lactation consultant, childbirth educator, author, and internationally-known consultant on breastfeeding and birthing issues. Linda is ILCA’s liaison to the World Health Organization’s Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative and consultant to INFACT Canada/IBFAN North America. She holds a Master’s in Public Health, is an Adjunct Instructor in the Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University in Dayton OH, and is the author of 4 textbooks on birth and breastfeeding and the book Sweet Sleep for parents. She has lectured in at least 15 countries; her presentations have been translated into 10 languages including Inuktitut. She owns the Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre, on the Internet at www.BFLRC.com.

Linos Muvhu is The Secretary and Chief Talent Team Leader of Society for Pre and Post Natal Services’ (SPANS) Maternal, Paternal and child mental health programme in Zimbabwe. SPANS promotes good mental health across the life course starting in the perinatal period. It is a national evidence based family focused program. Linos trained as a family therapist with Connect (Zimbabwe Institute of Systemic family Therapy). He is Africa Ambassador for Fathers Mental Health Day and passionate about the rights of all people to enjoy good sound mental health, in particular the right for good family mental health and in 2016, he initiated the first ever International Conference on Maternal Mental Health in Africa (ICAMMHA.)

Professor Lisa Amir is a general practitioner and has been an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant since 1989. She is the author of over 120 peer-reviewed articles on breastfeeding. She works in breastfeeding medicine at The Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. She is a Principal Research Fellow at Judith Lumley Centre, La Trobe University and is the Editor-in-Chief of the open access journal, International Breastfeeding Journal.

Lisa Dion, LPC, RPT-S, is an international teacher, creator of Synergetic Play Therapy, founder and President of the Synergetic Play Therapy Institute, and host of the Lessons from the Playroom podcast. She is the author of Aggression in Play Therapy: A Neurobiological Approach for Integrating Intensity and is the 2015 recipient of the Association for Play Therapy’s Professional Education and Training Award of Excellence.

Lisa Huffstetler is the mother of six children with years of personal breastfeeding experience. She has been an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant since 2011. Lisa began working with breastfeeding families as a Peer Counselor in 2008 as part of the Gaston County, North Carolina WIC's implementation of their Peer Counselor Program. She is passionate about helping new moms become successful in reaching their breastfeeding goals. Lisa is currently working as the Gaston County WIC agency's Lactation Consultant. She enjoys teaching breastfeeding classes, conducting staff trainings and working to keep staff updated on breastfeeding policy.

As a new grandmother, one of her new found interests is helping grandparents support their children appropriately in their new role as parents, especially in effective support of breastfeeding.

Lisa Leppard has worked within a Neonatal Tertiary Unit for 30 years in Clinical, Management, Network and National roles. Her current role, which she has undertaken for 19 years, has been developing the post of Clinical/Family Support Lead Nurse within a tertiary Neonatal Unit, utilising clinical evidence, audit, data and parent/carer feedback. She is responsible for the completion of national databases i.e. MBRRACE & PMRT. Initially this role was part-time but she has developed it, making it into a full-time role and leading a team of 3. The team also includes a clinical psychologist and to gain funding for this role, she worked collaboratively on the business case as part of the Neonatal Parents Mental Health Framework. The team ensures that Family Centred Care remains integral to the unit's ethos & that the parents/carers are given a voice and are well supported. Until recently, she was also the Safeguarding Lead for the Neonatal Unit and completed Level 3 training in Safeguarding. She has extensive experience with audit, working with all levels of the multidisciplinary teams. She was the lead for the BLISS Accreditation of the UHS Neonatal Unit, which was the first unit to be awarded Family Friendly Accreditation within the UK. She was recently part of the BLISS working party to review and update the BLISS audit tool and has also been a Professional BLISS Baby Charter Assessor. She has been the Thames Valley and Wessex Neonatal Network Lead Nurse for Palliative Care for 6 years. To facilitate standardisation of palliative care across the Network, she co-wrote the Palliative Care Pathway adopted and adapted in 2014 by TV&W NNW. She recently facilitated the review and update of the Palliative Care Pathway within the Network. In 2017, she contributed to the review and re-launch of the Together For Short Lives Neonatal Palliative Care Pathway. She is a chapter co-author in the new Palliative Care Text Book for Neonatal Nurses. She co-wrote the chapter on the Nurse’s role in the decision making process. (Neonatal Palliative Care for Nurses. Springer, 2020)

As lead of the Family Support Team, Lisa has developed a link with the Fetal Medicine Team working with families where a life-limiting diagnosis has been made to both support and plan the care of the parents and their baby at delivery and beyond, as well as completing ACP’s and discussing symptom management with parents and medical colleagues. This process includes acting as an advocate for the baby and their families, and always listening to their individual needs. She was part of the team to adapt a Perinatal Palliative Care Pathway for the Wessex Region. She has also worked collaboratively with the Multidisciplinary Paediatric teams to develop pathways to ensure the transition of care of neonates to Paediatrics is seamless & the parents/carers are well supported in the process.

Lisa has been seconded to develop the role of Neonatal Palliative Care Specialist Nurse at Naomi House, a local children’s hospice, raising the profile of hospice care being accessible to neonatal families and staff. She has developed a referral pathway and has visited all the units in the Wessex region, establishing contacts & promoting this as a choice to be offered to parents. She has undertaken the UNICEF Breast Feeding Training course and supported the Breast Feeding Lead Nurse with working towards the Baby Friendly Initiative within her unit. She completed a Counselling Diploma in 2016 and qualified as a Civil Mediator in 2018. Both of these qualifications have enhanced her communication and listening skills when working with families and professionals at all levels. She has a proven track record of managing and defusing challenging situations. She has developed Parental Support Groups and initiated a Father’s Group on the Neonatal Unit.

Dr. Lisa Cleveland is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and a tenured Associate Professor at UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing. Her innovative research with mother-infant dyads impacted by opioid use has contributed to changes in clinical practice and improved outcomes. Her recovery residence, Casa Mia, is a collaborative partnership between the School of Nursing and the nonprofit, Crosspoint, Inc. Casa Mia provides safe and supportive housing for pregnant and parenting women with opioid use disorder where they can recover with their children.
In addition, the findings of Dr. Cleveland’s Maternal Opioid Morbidity Study are providing insight into the contextual factors surrounding maternal opioid use relapse and overdose deaths; the leading cause of maternal mortality in TX and a growing cause nationwide. Dr. Cleveland is now developing and psychometrically analyzing a brief screening instrument to help identify women at-risk for overdose death so they may be referred to life-saving resources. Further, Dr. Cleveland is leading the Texas Targeted Opioid Response to ensure access to Narcan: https://www.morenarcanplease.com/, and opioid overdose identification and reversal education. She is also leading a community paramedicine project to prevent overdose, increase the use of peer recovery services, and improve access to treatment.

Lisa Marasco has been working with breastfeeding mothers for 35 years and has been Internationally Board Certified since 1993. She holds a Master’s degree in Human Development with specialization in Lactation Consulting and was designated a Fellow of ILCA in 2009.

Lisa is co-author of Making More Milk: The Breastfeeding Guide to Increasing Your Milk Production, a contributing author to the Core Curriculum for Interdisciplinary Lactation Care, and a Cochrane Collaborative author. She is employed by WIC of Santa Barbara County while she continues to research, write and speak. In addition, Lisa is affiliated with La Leche League of So. Calif/Nevada, and serves on the Breastfeeding Coalition of Santa Barbara County.

Lisa Lahey RN, IBCLC, OMT has worked for 23 years in maternal child health as a nurse and lactation consultant in L/D, postpartum, newborn nursery, NICU, and perinatal education. Lisa is currently working on her master's degree for Family Nurse Practitioner. An IBCLC for 20 years, Lisa has a special interest and expertise in tethered oral tissues. Lisa’s private practice Advanced Breastfeeding Care provides home visits or office consults for complex feeding issues as well as joyful breastfeeding. Lisa also provides myofunctional therapy to babies, children, and adults in a functional orthodontic office. Lisa is a contributing author to the book Tongue Tied. Lisa enjoys teaching assessment fundamentals and oral exercises when she lectures at conferences and courses. Clinical photography and nature photos are also a favorite hobby. Most of all, she is a mom to five children (all were breastfed) who keep her busy and remind her daily of life’s joys and treasures traveling and hiking with her family to unplug from a busy pace in life.

Liz Brooks is a private practice International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and licensed lawyer, with expertise in criminal, administrative, non-profit, ethics, and lactation-related law. Liz offers in-home lactation consultations, and bedside care and teaching in two Baby-Friendly-designated hospitals.

She has been a leader in organizations for IBCLCs, breastfeeding promotion, and non-profit human milk banking. She authored the only textbook on legal and ethical issues for the IBCLC, and writes on health care ethics, equity, and conflict-of-interest in several books, blogs, and peer-reviewed journals.

She is a popular international conference speaker, offering practical tips with wit and wisdom for anyone who works with lactating and human milk-using families. Liz self-identifies as a cisgender hetero white woman with unearned privilege, and uses she/her/hers pronouns.

Experience lively and informative workshops presented by Liz Jones-Twomey, a Blomberg International Rhythmic Movement Instructor/Consultant, ENVoY Classroom Management trainer, and recently retired elementary school teacher from the WRDSB in Canada - with over 33 years of experience! Liz has devoted a great deal of time and effort to expanding her knowledge of “brain-based” movement over the course of her career.

Liz has been a featured speaker on 4 continents and is co-creator of the following multiple award-winning movement-to-music CDs: “Catch a Brain Wave Fitness Fun;” “Smart Fitness, Smart Foods;” “Baby Connections Song Time;” and “Wiggle Jiggle Fitness Fun.” Liz has been honoured with the prestigious International Teaching Through Movement Award for her work with Brain Gym® and ‘best practice’ teaching strategies. She was presented with the W.T. Townshend Award of Excellence for her innovative teaching style, and is also a recipient of the Speedo National Fitness Instructors Award.

Liz recently participated in an 8-week research study with Queen’s University, ON , Canada, examining self-regulation and reflex integration with her Rockin’ Reflex Video Program for children ages 4 to 6 years old. This study demonstrated at a highly significant statistical level , that the rhythmic movements practiced in the Rockin' Reflex videos helped to integrate students' primitive reflexes and improved Self-Regulation skills.

Liz’s enthusiastic presentation style provides for plenty of highly engaging, hands-on, practical experiences for participants, as well as ideas about reflex integration and songs and movements that can be implemented immediately.

Liz Stokes JD, MA, RN, is the Director of the American Nurses Association Center for Ethics and Human Rights. She completed her BSN at the University of Virginia and worked several years as a critical care nurse. Liz received her Juris Doctor from the University of Richmond and worked as a Consultant for the D.C. Board of Nursing interpreting and conferring professional ethics provisions in nursing. She recently completed her Masters in Bioethics from Loyola University Chicago. Her leadership is also demonstrated through various charitable roles in the health and legal communities. She is a member of The American Association of Nurse Attorneys and serves on the board of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Affinity Group for Nursing. Liz also serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry and is an active volunteer with the District of Columbia Bar Association. Liz is currently an American Academy of Nursing Jonas Health Policy Scholar.

I am an Independent midwife, freelance midwifery teacher. I completed a BsC in Midwifery and a Master Degree at King's College and City University of London. I have worked as a community midwife and a in a Birth center in London at University college and at st Thomas hospital .I am a certified acupuncturist specialized in obstetric acupuncture. I am teaching nationally and internationally workshop for midwives on the use of acupressure for labour preparation, induction of labour and for pain relief. I am using acupressure whiting my clinical practice, providing antenatal classes and facilitating home birth. I strongly advocate the use of acupressure internationally as it will allow midwives to expand their role, becoming more complete and independent practitioner. Acupressure being drug –free and therefore having not harmful teratogenic effect, provides a much safer and satisfying childbirth experience as well as facilitating a more natural and less medicalized childbirth.

I have been working in the neonatal area for about 40 years. I received my BSN from Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I began working in the NICU right after graduation at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, MI. I then moved to Detroit and worked at Henry Ford Hospital for 7 years as an RN, Perinatal Educator, Clinical Nurse Specialist, and NNP. I completed my MSN at Wayne State University. I was the first NNP in Michigan, and after leaving Henry Ford, I started working at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Ann Arbor. We moved to Arizona in 1985. I worked at St. Joseph’s Hospital & Medical Center in Phoenix and Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa (including time at other Banner facilities at Baywood, Mesa Lutheran, and Thunderbird). I completed my PhD at the University of Arizona in Tucson in 2005, and moved to Omaha, NE to begin teaching in the NNP program at Creighton University. I have continued to work most weekends in the NICUs at Methodist Women’s Hospital, Creighton University Medical Center, Lakeside Hospital, and Bergan Mercy Medical Center (CHI Health). I love both teaching and the clinical aspects of the NNP role. I love working with students and helping them “get” the connection between physiology and the disease. I also get a “kick” out of attending deliveries, bagging infants, and intubating them!! I love that adrenaline rush! I also enjoy biking, reading a good novel, and enjoy roller blading (until I broke my leg 4 years ago). I have been pretty cautious with my roller skating since then. I have two sons – one in college and one who recently graduated from college and is working in downtown San Francisco. My husband and I love to travel (when I get time off) and have done some kayaking on the beautiful Nebraska lakes.

Dr. Lori Brotto is a Professor in the UBC Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and a registered psychologist in Vancouver, Canada. She has recently become Executive Director of the Women's Health Research Institute of BC. Dr. Brotto holds a Canada Research Chair in Women's Sexual Health (2016-2021). She is the director of the UBC Sexual Health Laboratory where research primarily focuses on developing and testing psychological and mindfulness-based interventions for women with sexual desire and arousal difficulties and women with chronic genital pain. Other major lines of research include exploring psychosocial versus hormonal predictors of women's sexual response, asexuality, sex and cancer, and genital self-image. Dr Brotto is an Associate Editor for the Archives of Sexual Behavior, has over 100 peer-reviewed publications, is the Sexual Health expert writer for the Globe and Mail, and is frequently featured in the media on topics related to sexuality.

Lori J. Isenstadt, IBCLC, CCE, CBD, began her IBCLC career in 2 large hospitals and a local breastfeeding clinic. In 2007, she opened her practice, All About Breastfeeding, offering private consultations, and breastfeeding classes. Her expertise ranges from basic breastfeeding through the most complicated of breastfeeding challenges. In the last 30 years, Lori has taught breastfeeding classes to over 8000 parents where she focuses on what they should expect in the early days of breastfeeding. Lori is a member of Toastmasters International and enjoys speaking about mothering and breastfeeding. Lori is the host of All About Breastfeeding, a podcast where she interviews mothers, authors, researchers and physicians about topics related to breastfeeding. Lori believes that breastfeeding is a family affair. To help support her mission to educate families as well as corporations and business owners about breastfeeding, she has recently released the most comprehensive audio breastfeeding masterclass. She has produced over 300 shows many of which focus on breastfeeding educational topics. On a personal note, Lori resides in Phoenix, AZ is married to Alan for 38 years and is the mother of three adult children. Lori can be reached by email: [email protected] and website: www.aabreastfeeding.com

Lori L. Overland, M.S., CCC-SLP, C/NDT, CLC is a licensed speech and language pathologist with her neurodevelopmental certification and certificate as a lactation counselor. Lori is currently working on her IBCLC under the mentorship of Dr. Tina Smilie M.D., IBCLC, and Cathy Watson-Genna IBCLC. Lori’s private practice focuses on infants, toddlers and preschool children with oral sensory-motor/feeding disorders. Lori has co-authored two books: A sensory motor approach to feeding, and Functional assessment and treatment of tethered oral tissue. In addition to her private practice, Alphabet Soup, Lori is a member of the TalkTools® speakers’ bureau, and has lectured on sensory-motor/feeding disorders around the United States and internationally. Lori holds degrees from Hofstra University and Adelphi University.

Lourdes Santaballa is a community activist and organizer, with a background in domestic violence, affordable housing, and economic equity advocacy. A La Leche League leader from 2009-2017 and IBCLC since 2011, she was the founder of the lactation program at sePARE, providing coordinated services to low income families, leading it to receive the ILCA Care Award and received the Wilson-Clay Hoover Award for Research. Lourdes received the notorious Drs. Ruth Lawrence and Audrey Naylor Legacy Scholarship in 2016 by the United States Breastfeeding Committee, the Miriam H. Labbok Award for Excellence at the Breastfeeding and Feminism conference in 2018 and is currently completing her master’s degree in clinical nutrition. In October 2017, following Hurricanes Irma and Maria, Lourdes founded Alimentación Segura Infantil or ASI, an Infant and Young Child feeding program focused on increasing breastfeeding, leadership and training in marginalized communities in Puerto Rico.

Lucy is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) Holistic Sleep Coach (HSC), public speaker, and author on the topic of lactation. She is also a qualified counsellor, child and is qualified in child development and child psychology.

Lucy runs a small but thriving Private Practice based on the South Coast of the UK but sees clients internationally. As a single mother of two boys who were hard to breastfeed, and as someone with ADHD, Lucy truly understands the highs and lows of parenthood both for neurotypical families and those who may have additional challenges.

Lucy’s approach is strongly underpinned by the belief that parents are the only true expert on their child, and that parental instinct is rarely wrong. Lucy uses listening and counselling skills first and foremost in her work, and prides herself on striving to provide a safe and inclusive space for everyone.

Associate Professor Luke Grzeskowiak is a clinical pharmacist and Practitioner Fellow in the College of Medicine and Public Health at Flinders University and the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Australia. He is passionate about improving health outcomes for mothers and babies through the development and promotion of more effective and safer approaches towards medicines use. Luke has been undertaken research involving the use of domperidone for 10-years. He is currently the lead investigator on a number of projects examining the use of domperidone to increase breast milk supply in clinical practice, predictors of treatment response to domperidone, and causes of low breast milk supply. He is also the lead investigator on a large clinical trial comparing the effects of different doses of domperidone in the treatment of lactation insufficiency. He has published widely on the topic of treatment for low breast milk supply, with many of these publications cited in clinical practice guidelines locally and internationally.

Lyndsey is an experienced paediatric nurse, children’s public health nurse, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Holistic Sleep Coach, researcher and responsive parenting advocate. She has worked in hospitals, clinics, the community and within clients’ homes for 20 years, serving within the UK NHS, in private practice and voluntarily.
The co-founder and clinical director of the Holistic Sleep Coaching program, Lyndsey regularly teaches internationally, as well as providing mentorship for newer sleep coaches. She is passionate about responsive feeding, gentle parenting and promoting parental confidence and well-being.
With Professor Amy Brown, she is the co-founder of Thought Rebellion – an education and publishing company seeking to inspire, challenge and equip professionals and writers in the parenting, lactation and perinatal space with an evidence based revolution.
Lyndsey is currently a PhD researcher at Swansea University, exploring the needs and challenges of medically complex breastfed infants and children. In 2019 she set up the Breastfeeding the Brave project to raise awareness of the unique breastfeeding needs of chronically, critically, and terminally ill children in the paediatric setting. The mother of a childhood cancer survivor, she often talks about the impact of chronic serious illness on families, and seeks to support other families living through a serious childhood illness.
Lyndsey is a respected international speaker and teacher, and regularly speaks out against the dominant sleep training culture, as well as advocating for the rights of families to receive high-quality, compassionate and expert support. She is the author of Holistic Sleep Coaching (2018), Let’s talk about your new family’s sleep (2020), Still Awake (2021), Breastfeeding the Brave (2022) and co-author of The Writing Book (2022).

Dr. Gerner has been a Maternity and Pediatric Specialist in private practice for over 17 years with an additional focus on functional infant cranial work. She teaches other professionals to support breastfeeding across the USA and internationally. She is a wife, mother of 3 grown children, and lives in Northern CA with her husband and their 2 rescued dogs.