Interim Executive Director

After being a part of the Minnesota Breastfeeding Coalition in some capacity since 2016 and two years on the board, it is my honor to serve as the Interim Executive Director. My priority is ensuring that MBC is sustainable not only financially, but by engaging its most valuable resource—its member coalitions and volunteers. In addition to this role, I am a postdoctoral researcher studying breastfeeding support and health equity at the University of Minnesota, and have been an IBCLC since 2015.

Support for breastfeeding and pumping parents and their children needs to be promoted and protected at the individual, family, community, government, and societal levels. I'm proud to be a part of an organization that brings together an incredible variety of people and groups working at all of these levels, and who come together to share resources, ideas, and a commitment to equity and inclusion within the lactation profession.

Chair

She/Her/Queen

Minneapolis, MN born and raised, I am a resilient and passionate AfroCaribbean woman and Mother of six, whom I love with every bone in my body. My calling is to support women, children, families and to help keep them connected and whole. I love working with diverse communities, youth, and organizations to strengthen physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being. During my first three years as a Doula and parenting educator I worked with incarcerated women which taught me the power of bringing extra love, light, and compassion into every space I serve. I have spent the past eleven years as a Certified Full Spectrum Doula, Certified Lactation Counselor, Mentor, Yoga Instructor, and Motivational Speaker. IBCLC Loading...

Past Chair

My name is Sarah Miller and I am excited to serve as your current Chair of the MBC! I have worked in different areas of nursing since 2010, but mostly in Women's Health/Labor and Delivery/Prenatal Education and Lactation services. I have my BSN and doula certification and am currently working as a Prenatal Educator and IBCLC for Essentia Health. I own Whispering Willow Photography, and also offer Doula/Lactation support for my Birth clients and am also a member of MN Birth Photographers. I also remain an active member of Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep offering bereavement photography for loss families. My husband and I have 5 children, all of which I breastfed for at least 1+ year and had a wide range of personal experience with breastfeeding/pumping. My husband and I also experienced a 15 week pregnancy loss in 2020, and I am currently working on my certification as a stillbirth doula. I have a great passion for caring for the mother/baby dyad, and love that so much of my work intertwines creativity and advocacy in supporting women through their lactation journey!

Secretary

My name is Hannah Jaster, and I have been a nurse now for 2 years. I have worked a year in labor and delivery and postpartum and now work as a family health, public health nurse. I have three kids of my own, and after having three very different breastfeeding experiences, I have a strong passion for assisting others in their breastfeeding journey. I have a strong belief that no matter how long, or how you end up breastfeeding your baby, you have worked very hard, and we can all be there to better support moms.

Treasurer

I live in central Minnesota and am a proud mom of three, a nurse, certified lactation specialist & indigenous doula currently on the path to becoming an IBCLC. I am Anishinaabe & deeply passionate about milk medicine, having breastfed all my babies for a total of 40+ months.

There is a big need for greater support, advocacy, and protection for breastfeeding in MN, which is why I am so excited to join MBC as an At-Large Director, driven by its mission. 

My goal is to advance breastfeeding advocacy and support in Minnesota, especially in underserved communities.

Next Gen Coordinator & At-Large Director

My name is Zabracca Baldwin and I am a current IBCLC, MBC Board member and also Next Gen coordinator for the MBC. I just completed my first 2-year term on the MBC board of directors, and I am looking forward to staying on as an At-Large member to continue pushing the MBC to higher heights. I have a strong passion for breastfeeding and assisting others on their breastfeeding journey. This passion was developed while breastfeeding my own children, during which I began to understand the health benefits and disparities among many people and cultures. This information drove me to commit to helping those in my community foster and create empowerment among the people and foster healthy babies, healthy families and in turn healthy communities which is in alignment with the MBC's mission. It would be an honor to serve another term and see some of the good things we started blossom and evolve along the way. 

At-Large Director

Stacie Hayes is a breastfeeding peer counselor and employment counselor working towards IBCLC certification. She supports families through WIC, provides personalized breastfeeding guidance, and help parents reach their goals, with warmth and care.

At-Large Director

My name is Nicole Lopez and I am excited and honored to join MBC as a chair elect. I am a mother of 2 wonderful children and wife to an amazing husband. My background is mostly hospital nursing, the last 5 years with a focus on maternal child/OB some NICU. I became interested in breastfeeding after my own breastfeeding journey and the support I received from an IBCLC. Breastfeeding is not easy and my hope is to help families bridge the gap from immediately post partum and beyond. I think it's important to recognize that their are cultural and racial disparities and to also bridge that gap. It's important to show up as representatives from the communities that we serve. I look forward to working with you and learning from each other.

At-Large Director

Jessica Vega is a WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor dedicated to providing empathetic, evidence-based lactation support, a commitment rooted in her own challenging breastfeeding experience in Shanghai, China. Her background includes a robust global perspective and technical skills, holding a Master of Science in Community Sustainability and gaining experience in grant writing during her Peace Corps service in Peru (2013–2015) and her subsequent time in Shanghai (2016–early 2025). Since returning to the U.S., she has actively engaged with the local lactation community as a member of the Northland Lactation Network (NLN) and the Minnesota Breastfeeding Coalition (MBC), while working toward becoming an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). She currently lives in Two Harbors, MN, with her husband and two children.