GOLD Learning Speakers

Dr. Valérie Lavigne graduated from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College  in 1998. In July 2005, she became an IBCLC, the first chiropractor in Quebec with the title. She has her fellowship in pediatrics from the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association and has graduated in November 2014 with a Master of Science  in Pediatric Musculoskeletal Health from the Anglo-European Chiropractic College.    She is working in private practice in her chiropractic clinic in Kirkland, Quebec.

In 2014, Ghanaian-American mother and photographer, Vanessa Simmons authored the Normalize Breastfeeding™ movement to address the taboo of public breastfeeding in modern society. Her mission was to document diverse variations of normal infant feeding, across cultures and delivery methods of human milk.
Through Simmons' viral blog, her photographic speaking tour, philanthropy, and artistic inspiration; she mobilized and motivated thousands of women to share their breastfeeding photos on social media. After a very successful first year, she reached out to the Mayor of San Diego to proclaim June 27th the International Day to Normalize Breastfeeding, in support of the worldwide anniversary event!
Lactation educator and activist, Vanessa Simmons, is now speaking out at conferences and events across the country to eliminate general miseducation around the topic. On the Normalize Breastfeeding podcast, she interviews guests about experiences, advocacy, and activism within the infant feeding community worldwide.
As a public speaker, Simmons is focused on transforming the modern mindset around the natural, yet difficult task of breastfeeding. Vanessa trains lactation professionals to better understand and connect with millennial families online. She creatively motivates and inspires families to be mindful that this is a time to be cherished, and although fleeting, it is also a time to reinvent what will be acceptable for feeding generations of the future.
Simmons is an aspiring author and resides with her supportive husband and three children in San Diego, CA.

Veronique Darmangeat has a private practice as a certified Lactation Consultant in Paris, France. She proposes both home visits and office consultations. She also offers continuing education sessions for IBCLC Lactation Consultants, is part of a team offering initial lactation consultant training for candidates for the IBLCE exam, and does training in hospitals. She has in addition created “Lactissima”, a consulting service for businesses which proposes breastfeeding support programs for their employees returning from their maternity leave. She is the author of two books: L'Allaitement Malin and Allaiter et reprendre le travail.

Dr. Veronique Mead was a family physician and assistant professor with an obstetrical practice before leaving medicine because she felt she was causing harm. Retraining as a somatic therapist provided insights through a comprehensive understanding of trauma. She has been aggregating the large bodies of evidence revealing how adversity influences health for two decades.

Dr. Mead has developed Adverse Babyhood Experiences (ABEs) to identify risk factors for maternal and infant mortality and morbidity, chronic illness and other effects. ABEs focus on risk from preconception to a child’s 3rd birthday to emphasize how effects of trauma are influenced by epigenetic and other nonpsychological mechanisms. Her focus highlights how opportunities for prevention, healing and repair are greater than has been recognized. Dr. Mead is a speaker, educator, and writer who shares the science on her blog, Chronic Illness Trauma Studies.

Vicki Chan is the mother of four children, and one very happy grandmother. She has been a midwife since 1983, working in hospitals, birth centre, and 25 years in homebirth practice. Presently she is working in a private hospital facilitating normal birth and has private practice rights at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital. She leads (radical) preparation for birth for parents-to-be and, with midwife Lynne Staff, is co-presenter for the Better Birth Workshops for birth-workers. She loves to write poetry, make pottery, and has published her first children’s book.

Dr Vicki Culling is the Director and principal trainer for Vicki Culling Associates. Vicki is a bereaved parent and has been actively involved in Sands (an organisation that supports families when a baby or child dies) for over fifteen years. The stillbirth of her first daughter led her to utilise her skills, in supporting bereaved parents and families and educating health professionals with in-person workshops and online learning. Vicki was a founding member of the NZ national Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee (PMMRC) set up in 2005 and charged with collecting data on perinatal and maternal mortality and morbidity in NZ. Vicki is a current member of the NZ Ministry of Health’s Maternal Fetal Medicine Governance Board and vice-Chair of the National Perinatal Pathology Clinical Governance Committee. She also works as a lay reviewer for the Medical Council of NZ and the Dental Council of NZ. She lives in Wellington with her husband Kevan and daughter Phoebe.

Vicki Tapia, BS, IBCLC, RLC, is a lactation consultant with over 30 years experience working with breastfeeding mothers and babies on a daily basis, in both hospital and clinical settings. She has also had numerous articles published in peer-reviewed journals and spoken at breastfeeding conferences nationally and internationally. Serving as an LC on a medical mission had long been a goal of hers, so when an opportunity arose to join a medical brigade to the Dominican Republic in November of 2012, she didn’t hesitate to be part of the team.

Dr. Cunningham is a wife and mother of three. She is a small animal veterinarian who currently performs locum work in general medicine and emergency. She graduated from Virginia Tech in 2000 with a degree in Animal and Poultry Science and from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in 2005. She became interested in midwifery after the birth of her daughter. She has found many pearls of wisdom in the midwifery model of care that she has been able to translate to her practice of veterinary medicine.

Dr Virginia Thorley is a pioneer of the breastfeeding movement in Australia. She was the first breastfeeding counsellor in Queensland and in 1985 was in the first cohort in the world to certify IBCLC. In 2008 she was one of the first Fellows of the International Lactation Consultant Association (FILCA). She has two Research Higher Degrees in History (MA and PhD) and her current research interests include influences on mothers' infant-feeding decisions, wet-nursing, milk-sharing and milk banking. Dr Thorley is an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of HPRC at the University of Queensland. She is the author of several books and book chapters and most recently was co-editor, with Melissa Vickers, of The 10th Step & Beyond: Mother Support for Breastfeeding. She has presented at conferences on five continents.