Breastfeeding Exclusive March 2017 – Staff Transitions at CGBI

Kathleen Anderson

It is with gratitude and well-wishes that we announce the retirement of Kathleen Anderson. CGBI is grateful for the years of service Kathleen gave to CGBI. As Director, Community Breastfeeding, Kathleen had the opportunity to work with many groups locally and nationally. One of the first projects was to replicate and scale-up the Breastfeeding Friendly Child Care (BFCC) project from one county in North Carolina to the entire State. Trainers from across the State – Child Care Health Consultants, Infant Toddler Specialists, NC Shape Hub Specialists, WIC Regional Breastfeeding Coordinators, and others – participated in the BFCC Training of Trainers. During training, participants received resources to conduct the training in Early Care and Education programs in their areas. In addition to providing the training in North Carolina, we were excited to be able to offer the training to BFCC program developers in other states.

As part of CGBI’s work to support Breastfeeding Friendly Child Care, Kathleen was privileged to bring together breastfeeding in childcare program developers and advocates from across the country to participate in a breastfeeding in child care collaborative that would become the National Collaborative for Advancing Breastfeeding in Child Care. The collaborative continues with quarterly webinars that provide a space for those working at the state or tribal or large metropolitan area to learn from each other.

The Breastfeeding University was created to offer free online modules for Healthcare providers and Early Care and Education providers. Two hours of pre-training modules for BFCC Training of Trainers participants currently are available. Soon-to-be-released modules will provide information and resources to facilitate breastfeeding friendly healthcare and childcare environments.

Kathleen also worked beyond child care, leading a project that brought together stakeholders in Wake County to focus on the breastfeeding support that families receive in the early days and weeks postpartum. The results of that study – Reaching Beyond the Hospital: Supporting Breastfeeding for Health and Nutrition Outcomes Among Vulnerable Populations in Wake County – may provide a foundation for future efforts to support consistent breastfeeding messaging and coordination of breastfeeding support services throughout the State.

We will miss Kathleen’s thoughtful contributions to our team, and the exquisite thoroughness with which she approached her work. We wish her a relaxing and joyous retirement with her grandkids!

Daina Huntley

We are excited to announce that Kathleen’s work will be carried on at CGBI by Daina Huntley, MPH, CHES. As the new Director of Community Breastfeeding at CGBI, her work will ensure continuity in the program and service work CGBI provides. Daina will also serve as project collaborator on the Kate B. Reynolds funded FEEDing Project: Optimal Responsive Feeding for Child Development, which is focused in Forsyth County, NC, and aims to help ensure all children reach developmentally-appropriate milestones in the first five years, and enter kindergarten ready to learn.

Daina developed a passion for public health and breastfeeding advocacy during her time at UNC Greensboro where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in public health education. She later completed UNC Charlotte’s graduate certificate program in community health and became a Certified Health Education Specialist with hopes of creating and managing health programs that support and normalize breastfeeding. Daina received her Master of Public Health degree from Liberty University with a nutrition concentration. Daina is an active member of the North Carolina Breastfeeding Coalition, the Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association, and Queen City Cocoa B.E.A.N.S., a Charlotte, NC based organization with a mission to improve African American health through increased breastfeeding support.

Daina is dedicated to creating opportunities for breastfeeding education, normalcy, and support in order to improve health outcomes across the country. She will be joining us at upcoming meetings and conferences this year – please join us in welcoming her to the CGBI family!