Tiana Pyles

​Chair

 Chair Term: 9/2021 - 9/2023
Chair Elect Term: 9/2020 - 9/2021

Tina Sherman

Chair Elect

Chair Elect Term: 7/2023 - 9/2026
Director Term: 10/2019 - 7/2023

Lindsay B. Groff

Secretary

Secretary Term: 9/2020 - 9/2024

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Scott Hartman

Treasurer

 Treasurer Term: 9/2021 - 9/2023
Director Term: 9/2018 - 9/2021

Amber Granite

Elected Director

Director Term: 10/2022 - 9/2024

Pauline Sakamoto

Appointed Director

Appointed Director Term: 7/2023 - 9/2023
Director Term: 2013 - 2017

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Sekeita Lewis-Johnson

Elected Director

Director Term: 9/2020 - 9/2024

Stephanne R. Rupnicki

Elected Director

Director Term: 10/2022 - 9/2024

Tiana Pyles, MHA, CLC

Chair

I consider the United States Breastfeeding Committee family since I first attended as a presenter for BSTARS; a Cultural Coalition listed with the USBC in 2016. In 2018, I was a recipient of the "Emerging Leader" award at the Eighth National Breastfeeding Coalitions Convening. As the Executive Director for the Orange Mound Development Corporation, the Tennessee Breastfeeding Coalition and a co-founder of BSTARS (Breastfeeding Sisters That Are Receiving Support), I understand that to truly help and empower families to be prosperous in their communities, it takes a “circle of support.” This “circle of support” must include family, adequate education and health care, affordable, quality housing options, peer support and good neighbors. I work hard on forging networking partnerships at local, state and national levels in order to better serve the community, city and state I am vested in and love.

I’m a proud mother of four and come from an unbroken family lineage of breastfeeding mothers. I actively work on bridging the disparities in community development, health care, and breastfeeding in Memphis, Tennessee, and beyond, by helping to create opportunities to support the much needed work. I continue to be entrenched in this work to honor my ancestral heritage and in efforts to leave a good example for my legacy to live by and to be proud of.

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Tina Sherman

Chair Elect

I am committed to ensuring that we as a society are meeting families where they are and that the lactating and breastfeeding communities continue to advocate and support public policies and practices that center them. I have dedicated my professional life to supporting and empowering birthing and lactating moms and families. Whether serving as a legislative aide in the United States Senate, working at child and women's advocacy organizations, or while supporting birthing families as a certified birth doula; centering moms and dads and supporting them in making the best choices for their families has always been  my priority. The USBC is committed to equity in the first food field and ensuring that the needs of lactating, breastfeeding, and formula formula-feeding families are a part of the national conversation. I drive an electric pink Jeep Wrangler.  I call it my Pink Unicorn.

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Lindsay B. Groff, MBA

Secretary

As a former exclusive pumping mom and milk donor, I serve on the USBC Board of Directors to ensure that donor milk continues to be included in the overall conversation around infant nutrition. I've served as Executive Director for the Human Milk Banking Association of North America for the past five years. I also serve as a volunteer on the USBC Governance Committee. I volunteer as a parent advocate at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Donating to the USBC is an investment in the much-needed infrastructure for infant nutrition security. The USBC staff is a good steward of resources. I live just outside of Philadelphia where I co-parent my amazing daughter with our modern family. I love reading, cooking, the beach, authentic relationships, and a good belly laugh.

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Scott Hartman, MD

Treasurer

I strongly believe in the mission, vision, and values of USBC, and want to do everything I can to support the work of this great collaboration. I have been involved for many years in clinical research and health advocacy work in the areas of infant nutrition and pregnancy and postpartum health issues through the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine and the American Academy of Family Physicians. The USBC offers a unique model of coalition building using the Collective Impact model. ​The USBC has done an excellent job of centering equity in its work, and it lifts up the most marginalized populations and helps elevate their voices. It also helps raise up a pipeline of new leaders in the first foods field. 

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Amber Granite, ​IBC, GPCE

Elected Director

My purpose in serving on the board is to share the perspectives of lactation through a Native Hawaiian lense and to learn from others and work together towards a thriving lāhui (nation) that accepts and honors breast/chest feeding as our first food and medicine. Currently, my work includes co-coordinating the Hawaii Indigenous Breastfeeding Collaborative to support indigenous practitioners and I also serve as the Board President of Breastfeeding Hawaii, our Hawaii state coalition. I also work in the WIC setting as a Nutrition counselor supporting families in informed decision-making for themselves and for their ohanaʻs (familyʻs) physical, mental, emotional, lifestyle and environmental health. 

The USBC is the kumu, the source, of understanding the vast landscape of lactation, particularly at the national policy level. In order to make or be a part of change, we need organizations like the USBC that build power for families by bringing many voices to the table to huli ka lima i lalo, turn the hands down to get the work done. Fun fact about me: my undergraduate degree is in Apparel Design. As part of my final project, I designed a rainbow-swirled evening gown for one of my favorite drag queens in Hawaiʻi.

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Pauline Sakamoto, MSN, RN, PHN

Appointed Director

I am honored to join the USBC Board of Directors once again. I currently serve on the USBC Conference Planning Committee and Nominations Committee and was part of the USBC Board of Directors from 2014-2018. I am also co-director of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Lactation Collaborative of California to address Asian reproductive justice and lactation needs. I have over 40 years of experience in the Public Health sphere. My experience includes local refugee clinic support, county health department maternal health/family planning services, statewide public policy development for the Medi-Cal program, consultant for the California SIDS program, and over 26 years directing a non-profit human milk bank in San Jose. As a volunteer milk donor, a staff member trained in scientifically based milk processing, RN screener, and Board member, I have varied experiences in milk banking, including working with federal and state agencies and working directly with mothers. I am the Past President of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America, and formerly served as a member of the Technical Advisory Committee for PATH, which works to establish international standards for milk banking. As a consultant to Dr. Mizuno in Tokyo, I supported the development of the first milk bank in Japan. In 2018, an internationally known medical bioethicist, Dr. September Williams, wrote The Elephant in the Room: Bioethical Concerns in Human Milk Banking based on my experiences on human milk issues in the United States.  ​

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Sekeita Lewis-Johnson, DNP, FNP-BC, IBCLC

Elected Director

The USBC has a rich history of strong action-oriented advocacy in the First Food field. I serve on the USBC Board to influence and advocate for policies that are just and equitable. I am a Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner, International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and Birth Doula, as well as a Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree and Nursing Education Certificate. For over 20 years, my primary focus has been labor and delivery and maternal-child nursing. I am one of the Co-Founders of Southeast Michigan IBCLCs of Color and Mama's Mobile Milk. I am the Accredited Provider Program Director for Lactation Education Resources. A fun fact about me is that I love to roller skate, especially backward!

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Stephanne R. Rupnicki, ​CLC

Elected Director

I serve on the USBC Board of Directors to be a continued voice and advocate for Indigenous people on Turtle Island. I also serve on the KBC (Kansas Breastfeeding Coalition) board of directors (current past chair) and am a Co-Founder and Leader of PBPNBC (Priaire Band Potawatomi Nation Breastfeeding Coalition) and a Breastfeeding Peer Counselor for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. I love to collaborate with other Lactivists.  I love connections, meeting with people and sharing space. I'm an empath, extremely sensitive and feel very passionate and deeply about everything I'm involved with. ​
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The USBC helps advocate for those voices not seen and heard and USBC’s passions helps drive for change and to improve policies for families. I graduated from an all Native American school, I've lived most of my life in or around my tribe or surrounding tribes in Kansas. I’m a daughter to passed parents, I'm a sister, an auntie, a friend and a mom to six beautiful children.