ILCA 2026 Board of Directors Elections
Calling all ILCA Members for participation in the slate election process to determine ILCA Board of Directors.
Board Election Timeline
- The voting period for the 2025 ILCA Board of Directors slate will open on Monday, 06 October, 2025
- The voting period for the 2025 ILCA Board of Directors slate will remain open until Friday, 17 October, 2025 23:59:59 EDT.
- Elected candidates announced at AGM on Tuesday, 21 October, 2025.
Slate Election
The ILCA Nominations Task Force is pleased to present the slate for the 2025 Elections for the ILCA Board of Directors. These individuals bring a wide variety of experience and leadership that will help support ILCA’s mission and vision. Per ILCA Bylaws, the Board of Directors has approved these candidates for this election.
ILCA members in good standing are entitled to one vote on each matter submitted. For the 2025 Board of Directors slate, each member may use their one vote on this matter to select up to one (1) candidate for the Board of Directors and one (1) candidate for the Secretary.
If you have any questions related to the nominations and election process, please contact info@ilca.org.
2025 Board Slate
The ILCA Board of Directors asks that you consider the following candidate for the Secretary position:
Stephanie Hutchinson, MBA, BS, IBCLC
Stephanie Hutchinson (she/her) is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), specializing in providing inclusive lactation care in and around the tri-state area of Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky in the United States.
She has extensive experience working with lactating families in different settings from WIC to inpatient and outpatient hospital settings. Currently and most excitingly, she enjoys owning her own private practice, Rainbow Mountain Lactation, offering telehealth visits and home visits.
Stephanie is the founder and president of Appalachian Breastfeeding Network and is currently one of the administrators of their 24-hour lactation hotline. Amongst many great opportunities, Stephanie has been a previous board director to the United States Breastfeeding Committee, vice chair, treasurer, and regional representative to Ohio Breastfeeding Alliance, and web editor and Southeast Ohio representative for Ohio Lactation Consultant Association. Stephanie is also the Director of Communications and Instructor for Lactation Education Consultants
She currently continues to serve within many aspects of volunteer organizations, with her passion remaining focused on Appalachia and inclusive lactation care.
The ILCA Board of Directors asks that you consider the following candidate for the Board of Director position:
Altrena Mukuria Ashe, Dr.P.H. IBCLC
Altrena Mukuria Ashe, Dr.P.H. IBCLC, is a newly certified lactation consultant, currently working in Baltimore, Md. She has over 40 years of global experience in public health and breastfeeding promotion. Altrena earned her doctorate in public health from Johns Hopkins University, where her dissertation focused on exclusive breastfeeding and the role of social support networks in Kenya. Throughout her career, she has led and supported maternal and child health policy and programs across Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe. She has published on family engagement in infant feeding and nutrition, exclusive breastfeeding measurement, the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, and maternal nutrition in low- and middle-income countries.
Originally from Philadelphia, PA, Altrena spent 20 years living in Kenya, raising her family and working regionally in Africa. Since returning to the U.S., she has remained committed to supporting breastfeeding families locally and globally. She is an active member of the Maryland Breastfeeding Coalition and previously served with the WHO/UNICEF Global Breastfeeding Collective. She brings a lifelong commitment to equity and strategic collaboration to global and local breastfeeding advocacy.
2026 Board of Director Ratification:
The ILCA Board of Directors asks that you ratify the following Board member for a second term. This board member had been approved and invited by the current board of directors to renew for a second 3-year term (2025-2028) as per the bylaws (Section 6.4).
Zoe Faulkner, BA (Hons), IBCLC
Zoe Faulkner is an IBCLC lactation consultant and works in the community public health service within the specialist infant feeding team. She is as an educator, mentor and delivers the specialist service for families experiencing complex and persistent feeding challenges alongside implementing Baby Friendly standards. Prior to this she ran the breastfeeding peer support programme for 15 years, recruiting training and supervising a team of 30 volunteers working in both community and hospital settings. Zoe is a visiting lecturer at the University of Brighton. Zoe also has extensive governance and operational experience running an organisation and is immediate past Chair of Lactation Consultants of Great Britain.
2026 President-Elect Ratification:
The ILCA President is appointed by majority vote of the ILCA Board of Directors in accordance with the bylaws (Section 6.7). The ILCA Board of Directors asks that you ratify the following Board member for the President-Elect position, to serve as ILCA President for the term 2026-2028.
Janet Jones, IBCLC, RLC
Janet Jones is from a small town in the Texas panhandle and was the first in her family to attend college. The route to her vocation however, was found through motherhood and mentorship. She became a breastfeeding peer counselor and learned about the lactation profession. From that moment forward, supporting new families and increasing access to care became her passion. Janet has worked as an IBCLC in private practice, a Breastfeeding Training Specialist for the State Health Department, a hospital based IBCLC, and is currently the founder and director of a lactation practice in Texas that employs over 40 IBCLCs, RDs and parent educators. Her team has an established paid internship “Lactation Tech” program for aspiring IBCLCs with the objective of removing barriers and increasing diversity and equity in the field of lactation and skilled lactation care. Janet has volunteered for and worked on the legislative committee for her statewide breastfeeding coalition as well as held leadership roles including treasurer, vice president, and president for her regional breastfeeding coalition. She looks forward to contributing to the success of ILCA’s vision.
