New CGBI Employees

We would like to extend a warm welcome to 3 new employees who have begun working with CGBI: Jessica Bridgman, Michelle Hendricks, and Jacquana Smith.

Jessica Bridgman, MPH, RDN, LDN, is a new social/clinical research specialist with the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute. Most recently, Jessica served as a Nutrition Program Consultant for the NC Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) at the NC Division of Public Health.  There she coordinated the NC Breastfeeding-Friendly Child Care Designation and was on the CACFP Nutrition, Training, and Policy Team.

Prior to joining the NC CACFP, she worked at UNC-Chapel Hill, School of Nursing as a Research Project Manager. Jessica earned her BS in Psychology from NCSU, and Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.  She went on to complete her Dietetic Internship at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the University Hospital of Cornell and Columbia. Jessica lives in Raleigh, NC.

 

Michelle Hendricks, MBA, RD, LD, IBCLC, is a new social/clinical research specialist with the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute. She most recently served as the Lactation Coordinator/Resource Center Manager at McLeod Regional Medical Center where she functioned as the Project Lead for the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. Michelle is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. She previously served as the NICU/Pediatric Registered Dietitian at McLeod Regional Medical Center and has committed her career to promoting, protecting, and supporting breastfeeding.

Michelle has been involved in state and national collaboratives to improve the health outcomes of newborns and increase breastfeeding initiation and duration rates. She has been invited as a guest speaker to present her work and experience with implementing the Ten Steps, safe sleep practices, and lactation telehealth. After graduating with honors from Auburn University with a BS in Nutrition-Dietetics, Michelle completed a coordinated program in Dietetics and received her MBA with a concentration in Marketing from Dominican University. Michelle currently lives in Florence, SC.

 

Jacquana Smith, MPH, IBCLC, is a new social/clinical research specialist with the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute. Jacquana developed a passion for lactation while earning her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Cincinnati, during which time she became a breastfeeding peer counselor. She went on to become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and launched a private practice. Jacquana is passionate about lactation and the need for equity and dismantling systemic issues that prevent babies from accessing human-milk. She has a passion for fighting for inclusion and a dedication to infant feeding and birth justice.

Jacquana earned her Master’s in Public Health from the University of New England. She is a DONA trained Doula, a lactation consultant at UNC Medical Center and the Conference Coordinator of the International Lactation Consultant Association. Aside from her lactation work, she is a wife and mom to her 5 awesome kids and currently lives in Chapel Hill, NC.

WELCOME!! We look forward to a long and fruitful working relationship.

(Back to Newsletter)

RELATED PAGES
CONTACT INFORMATION
Phone: (919) 966-3774
Fax: (919) 966-0458
cgbi@unc.edu
CGBI on Facebook
CGBI on Twitter

Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute
Department of Maternal and Child Health
135 Dauer Drive
422 Rosenau Hall, CB #7445
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7445