USBC Membership Meeting Mission Moment with Dr. Kimarie Bugg: We are Stronger Together!

The U.S. Breastfeeding Committee hosted a Membership Meeting on Thursday, September 26. The biannual virtual event brings together the approximately 140 member organizations that comprise the USBC and work collaboratively to drive policy and practice changes that create a landscape of breastfeeding support.

At the opening of the meeting, Dr. Kimarie Bugg delivered the “Mission Moment,” a meeting-opening practice that serves to connect our work to the people we serve and the positive and impactful change we seek. Thank you Dr. Bugg for grounding us in what is happening in the world, giving us hope about what is possible, and guiding us in what we can do right now!

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Dr. Kimarie Bugg
CEO & Co-Founder, Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere

I am so grateful for this opportunity to spend this time with you to just reflect for a couple of minutes on what our mission is and why it is.

​I have had the amazing opportunity to be in some rooms and at some tables that I didn't even know existed. And we, as Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere, always want to make sure that when that is happening with us, that we bring others along with us, because this work is so important. There has been an explosion in the lactation support provider skill enhancements in recent years, in advocacy and policy research, and in the awareness of the importance of First Food in this capitalistic society. We have come an amazing long way! 

I was one of the first African American people on the Board of Directors for USBC. Back then it was not easy at all. It just makes my heart sing now as I am able to see what USBC has become and is continuing to become. And you know that's a wonderful word that we all use a lot now: “becoming.” I'm so glad to see the innovation and all the wonderful things that are continuing to happen.

Someone has already talked about “from the treetops to the grassroots.” That is just an amazing analogy that includes us all. This organization has bought us out of our silos and has taught us that we are stronger together. As our Indigenous sisters say all the time, we are stronger together- there's absolutely no doubt about that! I am thankful for the leadership and the work of Megan [Renner], the first executive director of the USBC, and Amelia [Psmythe-Seger], who served as Interim. Nikia [Sankofa] did some amazing things, and Jennifer [Day] will definitely take this to the next level. I'm so excited and anticipating the innovation that she is going to bring forth! I want to say how thankful I am, too, for the mentors that brought me along, including Dr. Audrey Naylor, who is what I called my “Mentor Mom”, Dr. Ruth Lawrence, who celebrated her 100th birthday in August, and also Dr. Michal Young, a wonderful neonatologist from Howard University. 

So, we have so many things to look forward to, but we are in a great space right now. We have got to continue to do that, to continue to level up and meet our goals. I want to say that the mission of the United States Breastfeeding Committee is too vital, is too critical, is too important, and is too life-giving for this to fail. And it's up to all of us. It's not just up to the folks that we've seen on the screens. It is not only as they say, bi-directional. It is not just about them [USBC] sending stuff out. It's about us also sending things in and across the nation, across our states, and making sure that we continue to network and share seamlessly. 

And with that said my last little statement is that it has been the biggest honor of my life to be in rooms with dignitaries. I had the opportunity to be in the room with Madam Vice President, and heard from way across the room, “Is that Mama Bugg over there?!” And I just smiled, ear to ear, and she's like, “Are they talking about you?” Thank you all for that honor. And again, I want to say we are family. We have to be if we want to continue to make sure that the people that we serve are represented well, and also get what it is that they need in research, in academia, in healthcare, and definitely in the community. 

Thank you all for being who you are.

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To review prior Mission Moments, please access them on our DEI webpage, and to learn more about joining the USBC membership network, please explore our website and complete the Membership Interest Form. Member organizations are listed in the Member Directory.