Each year the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) offers a limited number of awards to support the participation of cultural, tribal, and emerging breastfeeding leaders at the National Breastfeeding Conference and Convening (NBCC). These awards are one component of USBC ongoing efforts to recognize and promote the efforts of individuals who dedicate their service to communities with breastfeeding rates below the U.S. national average rates. 

​Congratulations to all of the awardees!

Legacy Awardee

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The  USBC Legacy Award was established in 2014 to honor the lifelong achievement of Drs. Audrey Naylor and Ruth Lawrence. This award is bestowed upon individuals to acknowledge their extraordinary commitment, dedication, and leadership in the field of breastfeeding. 

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Carol MacGowan

Carol McGowan is a deeply respected public health leader, former CDC Program Officer, and steadfast advocate whose life’s work has helped shape the national landscape of maternal and infant health, breastfeeding, and human milk feeding support. Across decades of service, Carol became far more than a federal partner to many in the field, she became a trusted thought partner, bridge-builder, and quiet force for justice whose leadership consistently reflected both courage and compassion.

Throughout her career, Carol carried a deep belief that public health must first and foremost honor humanity. She understood that families are not statistics, communities are not problems to solve, and equity cannot exist without listening to the voices of those most impacted by systemic harm. Her work consistently challenged institutions to move beyond performative intentions toward meaningful accountability, dignity, and care.

Carol has long been recognized for her unwavering commitment to advancing community-centered approaches that elevate Black, Indigenous, and other historically marginalized communities. She understood early what many systems are still learning: that the wisdom needed to create lasting change already exists within communities themselves. Whether through policy guidance, program development, strategic partnerships, or behind-the-scenes advocacy, Carol worked to help remove barriers that prevented families from accessing the support, respect, and resources they deserve.

Within the First Food Justice movement, Carol’s influence has been profound. She helped strengthen the connection between institutional public health systems and community-led lactation support efforts, encouraging practices rooted in cultural responsiveness, integrity, and relational care. She consistently advocated for language that honored human milk feeding, elevated community expertise, and centered the lived experiences of families too often excluded from decision-making spaces.

Those who have worked alongside Carol know her not only for her expertise, but for the posture she modeled. She listened deeply. She asked the hard questions with humility and intention: Who is missing? Who is being harmed? What would it look like to truly build systems where every baby, parent, and community has the opportunity to thrive? Her leadership reminded many across the field that solidarity is not symbolic, it requires action, courage, relationship, and a willingness to continually move resources, opportunity, and power closer to communities.

Carol’s legacy extends far beyond policy or programmatic accomplishments. It lives in the countless relationships she nurtured, the leaders she encouraged, the systems she helped shift, and the hope she carried for a more just and humane future. Her fingerprints remain on so much of the progress across the maternal and infant health landscape, and her influence continues to guide organizations, advocates, and community leaders committed to building a world rooted in equity, compassion, and collective care.​

Cultural Changemaker Awardee

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Celebrates leaders and members of cultural breastfeeding coalitions and community-based organizations who are actively protecting, promoting, and supporting breastfeeding and human milk feeding in priority populations.

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Asia Rubio

Black Parent Initiative
Oregon

​Asia Rubio is a community-based International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and public health professional based in the Portland, Oregon area. Inspired by her own infant feeding journey, her work is rooted in supporting families through culturally responsive, relationship-centered care. 

​She currently serves as Lead Lactation Consultant with Sacred Roots Doula & Mobile Lactation Program at Black Parent Initiative, where she provides direct clinical care, mentors emerging lactation professionals, and supports program development to expand community-based lactation services. Her work focuses on building sustainable, community-rooted pathways into the lactation field while addressing systemic barriers and honoring lived experience.

Through her leadership, partnerships, and commitment to equity in maternal-child health, she continues to strengthen support systems for families and contribute to a more inclusive and representative lactation workforce.

Native Knowledge Awardee

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Honors talented and dedicated individuals who identify as American Indian/Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Indigenous peoples of the United States, including Indigenous peoples from U.S. Territories. Native Knowledge Awardees use their Native knowledge, cultural teachings, and community-rooted leadership to advance the protection, promotion, and support of breastfeeding and human milk feeding in their communities. We recognize Indigenous communities in all states and territories and welcome applications that reflect the full breadth of Native knowledge and lived experience across all U.S. jurisdictions.

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Jasha Lyons Echo-Hawk

Indigenous Milk Medicine Collective
Oklahoma

Jasha Lyons Echo-Hawk is a self-described “Intertribal Love Song,” belonging to the Seminole, Pawnee, Iowa, Omaha, and Mvskoke Creek Nations. Identifying as Two-Spirit, Jasha’s work is deeply rooted in cultural sovereignty, and the revitalization of Indigenous birthkeeping practices as pathways to collective liberation and self-determination.  

As the Founder of Four Sisters Birth and Health Sovereignty, Founding Director of Indigenous Milk Medicine Collective, and creator of Indigenous Milk Medicine Week, Jasha leads efforts to honor and strengthen culturally grounded health systems, particularly in lactation and birth, ensuring the preservation of intergenerational care practices that have long endured within Native communities.  

​As an Indigenous Lactation Counselor and Birthworker with early midwifery training, currently pursuing a Master of Legal Studies in Indigenous Peoples Law through the University of Oklahoma College of Law, and the recent founder of Rezcycled, Jasha centers intergenerational knowledge, cultural expression, and narrative visibility across their work. ​

Jasha practices balance alongside their family through a “Run, Pray, Laugh” lifestyle. ​

Hamlin-Taylor Community Impact Awardee

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Honors Mona Lisa Hamlin and Emily Taylor and recognizes leaders who demonstrate meaningful community impact through their work to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding and human milk feeding for mothers and lactating parents. 

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Candi Smith

North Dakota State College of Science
North Dakota

Candi Smith is a Registered Nurse (RN), International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), and certified postpartum doula through DONA International. With more than 20 years of experience in maternal and child health, she is dedicated to improving health outcomes for families through clinical care, education, and community leadership. 

Candi holds a bachelor’s degree in food and nutrition from North Dakota State University, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of North Dakota, and a master’s degree in Maternal and Child Nutrition from the University of California, Davis. She currently serves as a faculty member at North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS), where she teaches nutrition courses. She wrote and developed the institution’s lactation education program and courses. Candi teaches the only human lactation courses in the North Dakota University system. Through this work, she is expanding access to comprehensive lactation education and support throughout the Midwest.

​As the Maternal Child Program Lead at the Indigenous Association in Fargo, North Dakota, Candi is an enrolled member of the Osage Nation and works closely with Indigenous families, providing culturally responsive lactation and postpartum support to help families achieve their feeding and wellness goals. Candi is the founder of Milk Run Bridge Bags, North Dakota’s first Pasteurized Donor Human Milk Bridge Bag program, which improves access to banked donor human milk for families outside of the hospital setting. Milk Run will celebrate its first anniversary in June and, to date, has supported 57 families through the gift of donor milk, helping bridge critical feeding gaps for infants in eastern North Dakota. In addition to her educational and community leadership roles, Candi continues her clinical practice as an RN Lactation Consultant at Sanford Health in Fargo, where she provides specialized care across the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Family Birth Center, and Children’s Clinic. She recently celebrated 30 years of service with Sanford Health.
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Outside of her professional work, Candi has been married to her husband, Brian, for 29 years. Together, they are the proud parents of five sons and grandparents to two grandchildren, with one more grandchild expected to arrive this June. She enjoys traveling, particularly to mountain destinations, where she loves spending time outdoors, especially snowboarding with her family.