Coalition
Baby booties

Credits, Coalition, Citation, & Copyright

NAPPSS partner logoCredits and Coalition. The modules were developed by the National for Education in Maternal and Child Health (NCEMCH) while it operated the National Action Partnership to Promote Safe Sleep (NAPPSS, 2014-2017). The author wishes to acknowledge the extensive input from the NAPPSS coalition (below) of over 70 national organizations who represent the service systems, providers, programs, and community support networks that touch mothers, fathers, and other infant caregivers. Members included associations of family and center-based childcare, healthcare professionals, home visiting, military families, hospitals, community health centers, birth centers, and public housing. NAPPSS also includes racial/ethnic specific organizations that can inform approaches used to address cultural issues related to safe sleep and breastfeeding. In addition, organizations representing media and businesses that provide goods and services to infant caregivers are included.

Suggested Citation: Bronheim, S. (2017). Building on campaigns with conversations: An individualized approach to helping families embrace safe sleep and breastfeeding.Washington, DC: National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health.

Copyright. This content is copyrighted and protected by Georgetown University's copyright policies. Further information related to NCEMCH materials can be found on the NCEMCH copyright page.

Coalition Members

Alaska Native Medical Center
     Matthew Hirschfeld

American Academy of Family Physicians
     Sarah Coles

American Association of Birth Centers
     Melinda Hoskins

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)   
     Council on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention
     Bonnie Kozial
     Division of Hospital and Surgical Services
     Jim Couto
     Department of Child Health & Wellness
     Fan Tait

American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM)and
Coalition for Quality Maternity Care

     Eileen Ehudin Beard

American SIDS Institute
     Betty McEntire

Association of Clinicians for the Underserved
     Craig Kennedy

Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP)
     Jeanette Kowalik

Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)
     Sanaa Akbarali

Association of Women's Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN)
     Sharon Hitchcock

Baby & Me – Tobacco Free
     Laurie Adams

Baby-Friendly USA
     Trish MacEnroe

Beloved Community Church
     Deborah Hoy Jones

Black Women's Health Imperative
     Valerie Rochester

Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute
     Kristin P. Tully

Centering Healthcare Institute
     Angie Truesdale
     Marena Burnett
     Nicole Lewis

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Maternal and Infant Health Branch, Division of Reproductive Health

     Lena Camperlengo
     Carrie Shapiro-Mendoza

Charlie's Kids Foundation
     Kate Desmond

Child Care Aware® of America
     Victoria Viellieu

Children's Safety Network Resource Center
     Jennifer Allison

CityMatCH
     Denise Pecha

CJ First Candle
     Wendy Jacobs
     Laura Reno

Cribs for Kids
     Judy Rainey

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
National Institutes of Health

     Lorena Kaplan

Family Voices
     Lynda Honberg

HealthConnect One
     Brenda Reyes

Healthy Children Project
     Karin Cadwell

Healthy Start EPIC Center
     Susan Friedrich

ideas42
     Jess Leifer

International Childbirth Education Association
     Donna Walls

Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA)
     Kelly Mariotti

La Leche League USA
     Kathleen Anderson

Lamaze International
     Robin Elise Weiss

March of Dimes Foundation
     Tracey Reed

Medstar Georgetown University Hospital
Department of Pediatrics
 
     Elizabeth Chawla

Michigan Health & Hospital Association (MHA) Keystone Center
     Brittany Bogan

National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, Inc.
     James Winston

National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC)
     Jason Patnosh

National Association of County and City Health Official (NACCHO)
     Nikia Sankofa
     Calondra Tibbs

National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP)
     Amy Terreros

National Baptist Convention USA, Inc.
     Doris Lassiter

National Birth Equity Collaborative
     Joia Crear Perry

National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention
     Linda Potter

National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness
     Xochitl Salvador

National Child Care Association 
     Linda Kostantenaco

National Council of Urban Indian Health
     Ryan Young

National Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Program  
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
     Jodi Shaefer

National Healthy Start Association
     Deborah Frazier

National Institute for Children's Health Quality
     Pat Heinrich

National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) Foundation
     Kathryn Santoro

National Military Family Association
     Besa Pinchotti

National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education
     Jean Cimino
     Linda Satkowiak

National WIC Association
     Darlena Birch and Julie Lothamer

Native Health News Alliance
     Teresa Trumbly Lamsam

Parents as Teachers
     Donna O'Brien

Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere, Inc (ROSE)
     Kimarie Bugg

Safe Kids Worldwide
     Tareka Wheeler

Safe States Alliance
     Amber Williams

SIDS Center of New Jersey
     Barbara Ostfeld

Text4Baby
     Luisa Soaterna-Castaneda

UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital
     Bonnie Lovette

University of Virginia Department of Family Medicine
     Fern R. Hauck

Urban Indian Health Institute (UIHI)
     Adrian Dominguez

U.S. Breastfeeding Committee
    Joan Meek
      Lynette Anigbo

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
     Nikki Fleming
     Julie Ross

U.S. Lactation Consultant Association
     Debi Ferrarello

U.S. Maternal and Child Health Bureau
     
Block Grant Program
     Ellen Volpe
     Division of Healthy Start and Perinatal Services
     Vanessa Lee and Sharon Adamo
     Division of Home Visiting & Early Childhood Systems
     Barbara Hamilton

Wendy's Bloggers
     Wendy Hirschhorn

Yale School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics
     Eve Colson

York Hospital
Cribs for Kids
     Michael Goodstein

ZERO TO THREE
     Laura Annunziata


Jennifer Allison, Ph.D.
Director
[email protected]
617-618-2918
Children's Safety Network, Education Development Center

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The Children's Safety Network (CSN) works with state and territorial Maternal and Child Health programs and Injury and Violence prevention programs, as well as health and safety services and systems, to infuse knowledge, enhance expertise, and provide leadership to reduce injury-related deaths, hospitalizations, and Emergency Department visits among infants, children, and youth. CSN's goal is to equip states to strengthen their capacity, utilize data, and implement effective strategies to create injury and violence free environments. CSN provides training and technical assistance on injury prevention planning, programs, data, and evidence-based practices and partners with national organizations and Federal agencies to promote child and adolescent health and safety. CSN is implementing the Child Safety Collaborative Innovation and Improvement Network (CS CoIIN) and facilitating a National Coordinated Child Safety Initiative to reduce fatal and serious injuries among infants, children, and adolescents by 100,000 over three years.

Your Contributions to the Field: As Director of the Children's Safety Network and Outreach Director of the Injury Control Research Center for Suicide Prevention at Education Development Center (EDC), Jennifer Allison plays a senior role in program planning and implementation. She oversees the multi-state Child Safety Collaborative Innovation and Improvement Network (CS CoIIN); facilitates the National Coordinated Child Safety Initiative; designs and facilitates webinars and other online learning opportunities; and coordinates the provision of training and technical assistance to state health departments. She also writes, edits, and manages the production and dissemination of publications on injury and violence prevention topics, including the development of fact sheets on child passenger safety, youth suicide prevention, teen driving safety, teen dating violence prevention, and sport-related concussions.

Prior to joining EDC in 2008, Dr. Allison was the Assistant Director of the Center for Community Health and Health Equity at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston where she supervised an array of community health programs. Previously, she did government and foundation fundraising at AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, served as the Director of Funds Development and the Interim Executive Director of Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership, and was the Director of Grants and Program Development at Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston.

Dr. Allison earned a Ph.D. in Politics from Brandeis University and a B.A. in Women's Studies from the College of Wooster.

 


Laura A. Annunziata, MSN
Senior Training Specialist   
[email protected]
202-638-1144     
Early Head Start National Resource Center @ ZERO TO THREE

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: ZERO TO THREE is a national, nonprofit organization that provides parents, professionals and policymakers the knowledge and know-how to nurture early development.  Our mission is to ensure that all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life.

Your Contributions to the Field: Laura Annunziata works with the Early Head Start National Resource Center as a Senior Writer/Senior Training Specialist. In addition to her clinical preparation as a Family Nurse Practitioner, she has over twenty years of administrative, supervisory, training and program experience in Head Start, Migrant Head Start, child care and clinical health environments and was selected as a National Migrant Health Fellow. She holds a BA in Political Science from Davidson College, a BSN and MSN from the University of Virginia, and is bilingual in English and Spanish.


Eileen Ehudin Beard, CNM, FNP, MS
Senior Practice Advisor
[email protected]
443-506-0555
American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) and Coalition for Quality Maternity Care

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: ACNM is the professional association that represents certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) and certified midwives (CMs) in the United States. Our members are primary care providers for women throughout the lifespan, with a special emphasis on pregnancy, childbirth, and gynecologic and reproductive health. ACNM reviews research, administers and promotes continuing education programs, and works with organizations, state and federal agencies, and members of Congress to advance the well-being of women and infants through the practice of midwifery. In 2014, ACNM participated in the Safe to Sleep Breastfeeding Meeting at NIH.

Your Contributions to the Field: Eileen Ehudin Beard fulfilled her dream to become a certified nurse-midwife in 1977 after graduating from SUNY Downstate. She has practiced full scope midwifery for most of her career. In 1981, Ms. Beard opened the first birth center in Maryland, the Baltimore Birth Center. She is also the co-founder of Special Beginnings Birth and Women's Center which opened in 1997. Ms. Beard has served as adjunct faculty and preceptor for nursing, midwifery, and nurse practitioner students from across the country. From 1993 to 2003, Ms. Beard was a Governor-Appointee Committee Member for the State Commission on Infant Mortality. She has had a special interest in working with patients who are physically and mentally challenged. Since 2009, Ms. Beard has worked for the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) in the department of Professional Practice and Health Policy as the Senior Practice Advisor. In her current position, she provides technical support to ACNM members regarding clinical and practice issues. Ms. Beard is a major contributor to Evidence-Based Practice: Pearls of Midwifery. The PowerPoint presentation features nearly 100 fully referenced slides to assist ACNM members in explaining the science and art of the midwifery model of maternity care to their professional colleagues.


Brittany Bogan, MHSA, CPPS  
Senior Director 
[email protected]
517-323-3443 
Michigan Health & Hospital Association (MHA) Keystone Center

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: Since 2003, the MHA Keystone Center has supported and guided Michigan hospitals in identifying best practices and pioneering patient safety interventions that have reduced infections and medical errors. These interventions are saving thousands of lives and reducing healthcare costs by hundreds of millions of dollars, fundamentally changing the way healthcare is being delivered for the better. Michigan hospitals are not only voluntarily using evidence-based best practices; they are pursuing ongoing collaboration among experts, advancing patient- and family- centered care principles across the state, maintaining improved cultures of communication among clinicians and applying highly reliable approaches to patient care.

Your Contributions to the Field: As the Senior Director of the MHA Keystone Center, Brittany Bogan is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of the Center's state and national collaborative activities to improve patient safety and quality in Michigan hospitals. From 2011 to 2014, she led the MHA Keystone Hospital Engagement Network efforts, part of the CMS Partnership for Patients initiative, and oversaw the development of the MHA Keystone Center's Patient & Family Engagement Advisory Council.


Kimarie Bugg, MSN, MPH, FNP, CLC, IBCLC
President & CEO
[email protected]
404-719-4297
Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere, Inc (ROSE)

Your Organization’s Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere (ROSE) is a member network that was founded to address breastfeeding disparities among people of color nationwide through culturally competent training, education, advocacy, and support. With a focus on increasing breastfeeding initiation and duration rates, ROSE seeks to normalize breastfeeding by serving as a catalyst that provides resources and networking opportunities for individuals and communities. ROSE trainings include safe sleep practices.

Your Contributions to the Field: Kim is Chief Empowerment Officer (CEO) and Change Leader at ROSE. Kim has worked in a pediatric emergency clinic and special care nursery. She has been a bedside breastfeeding counselor in a large metropolitan hospital and managed perinatal and breastfeeding programs at the state level. Kim has served as a technical advisor to Best Start, as well as for the U.S. Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative. Kim was a founding member and officer of the Georgia breastfeeding task force (coalition) and the Southeastern Lactation Consultant Association. Kim promotes and provides training on safe sleep practices.


Karin Cadwell PhD, RN, FAAN, IBCLC, ANLC
Faculty
[email protected]
508-888-8044
Healthy Children Project, Inc.

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: Healthy Children Project, Inc. collaborates with other non-profits and government agencies to create meaningful change in the field of maternal and child health care. Healthy Children educates more than four thousand novice and expert lactation care providers annually, designs and implements collaborative inquiry to solve practical dilemmas that incorporate evidence-based protocols and solutions, and develops and implements community specific strategies to promote, protect and support breastfeeding.

Your Contributions to the Field: Karin Cadwell is a member of the faculty of Healthy Children Project, Inc. and convened Baby-Friendly USA, the organization that is implementing the WHO/UNICEF Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative in the United States. She is a member of the American Academy of Nursing’s expert panel on breastfeeding, the USA’s expert panel for the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative and a delegate to the United States Breastfeeding Committee. She is the author of numerous books and research studies in the field of maternal child health


Lena T. Camperlengo, RN, MPH, DrPH
Health Scientist
[email protected]
770-488-6263
Maternal and Infant Health Branch, Division of Reproductive Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: CDC's Division of Reproductive Health has lead several SIDS and other Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) activities including developing and disseminating guidelines and training for the investigation of SUID, analyzing and communicating SUID surveillance data, and supporting multistate surveillance systems with the SUID Case Registry.

Your Contributions to the Field: Lena Camperlengo is a Health Scientist at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Reproductive Health. In the Maternal Infant health Branch, Lena serves as the program coordinator for the Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) Initiative, which includes managing the nice-state SUID Surveillance system. Previous to her role at CDC, Lena has more than 20 years experience in maternal-child health and has served in diverse settings including county health departments, Florida's state health office and non-profit organizations.


Elizabeth M. Chawla, MD, FAAP 
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
[email protected]
202-243-3400
Medstar Georgetown University Hospital, Department of Pediatrics 

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: Georgetown Pediatrics provides children and adolescents with the highest quality medical care in a patient first environment. Our pediatricians, nurses, and support staff are devoted to promoting life-long wellness. We provide comprehensive care and services to children from birth to adolescence through health exams, immunizations and counseling, which includes counseling to parents and care-givers on ways to promote safe sleep. 

Your Contributions to the Field: Elizabeth Chawla is a pediatrician and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Georgetown University Hospital, where she specializes in primary care and pediatric preventive medicine. She is also the Associate Program Director of the Pediatrics Residency Program, where she not only teaches resident physicians who are becoming pediatricians but also plays a role in developing the curriculum for their residency training. She also co-directs the pediatric resident Global Health Track, encouraging resident physicians to tackle preventive health issues for the benefit of children around the world.


Jean M. Cimino, MPH
Public Health Consultant       
[email protected]   
800-598-5437
National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education (NRC)

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The NRC's primary resource is Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards; Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs, 3rd Edition (CFOC3). CFOC3 is a collection of 686 national standards that represent the best evidence, expertise, and experience in the country on quality health and safety practices and policies that should be followed in today's early care and education settings. Thirty-seven of these CFOC3 standards are related to safe sleep and reducing the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)/suffocation in child care and early education settings.           

Your Contributions to the Field: Jean M. Cimino has worked as a public health consultant with a focus on early childhood health and safety since 2003. She is currently based at the College of Nursing, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus working for the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education (NRC), where she has been since 2005. The NRC is one of two national members in the Healthy Child Care America Cooperative Agreement Program, funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Through this partnership, the NRC is continually addressing national- and state-level needs and research requests related to early childhood health and safety within early care and education settings. Ms. Cimino currently serves as the content manager for "Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards; Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs, 3rd Edition (2011), a collection of 686 national standards that represent the best evidence, expertise, and experience in the country on quality health and safety practices and policies that should be followed in today's early care and education settings. She also has experience working at the state-level on a number of different projects, including: administering federal funds, managing a leadership committee whose charge was coordinating systems (physical and mental health, and education) for children with special health needs, and organizing community-level data for Early Childhood Councils.


Sarah Coles, MD
Assistant Professor, Family / Community and Preventive Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix
Representative for American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)
[email protected]
520-419-5407
American Academy of Family Physicians

Your Organization’s Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: As family physicians, we provide anticipatory guidance, share resources, and promote research and guidelines to parents to promote safe sleep.


Eve R. Colson, MD, MHPE, FAAP
Professor of Pediatrics
[email protected]
203-785-6935
Yale School of Medicine

Your Organization’s Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: Yale School of Medicine has several funded research and outreach programs pertaining to SIDS, sleep-related infant deaths, and infant sleep safety.

Your Contributions to the Field: Eve Colson is a professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine where she serves as Chief of the Section of Education for the Department of Pediatrics. She conducts research on reducing infant mortality, and currently serves as Co-PI on an NICHD grant ‘‘Social Media and Risk-reduction Training of Infant Care Practices (SMART). She also serves as a consultant to the Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network (CoIIN) to Reduce Infant Mortality.


Jim Couto, MA
Director, Division of Hospital & Surgical Services
[email protected]
847-434-7656
American Academy of Pediatrics

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The American Academy of Pediatrics wrote the first policy on SIDS prevention in 1992 and partnered with several organizations to promote the very successful "Back to Sleep" campaign. The Task Force on SIDS and Safe Sleep is currently working on a revised policy statement and technical report.

Your Contributions to the Field: Jim Couto currently manages the Section on Perinatal Pediatrics, the Committee on Fetus & Newborn and the Task Force on SIDS. He has been involved with the Preemie Health Coalition and the National Infant Mortality Review Program for over 10 years.


Debi Page Ferrarello, MSN, MSHE, RN, IBCLC
[email protected]
202-738-1125
United States Lactation Consultant Association (USLCA)

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: USLCA is the professional association for US-based International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs). Breastfeeding and infant sleep are closely related issues. IBCLCs provide education and support to new parents, as well as to other health care providers caring for breastfeeding families. Thus, the IBCLC has an important role in sharing practices that promote safe infant sleep.

Your Contributions to the Field: Debi Ferrarello is an IBCLC as well as a registered nurse and health educator. Debi is the Director of Family Education at Penn Medicine's Pennsylvania Hospital, led the hospital's Baby-friendly journey, and teaches staff how to support breastfeeding and infant safety. She also teaches Introduction to Human Lactation at Drexel University in Philadelphia, as part of Drexel's Pathway 2 program for aspiring lactation consultants, sharing best practices related to infant feeding with a new generation of health care professionals.


Nikki Fleming
Communication Specialist
[email protected]
301-504-7063   
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is the Federal regulatory agency on consumer product safety including standards for infant sleep products such as cribs, bassinets, play yards, cradles, bedside sleepers and over 18 durable nursery products. CPSC has the authority to recall consumer products. CPSC's Office of Communications is responsible for dissemination of new standards and regulations, recalls and  educational materials including publications, posters, tool kits, videos and social media.     

Your Contributions to the Field: Nikki Fleming serves as Team lead, Safe Sleep outreach and education campaign and Minority Outreach. She also serves as the children's product safety expert for consumers and media, making regular appearances on media outlets including print, television, online and social media on Commission Safe Sleep activities and recalls.


Deborah L. Frazier
Chief Executive Officer
[email protected]
202-296-2195
National Healthy Start Association

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The National Healthy Start Association (NHSA) is committed to improving birth outcomes and health disparities that exist within communities of color throughout the United States. As the membership association for the federal Healthy Start programs, NHSA promotes the development of community-based maternal and child health programs, particularly those addressing the issues of infant mortality, low birth weight and racial disparities in perinatal outcomes. With over 100 Healthy Start projects situated across the United States, the Association works to expand the capacity of community-based MCH programs and infant mortality preventive health services, thereby ensuring that all families have access to a continuum of affordable quality health care and related services. This range of care extends beyond the welfare of newborns and includes mothers, fathers, and families, thus affecting the entire community.

Your Contributions to the Field: Deborah Frazier is the CEO of NHSA and is responsible for working with the Board to chart long range planning, organizational development, strategic plan and direction for the organization. On behalf of NHSA, she works with federal, foundation, and organizational partners to address issues impacting vulnerable and disparate populations. She serves as chief spokesperson, representing and promoting NHSA as a leader in community based programs that work with the voices of the community to improve birth outcomes, reduce disparities, and assure equitable access to a continuum of affordable quality health care and community services for families. Ms. Frazier has served on the HHS Secretary's Advisory Committee on Infant Mortality (SACIM), on the Executive Board of the American Health Planning Association, on local Boards of United Way, National Conference for Community and Justice (formerly National Conference of Christians and Jews), The Links Inc., Arkansas Women's Leadership Forum, and other civic and service organizations. Prior to assuming this position as CEO, Ms. Frazier worked in several leadership capacities at the Arkansas Department of Health; serving as Chief of Staff and Director of the state's Child and Adolescent Health Services. She also managed the state's SPRANS funded Fetal Infant Mortality Review (FIMR).


Susan Friedrich, MBA, PMP
Managing Director
[email protected]
603-573-3315
John Snow, Inc. (JSI) Healthy Start EPIC Center

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: JSI is contracted to establish and operate the Healthy Start EPIC Center to provide technical assistance and training support to the 100 Healthy Start grantees, nationwide. Grantees implement safe sleep practices with program participants and the EPIC center provides expert assistance to support this effort.

Your Contributions to the Field: Susan Friedrich worked with safety net organizations for over 30 years strengthening the system of services to achieve positive health outcomes. She serves as Project Director on a number of nationwide projects to improve the effectiveness of health services delivery to at-risk populations.


Michael Goodstein, MD, FAAP
Neonatologist, WellSpan Health
[email protected]
717-851-3452
Member of American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Task Force on SIDS; Director, York County Cribs for Kids Program Board Member, National Cribs for Kids

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The AAP Task Force is responsible for reviewing the latest safe sleep literature to develop evidence-based policy statements that provide national guidelines for infant sleep safety. The Task Force also provides educational support to disseminate safe sleep recommendations to health care providers and the general community. Developed in 1998, Cribs for Kids® is a national crib distribution program. The mission of the organization is to prevent infant sleep-related deaths by educating parents and caregivers on the importance of practicing safe sleep and by providing Graco® Pack 'n Play® portable cribs to families who, otherwise, cannot afford a safe place for their babies to sleep. Cribs for Kids® consists of over 500 partners and provides 50,000 portable cribs yearly to families in need. Since its inception in 2003, the York County Cribs for Kids program has provided over 2000 families with a safe sleep environment and tens of thousands of families with safe sleep education. The group developed a community-wide, hospital-based infant sleep safety program that has become a model for replication throughout the country.

Your Contributions to the Field: Mike Goodstein developed the Hospital Infant Safe Sleep Initiative. This program, available at http://www.cribsforkids.org, provides hospitals with all the tools to develop and implement their own safe sleep program. The model has been replicated and sustained in hospitals across the country. The program is evidence-based and has been shown to improve parental safe sleep behaviors in the home. The program received the community outreach award from the Hospital Association of PA. He has also engaged in advocacy activities to promote safe sleep images in advertising. As a result, the American Association of Advertising Agencies has provided education to its almost 700 member agencies, including an on-line PDF, which can be seen at: http://www.aaaa.org/news/bulletins/Pages/guidance-safe-sleep-advertising.aspx. He has also partnered with colleagues to develop the National Hospital Safe Sleep Certification Program (see http://www.cribsforkids.org/safesleephospitalcertification). His research includes IRB-approved projects on nursing educators and students knowledge of safe sleep and safe sleep images in magazines and websites.


Barbara U. Hamilton, MA
Early Care and Education Specialist/Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Project Officer, Division of Home Visiting and Early Childhood Systems
[email protected]
Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The mission of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is to improve health and achieve health equity through access to quality services, a skilled health workforce and innovative programs. HRSA's Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) provides leadership, in partnership with key stakeholders, to improve the physical and mental health, safety and well being of the maternal and child health population. HRSA supports strategies and programs to prevent infant mortality and decrease disparities, including the National Action Partnership to Promote Safe Sleep (NAPPSS).

Your Contributions to the Field: Barbara Hamilton is a Project Officer in the MCHB Division of Home Visiting and Early Childhood Systems where she manages a portfolio of grants on early childhood system building and early care and education health and safety activities. For 20 years, she has worked on projects to improve the health and safety of children in early care and education settings.  Her efforts include promoting safe sleep through the coordination of two editions of the Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards: Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs and working with state licensing professionals to improve child care regulations, such as incorporating safe sleep best practices. Ms. Hamilton received her Master's degree from the University of Denver.


Fern R. Hauck, MD, MS
Spencer P. Bass MD Twenty-First Century Professor of Family Medicine, Professor of Public Health Sciences  
[email protected]     
434-924-5451     
University of Virginia School of Medicine

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The University of Virginia has several funded research and outreach programs pertaining to SIDS, sleep-related infant deaths, and infant sleep safety. 

Your Contributions to the Field: Fern Hauck is Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences at the University of Virginia. Her primary research focuses on sudden unexpected infant death, including Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). She has studied risk factors for SIDS and other unexpected infant deaths, especially focusing on African-American and other minority communities. She has also studied bedsharing practices cross culturally and preventive strategies, such as pacifier use and breastfeeding. An important theme of her research is eliminating disparities in health services and outcomes. Her most recent research is a multi-center NIH-funded study to develop innovative methods to disseminate safe sleep messages. She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on SIDS and is an advisor to several other organizations and federal agencies that focus on infant health and safety. She is co-author of "14 Ways to Protect Your Baby from SIDS."


Matthew Hirschfeld, MD, PhD
Medical Director, Maternal Child Health Services at Alaska Native Medical Center
[email protected]
907-729-1084     
Alaska Native Medical Center
All Alaska Pediatric Partnership, Rasmusson Foundation
March of Dimes

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: Alaska Native Medical Center is the tertiary care hospital for the Tribal Health System in Alaska.  My department is responsible for program development and strategic planning of services that affect Alaska Native women and children, including programs that promote safe sleep and healthy babies.  The All Alaska Pediatric Partnership and March of Dimes are also actively involved with promoting safe sleep as a way to decrease infant mortality in Alaska, and I'm on the Board of Directors of both organizations.

Your Contributions to the Field: In addition to my role as a pediatrician and pediatric hospitalist who cares for Alaska Native babies and promotes safe sleep in my practice, I'm a member of Alaska's CoIIN initiative that addresses infant mortality.  In addition to trying to decrease maternal tobacco and alcohol use, our focus is on promoting safe sleep and safe sleep environments to decrease infant mortality in Alaska.  I am also on the State of Alaska Maternal and Infant Mortality Review, which has recently become a group that not only reviews infant deaths, but is now actively working to  decrease infant mortality in Alaska by using the reviews to promote education targeted to the families most at risk.  Finally, as the Medical Director of Maternal Child Health Services, I work closely with many departments to promote safe sleep throughout the Tribal Health System in Alaska.


Wendy Hirschhorn
CEO
[email protected]
212-826-8790
Wendy's Bloggers

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: Getting the word out about safe sleep practices to new Moms is vital to the mission of NAPPSS. Thankfully, nothing reaches Moms more consistently or effectively than Moms speaking to other Moms through blogging. Wendy's Bloggers works with influential Mom Bloggers who engage with millions of Moms through their web and social sites. Vetting Mom Bloggers to serve as Safe Sleep ambassadors and working with them to ensure that a Safe Sleep Mom Blogger campaign is efficiently managed will be Wendy's Bloggers primary contribution. In addition, Wendy's Bloggers will partner with corporate sponsors that value the Safe Sleep Mom Blogger campaign and want to be part of the cause.

Your Contributions to the Field: Wendy Hirschhorn brings a high level of creativity and energy to her clients drawing upon 30 years of public relations experience. She was senior project manager for four of the top PR agencies in the U.S. where she managed health awareness campaigns for Schering-Plough, Warner-Lambert, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Hoechst Marion Roussel and Pfizer. As public affairs director for Hadassah, the nation's largest women's volunteer organization, Wendy brought national media attention to the organization's health, educational and environmental programs. In 1996, Wendy started her own PR agency. Over a 17-year span, her clients included A Better Chance, Balance Bar, Dr Pepper, Ernst & Young, and the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association. Five years ago, Wendy began building a network of Mom Bloggers to post reviews about her clients' products. With over four million Mom Bloggers to choose from, Wendy screened thousands to find those who met her professional standards to write cohesive reviews, generate substantial traffic to their blogs and to engage their readers. Along the way, Wendy learned that Mom Bloggers found it difficult to access consumer goods companies that would provide products for review. That was the "aha" moment for creating Wendy's Bloggers. Wendy had what brands needed: the experience; the passion; and a network of dedicated Mom Bloggers. And Wendy had what Mom Bloggers wanted: an advocate; a soundboard; and the means to connect with the brands they longed to reach. Wendy continues to evaluate the work of Mom Bloggers to ensure they review products they will be truly excited about.


Sharon C. Hitchcock, MSN, RNC-MNN 
Faculty Instructor, University of Arizona College of Nursing.
Representative for Association of Women's Health, Obstetrics, Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) 
[email protected]
520-404-9748 
Association of Women's Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN)

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: AWHONN's focus is to educate perinatal nurses regarding SIDS and safe infant sleep. Nurses have direct contact with virtually every new parent and are in a unique position to model, teach and promote safe sleep. AWHONN is committed to endorsing the safe sleep recommendations and encouraging all nurses to do the same.

Your Contributions to the Field: Sharon Hitchcock is a nurse-educator and SIDS/safe sleep expert with over 25 year's bedside nursing experience.  In 2012 Sharon authored an article for AWHONN's journal Nursing for Women's Health titled "Endorsing Safe Infant Sleep: A Call to Action." She is co-creator of an educational Safe sleep crib card which is a small laminated card placed on hospital bassinets which is now being used in many Arizona hospitals as well as throughout the country. In 2013 she created and presented an educational webinar for AWHONN, Safe Infant Sleep: Implementing Evidence Based Recommendations, and speaks to both healthcare professionals and parents about safe sleep. She has also published a number of short articles for AWHONN's parenting magazine Healthy Mom & Baby. Sharon is part of the Arizona Department of Health Safe Sleep Task Force, a Safe-to-Sleep champion, and member of the National Infant Mortality CoIIN Community. Sharon is convinced the nursing profession plays a key role in helping reduce these preventable deaths and seeks to ensure that every nurse understands and endorses the safe sleep message.


Melinda Hoskins, MS, APRN, CNM, IBCLC
Nursing Educator
Private Practice
[email protected]
775-546-2850 
http://www.birthcenters.org/

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: According to the Birth Center Standards, each birth center provides women and families planning a birth center birth "A program of education for pregnancy, labor, breastfeeding, infant care, early discharge, parenting, self care/self help, sibling preparation." Breastfeeding is strongly encouraged in accordance with the BFHI.  Maternal risk reduction strategies include smoking cessation for birth center clients. Preventive health and wellness strategies are a significant part of birth center care.

Your Contributions to the Field: Melinda Hoskins is a nursing educator, who has been involved in all levels (LPN/LVN, ADN, BSN, MSN) of nursing education since 1974. She is a health educator involved in consumer education around maternal child health issues; a certified lactation consultant; and certified nurse-midwife, with experience in both hospital and out of hospital birth in free-standing birth centers and home birth settings. She is currently in private practice in a rural community in northern Nevada.


Wendy Jacobs
Director of Grants & External Relations
[email protected]
309-633-0720
CJ First Candle

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: CJ First Candle is a national non-profit devoted to eliminating the tragedy of sudden, unexpected infant deaths, supporting grieving families, advancing medical research, furthering education, and advocating for the health and survival of all children. Through the Foundation's grant program, funds are awarded to organizations nationwide to implement SIDS and Infant Safe Sleep initiatives. CJ First Candle has developed public awareness campaigns and educational materials that educate about SIDS, other sleep-related infant death and safe sleep.

Your Contributions to the Field: Wendy Jacobs has been with the CJ First Candle since 1996. In her role asDirector of Grants & External Relations she has developed educational materials, coordinated outreach activities, implemented a crib distribution project, planned and carried out national conferences for parents and those in the field of SIDS and SUID, and managed the grant program. Through the grant program, she has worked with hundreds of organizations across the country as they implemented projects to reduce SIDS and sleep-related infant death and support those who have suffered a loss. Wendy has consulted with NICHD and the CDC to identify initiatives in need of funding. She has represented the CJ First Candle at various meetings including the SUID Case Registry Reverse Site Meetings and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) Safe Sleep roundtable. She has participated on numerous national conference committees including CJ First Candle and the Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs (ASIP). Wendy is a member of ASIP, currently serving as Vice-President.


Rev. Deborah Hoy Jones, MD, MDIV
Director of Christian Education and Missions
[email protected]
Beloved Community Church

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: Beloved Community Church in Accokeek, Maryland is an open and affirming Christian community that is committed to sharing the unconditional love of Christ by serving others with compassion, integrity, moral courage, divine discipline, and intelligent faith. Its mission includes social justice and community health.

Your Contributions to the Field: Deborah Hoy is an assistant pastor of Beloved Community Church where she serves as Director of Christian Education. She holds a Master's of Divinity degree from Howard University as well as an MD degree from Rutgers Medical School. Currently, she is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology at Georgetown University Hospital and also chairs the Advisory Board for Pastoral Care and Missions at the Hospital. She is the immediate past president for the American Association of SIDS and Pediatric Sleep Professionals (AASPP). Dr. Hoy embraces the principle of "Cura Personalis,"care for the whole person spirit, mind, and body. She strives to utilize her ministerial calling along with her clinical, teaching, and research abilities to eliminate any gaps between faith traditions and science.


Lorena Kaplan, M.P.H., C.H.E.S.
Safe to Sleep® Lead
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD.
[email protected]
301-496-6670

My Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep
The mission of the NICHD is to ensure that every person is born healthy and wanted, that women suffer no harmful effects from reproductive processes, and that all children have the chance to achieve their full potential for healthy and productive lives, free from disease or disability, and to ensure the health, productivity, independence, and well-being of all people through optimal rehabilitation.

Contributions to the Field
Lorena Kaplan leads the Safe to Sleep® campaign, a national outreach effort to reduce sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and other sleep-related causes of infant death. She builds strategic partnerships, conducts tailored outreach projects, and coordinates activities to promote the campaign's objectives across the country. Her experience as a public health specialist includes coordination of multidisciplinary research and health improvement projects in various Latin American countries and in the U.S., as well as development of culturally sensitive health education curricula and services.


Linda Kostantenaco  
National Child Care Association; President 
[email protected]
210-771-3613 
National Child Care Association 

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The National Child Care Association works to get information out to its members regarding safe sleep for infants through email, webinars, conferences and other forms of communication. 

Your Contributions to the Field: As President of the National Child Care Association, Linda Kostantenaco has provided critical information to members and child care centers throughout the United States regarding the importance of safe sleep for infants in child care, as well as getting this information out to the families of the children served in child care.


Bonnie Kozial
Manager, Council on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention   
[email protected]  
847-434-7947     
American Academy of Pediatrics     
www.healthychildren.org   

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The American Academy of Pediatrics develops and publishes the recommendations on which safe sleep educational efforts, interventions, and programming are based. On the consumer-facing side, the Academy was a founding partner of the Back to Sleep campaign in the 1990s and has continued working to educate parents and caregivers about infant sleep safety through the present. Additionally, the Academy engages in advocacy for regulatory actions that have greatly improved the safety of cribs, infant bedding, and other durable juvenile products.

Your Contributions to the Field: Bonnie Kozial is manager of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention, the group that directs and carries out all policy development, advocacy, education, and implementation activities of the Academy around all facets of both unintentional and intentional injury and poison prevention. In that role, she manages multiple projects and initiatives related to injury prevention at the American Academy of Pediatrics, participates in the development of educational content around multiple injury prevention topics, and provides input to consumer and professional resources developed by the Academy.


Dr. Jeanette Kowalik, PhD, MPH, MCHES
Associate Director of Women's & Infant Health
[email protected]
202-775-0436
Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP)

Your Organization’s Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) is a national resource, partner and advocate for state public health leaders and others working to improve the health of women, children, youth and families, including those with special health care needs. AMCHP's members come from the highest levels of state government and include directors of maternal and child health programs, directors of programs for children with special health care needs and other public health leaders who work with and support state maternal and child health programs. AMCHP’s members also include academic, advocacy and community-based family health professionals, as well as families. AMCHP builds successful programs by disseminating best practices; advocating on their member's behalf in Washington; providing technical assistance; convening leaders to share experiences and ideas; and advising states about involving partners to reach a common goal of healthy children, healthy families, and healthy communities. AMCHP is involved in numerous national activities with a focus on improving birth outcomes and reducing sleep-related infant deaths including the CoIIN to reduce infant mortality, Best Babies Zones, APHA-MCH section leadership team, USBC member, Breastfeeding Promotion Consortium member, Every Woman Southeast leadership team, and ASIP. AMCHP also has several funded research and outreach programs pertaining to SIDS, sleep-related infant deaths, and safe infant sleep.

Your Contributions to the Field: Dr. Jeanette Kowalik has over a decade of progressive public health experience representing the life course. She attended Northern Illinois University’s Master of Public Health (MPH) program. Post completion of her MPH, Jeanette attended the Management Academy for Public Health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Shortly after completion of this valuable program, Jeanette began her doctoral program in health sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her initial focus was infant mortality disparities among African American and Latina adolescents but she realized there was a significant gap in the literature regarding recruitment and retention of the public health workforce to service these young women. Jeanette completed her coursework while working full-time for the Wauwatosa Health Department and Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee. Jeanette completed her dissertation remotely as Director of STI Surveillance for the Chicago Department of Public Health. This opportunity enabled Jeanette to refine her quantitative and epidemiological skills as well as learn how to apply quality improvement in a large urban setting. In the fall of 2014, Dr. Kowalik returned to Wisconsin for family obligations. She served as UW-Madison’s Director of Prevention and Campus Health Initiatives prior to her transition to AMCHP to serve as the Associate Director of Women’s and Infant Health. Dr. Kowalik’s diverse set of experiences in public health has reinforced her need to focus on women’s and infant health as the earliest point of intervention.


Teresa Trumbly Lamsam, PhD
Executive Editor 
[email protected]
402-306-6954
Native Health News Alliance, School of Communication, University of Nebraska Omaha

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: Our non profit news organization, the Native Health News Alliance, is the nation's first health journalism site produced by Native journalists. Our multimedia health news is distributed to more than 300 Native media outlets that can include the health stories in their media at no cost. We also distribute content on our own consumer news site. Our major advantage is that we have access to these Native American communities through their most trusted sources of information. NHNA is uniquely positioned to strategically place important health information in front of American Indian audiences. We know the communities. We get the interviews. Our goal is to increase reporting frequency and reach an even wider Native American audience. We plan to expand our current health news production from a weekly to a daily news distribution schedule. The expansion will include hiring additional Native journalists to produce more content to support the demand. As part of our news strategy plan, we will seek funding to support a series of multimedia news stories and features on Safe Sleep for Indian Country. At Native Health News Alliance (NHNA), we have a way to make a difference in the health of our communities. We know from research that people primarily get health information from the media. We know that news affects the public by framing their perceptions of health issues, and then those perceptions lead to changes in behavior and public policy.  Our stories have reached thousands of Native Americans across the U.S., and Canada since NHNA launched in 2013. Our content has been featured in more than 100 mainstream media outlets, reaching a global audience of more than 8 million. Some tribal newsrooms publishing our content include: Indian Country Today Media Network, Muscogee Nation News, Osage News, Native American Times, Lakota Country Times, Native Peoples magazine, Native News online and Indianz.com. We've also added a research element and have teamed with partners like the American Indian Cancer Foundation to measure the real world impact our reporting can have on changing health behaviors in Native communities. Our first research study—a content analysis of health news in tribal publications—received a 2015 top paper award from the Broadcast Education Association. The findings from our latest study will be released in May 2015 and offer the most comprehensive look to date of reporting practices of journalists working in Native media.


Vanessa Lee, MPH
Infant Mortality CoIIN Coordinator 
[email protected]          
301-443-9992
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)/Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB)
               
Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep:The mission of HRSA's Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) is to provide leadership, in partnership with key stakeholders, to improve the physical and mental health, safety and well-being of the maternal and child health (MCH) population. HRSA/MCHB supports initiatives and programs to prevent infant mortality and decrease disparities, including the Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network (CoIIN) to reduce infant mortality. States have prioritized safe sleep as one of the six CoIIN strategies to collaboratively work on.           

Your Contributions to the Field: Vanessa Lee has been a Public Health Analyst at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) since 2009, where she currently serves as the Infant Mortality CoIIN Coordinator in the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). In this role she oversees and manages a national initiative to reduce infant mortality and prior to this, she was a Project Officer for the Title V MCH Block Grant Program. Before joining HRSA, Ms. Lee worked in HIV/AIDS prevention for 7 years coordinating federally-funded HIV counseling and testing programs at the California Department of Public Health, the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and the George Washington University Hospital Emergency Department. She received an MPH in health policy and management from the University of California-Berkeley in 2003, and a BS in public health from Rutgers-the State University of New Jersey in 2001.


Jessica Leifer
Senior Associate
[email protected]
617-869-3883 
ideas42

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: ideas42 is a non-profit behavioral design lab and consulting firm that uses behavioral science to help solve difficult social problems and have impact at scale. Our work draws on decades of experimental scientific research in decision-making and the most rigorous methods in program and policy evaluation. We grew out of research programs in psychology and economics at top academic institutions.  ideas42 works on a wide range of policy domains in the United States and internationally including: consumer finance, education, health, economic mobility, criminal justice, environment, and family planning and reproductive health, among others. We partner with foundations, government bodies, private companies, and other non-profits.

Your Contributions to the Field: Jess Leifer is a Senior Associate at ideas42, where she leads behavioral diagnosis and design work for projects in early childhood development, education, and health.


Julie Lothamer MS, RD, IBCLC
State of Michigan WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Coordinator
[email protected]
517-335-5564
National WIC Association, Breastfeeding Committee Chair


Bonnie Lovette, RN, MS, PNP
[email protected]
707-648-9401
UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland
www.preventingchildrensinjuries.org

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: UCSF Children's Hospital Oakland is one of only five ACS certified Pediatric Level 1 Trauma Centers. Our mission is to protect and advance the health and well-being of children through clinical care, teaching and research.

Your Contributions to the Field: Bonnie Lovette developed a safe sleep policy for UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. She is the founder & Chair of the Childhood Injury Prevention Network-Bay Area (CIPN-Bay Area) which has a Safe Sleep Initiative. The initiative is a collaboration with a number of agencies and programs in Alameda and Contra Costa County around the issue of safe sleep. As a member of the Child Death Review Team for Alameda County, she sees the magnitude of the environmental risk factors that lead to suffocation and overlay and is working with others to eliminate these deaths.


Kelly Mariotti, JD, CPA
Executive Director, Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA); Board Member, CJ First Candle
[email protected]
856-380-6925
Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA)

Your Organization’s Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) is a national trade organization representing 95% of the prenatal to preschool industry. It exists to advance the interests, growth and well-being of North American prenatal to preschool product industry as well as educate and inform parents about the safe use of products. Today, JPMA represents 250 companies in the United States, Canada, and Mexico who manufacture, import and/or distribute infant products such as cribs, car seats, strollers, bedding, and a wide range of accessories and decorative items. JPMA has been recognized as an organization dedicated to enhancing children’s product safety. It does so through advocacy, public relations, information sharing, and a comprehensive Certification Program to help guide parents and caregivers toward purchasing juvenile products that are built with safety in mind. JPMA works with government officials, consumer groups, and industry leaders on programs to educate consumers on the safe selection and use of juvenile products. Safe & Sound For Baby and From Naptime to Nighttime are two of the most recognized JPMA resources to help guide parents and caregivers to best practices for increased safety. In addition, every September, the ninth month of the year, is designated as Baby Safety Month. Initiated by JPMA, and recognized and celebrated across industry groups, government organization and non-governmental advocacy organizations, Baby Safety Month exists to raise awareness, highlight risks and provide information on how to address and avoid risks, making the world a safer place for children.

Your Contributions to the Field: Kelly Mariotti is the Executive Director of the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA), the North American trade association for manufacturers of products for the prenatal to preschool marketplace. In her role with JPMA, she is directly accountable for all activities of the association and implementing the strategic direction provided by the board of directors. Her responsibilities include direct oversight of JPMA’s programmatic, regulatory, legislative and public affairs activities as well as the JPMA Certification Program and engagement in the ASTM standards-setting process. Before joining JPMA in 2013, she was the founding owner and President of Green Frog Art, a juvenile product manufacturing firm for 17 years during which time she was an active volunteer leader and board member of JPMA. After selling her company, she served as CEO of First Candle, a national safe sleep nonprofit organization. She is a lawyer, certified public accountant, and has graduate certificates in both nonprofit management and advanced product safety management.


Joan Younger Meek, MD, MS, RD, FAAP, FABM, IBCLC
Professor, Clinical Sciences, Florida State University College of Medicine
[email protected]
850-645-8449
United States Breastfeeding Committee, Past Chair
American Academy of Pediatrics, Chair, Section on Breastfeeding
Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine

Your Organization’s Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) is an independent, multisectoral, nonprofit coalition of more than 50 nationally influential professional, educational, and governmental organizations that support its mission "to drive collaborative efforts for policy and practices that create a landscape of breastfeeding support across the United States." In the international arena, the formation of the USBC satisfied one of the four operational targets set forth by the 1990 Innocenti Declaration of the WHO/UNICEF policymakers' meeting on "Breastfeeding in the 1990s: A Global Initiative." The USBC's focus on developing and strengthening state coalitions recognizes that it is at the state and local level that initiatives will be implemented and adapted most effectively to address specific populations. The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding (SGCTA) emphasizes the cross-cutting nature of breastfeeding and the critical need for collaboration and outreach beyond the traditional "breastfeeding community." Action 20 identified the USBC and its affiliated state coalitions as leaders in the implementation of the 20 actions. As the central hub connecting all national, state, and local organizations working to advance breastfeeding, the USBC is looked to as the leader in the coordination of breastfeeding activities in the United States. By engaging in collective impact, USBC engages multiple partners at the intersection of breastfeeding support and promotion and safe sleep practices.

Your Contributions to the Field: Dr. Joan Younger Meek is a pediatrician, pediatric educator, and lactation consultant who is a Professor of Clinical Sciences at the Florida State University College of Medicine, where she serves as the Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education. She chairs the Section on Breastfeeding of the American Academy of Pediatrics and is the immediate Past Chair of the United States Breastfeeding Committee. She previously served as the President of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine and the President of the Florida Breastfeeding Coalition. She was a founding Board Member of the Mother’s Milk Bank of Florida. She developed and serves as the Program Chair for the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine Course “What Every Physician Needs to Know about Breastfeeding.” She is the editor-in-chief of the American Academy of Pediatrics New Mother’s Guide to Breastfeeding (2002, Revised 2011) and a contributor to the AAP/ACOG Breastfeeding Handbook for Physicians. She recognizes the important role of breastfeeding in the prevention of sleep related deaths in infancy and believes that the United States Breastfeeding Committee brings together major partners engaged in both breastfeeding promotion and safe sleep support through its infant sleep practices community.


Barbara M. Ostfeld, PhD
Professor, Department of Pediatrics and Program Director, SIDS Center of New Jersey
[email protected]
732-235-6974
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School SIDS Center of New Jersey

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The SIDS Center of New Jersey was established in 1988 and serves as a statewide program to address sudden unexpected infant deaths. Its missions are to provide bereavement support, to study the factors that elevate risk, and to develop and promulgate evidence-based risk reduction education programs consistent with the guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The Center establishes collaborative relationships with the individuals and entities sharing the public health mission of reducing infant mortality, including health, child care, home-visiting, faith-based, first responder, and social service providers and systems. It works closely with the maternal and child health consortia and the New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics among other organizations advancing infant health and safety. Using a data-based strategy, the Center identifies high risk communities, unique local needs, risk patterns and other factors that allow it to customize presentations and implementation strategies. It works with a range of critical institutions, such as birthing hospitals, to promote the institutionalization of safe sleep education within each program. The Center shares knowledge through research, publications, dissemination of its materials, presentations in national academic venues and representation on state and national forums. It is underwritten by a grant from the New Jersey Department of Health to Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and a grant from the CJ Foundation for SIDS to Hackensack University Medical Center.

Your Contributions to the Field: Barbara Ostfeld helped establish the SIDS Center of New Jersey in 1988 and continues to serve as its Program Director. She has published studies of risk patterns in SIDS and on the efficacy of school-based risk reduction education. Her research on grief has helped inform bereavement services for families. She has received numerous grants to develop educational initiatives and presents findings in national academic forums. She has developed novel methods for customizing intervention strategies and presents resulting programs throughout New Jersey to meet identified needs. Nurses LEAD the Way for nurses at all birthing hospitals helps nurses learn the information and how to then inform, inspire and influence caregiver behavior. Neighborhoods LEAD the Way provides outreach to communities at highest risk through local resources. Her initiatives are directed to caregivers across the lifespan. Dr. Ostfeld has developed educational material for New Jersey providers and consumers. She participates on the state and national forums addressing sudden unexpected infant deaths and has served as a consultant to related educational initiatives in Eastern Europe.


Denise Pecha, LCSW
Director of Programs 
[email protected]        
402-552-9578
CityMatCH   

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: CityMatCH seeks to enhance the capacity of MCH professionals at the local level by providing effective knowledge and skills-building training through technical assistance, training, web-based modules and practice or learning collaboratives.


Joia Crear Perry, MD
Chief Executive Officer
[email protected]
National Birth Equity Collaborative

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The National Birth Equity Collaborative aims to reduce African American infant mortality through research, family centered collaboration, and advocacy. Our vision is that every African-American infant will celebrate a healthy first birthday.

Your Contributions to the Field: Did you know that twice as many Black babies die before they reach their first birthday? Did you know that in some cities the rate of Black infant mortality is three-times the national average? Dr. Perry is leading in the development of NBEC's first report to compile a comprehensive data set on where and why Black babies are dying. The report will feature effective evidence-based practices and policies for reducing Black infant mortality. Safe Sleep is crucial to decreasing this disparity.


Besa Pinchotti
Communications Director
[email protected]
703-931-6632
National Military Family Association

Your Organization’s Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The National Military Family Association (NMFA) supports the families who stand behind the uniform, which includes close to a million military spouses. NMFA cares about military families and has been a trusted source of information and advocacy for our nation's families since 1969. We take our role of helping to educate families on how to best care for their babies seriously. By sharing information about safe sleep, we are doing our part to ensure babies grow up healthy and happy.

Your Contributions to the Field: Besa Pinchotti is the Communications Director at National Military Family Association (NMFA), a nonprofit organization that works to strengthen and protect military families. Besa worked as a news anchor and reporter in Texas and North Carolina before coming to NMFA. As a journalist, Besa reported on the military and their families, and also hosted a weekly series about putting families first, which included several reports on childhood safety. Besa is a contributor at Red Tricycle, a blog about helping parents have more fun with their kids. She also has a blog of her own (MomInDCity.com), although as working mother of 3, she doesn’t get to update it as much as she’d like.


Linda Potter, JD
Associate Director
[email protected]
800-656-2434
National Center for Fatality Review & Prevention

Your Organization’s Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention is funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau as a resource and data center for state and local Child Death Review (CDR) and Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) programs. It promotes, supports and enhances child death review methodology and activities at the state, community and national levels. The Center manages the National CDR Case Reporting System, which includes the CDC's SUID Case Registry. The Center also provides technical support to help states analyze their SUID data and develop prevention strategies around safe infant sleep.

Your Contributions to the Field: Linda Potter is the associate director of the National Center for Fatality Review & Prevention. She provides training and support to states in their efforts to conduct comprehensive and multidisciplinary reviews of child deaths at the state and community level. Prior to her work at the Center, she was a disability advocate for many years, including 11 years as executive director of United Cerebral Palsy of Michigan.


Judy Rainey
Director of National and Legislative Affairs
[email protected]
202-494-3359
Cribs for Kids

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: Since 1998 Cribs for Kids® and its partners in all 50 states have educated parents and other caregivers about the safest place for babies to sleep, and have distributed over 300,000 cribs to low income families. By making the program available at no charge, offering safe-sleep products at below retail prices and providing free or discounted shipping, the number of Cribs for Kids® partners now numbers over 550 and continues to grow."

Your Contributions to the Field: My involvement with SIDS and unsafe sleep began in 1996 after my 8-month old son died suddenly and with no explanation. I was the president of the board of SIDS Mid-Atlantic for several years and after retiring from the US Senate I went to work for Cribs for Kids. While at the US Senate I helped draft legislation that would improve the collection of data and create a SUID registry to help understand and prevent these types of deaths. I currently run CAUSE - the Coalition Against Unsafe Sleep Environments - a group of approximately 200 organizations and individuals who are concerned about the epidemic of deaths due to unsafe sleep. I coordinate the Infant Safe Sleep listserv and the CAUSE Facebook page.


Tracey Reed, BA
Lead Regional Program Director     
[email protected] 
973-296-8805     
March of Dimes Foundation

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. This mission is accomplished through programs of community services, advocacy, research, education, and support. Through our websites in English and Spanish (www.nacersano.org) we provide educational information to parents and parents-to-be about behaviors that promote safe sleep, including the importance of putting babies to sleep on their backs; avoiding smoking by parents and caregivers and in the home in general; room sharing but not bed-sharing; and the promotion of breastfeeding.  Further, March of Dimes has in the past and continues to sponsor research aimed at finding and understanding causes of SIDS and SUID. March of Dimes also partners nationally with organizations including CJ First Candle/SIDS Alliance to support families that have experienced an infant loss.

Your Contributions to the Field: Tracey Reed has been with March of Dimes since 1995, serving in various roles.  She became a Regional Program Director in 2008, working with chapters in 24 eastern states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. She is the principal advisor to the Regional Vice President, Area Directors, and other regional managers on all mission issues. In her role, she provides direction and oversight for all aspects of programs in the chapters, inclusive of program development, management, evaluation, budget, and staffing.  Prior to 2008, she held a number of positions in the New Jersey Chapter, including March for Babies and special event fundraising, program services and government affairs, and volunteer development. Before joining March of Dimes, Tracey was an elementary school teacher.


Valerie L. Rochester, MPA
Director, Programs and Training
[email protected]
202-787-5926
Black Women's Health Imperative

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The Black Women's Health Imperative (BWHI) is dedicated to advancing health equity and social justice for Black women across the lifespan through health education, policy and advocacy, research and leadership development. The Imperative operates from the premise that Black women are inherently strong and resilient and are not defined by disease, obesity and poverty. We support Black women in placing themselves and their health first - leading a healthy lifestyle; eating more nutritiously; being physically active; reducing and releasing stress; and planning for a financially secure future. We are committed to helping Black women make the connections between their physical, emotional, and financial wellness.

Your Contributions to the Field: Valerie Rochester is a public health professional, with more than 25 years of experience providing programmatic, administrative, management and capacity building training and technical assistance services. As Director of Programs and Training with BWHI, she manages the organization's national and community-level health programs portfolio to address the health inequities that disproportionately impact Black women. She has served on multiple consultation panels for federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Resources and Services Administration and HHS Office on Women's Health, to develop culturally and gender-responsive health education, prevention, treatment, and capacity building initiatives for communities of color. Valerie is the recipient of the 2002 Congressional Black Caucus Healthcare Hero Award.


Julie Ross, MPH
Branch Chief
[email protected]
301-504-7840
Data Operations Branch, Division of Hazard and Injury Data Systems, Consumer Product Safety Commission

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The Consumer Product Safety Commission(CPSC) is a federal regulatory agency charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of the thousands of types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose hazards and in its regulatory role has established standards for infant sleep products such as cribs, bassinets, play yards, cradles, bedside sleepers and over 18 durable nursery products. CPSC also has the authority to recall consumer products. For more than 30 years, the CPSC has operated a statistically valid injury surveillance and follow-back system known as the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). The primary purpose of NEISS is to collect data on consumer product-related injuries occurring in the United States. Since the year 2000, when CPSC initiated an expansion of the system to collect data on all injuries, NEISS has become an important public health research tool, not just for CPSC, but for researchers and consumers throughout the United States and around the world.

Your Contributions to the Field: Julie Ross is Branch Chief for Data Operations at the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) where she is responsible for the recruitment of hospitals and the management, operations, and quality control aspects of a national data collection system including the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). NEISS is the primary data collection system used by the CPSC to determine the nature and scope of injuries and especially consumer product-safety related injuries in the United States. She has more than 15 years of experience working in injury prevention and maternal and child health roles at the local, federal and international level.


Kathryn L. Santoro, MA 
Director of Policy & Development
[email protected]
202-296-4196
National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) Foundation

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: NIHCM Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving the effectiveness, efficiency and quality of the U.S. health care system. For over twenty years, NIHCM has promoted public-private collaborations to improve public health through our unique relationships with health plans and long-standing partnerships with federal agencies.  We focus on disease prevention and promoting maternal, child and adolescent health, including preventing child injuries and promoting safe sleep.  

Your Contributions to the Field: For over ten years, Ms. Santoro has led NIHCM's maternal, child and adolescent health projects, including serving as the Project Director for several grants from the Health Resources and Services Administration's Maternal and Child Health Bureau.  She has conducted research and analysis on health policy issues in support of improving practices used by health care decision makers and industry leaders.


Linda Satkowiak, ND, RN, CNS, NCSN
Child Care Health and Safety Nurse Consultant       
[email protected]        
800-598-5437
National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education (NRC)           

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The primary resource of the NRC is Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards; Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs, 3rd Edition (CFOC3). CFOC3 is a collection of 686 national standards that represent the best evidence, expertise, and experience in the country on quality health and safety practices and policies that should be followed in today's early care and education settings. Thirty-seven of these standards address safe sleep and reducing the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)/suffocation in child care and early education settings.

Your Contributions to the Field: Linda Satkowiak has worked as a pediatric nurse for Children's Hospital Colorado for almost twenty years in the Denver, CO area. Until July of 2013 she served as the Healthy Child Care Colorado Coordinator supporting child care health consultants and child care staff as they worked to provide healthy and safe environments for children and families in their care.  She has also had extensive experience serving children with special health care needs in early care and education settings and has worked as a child care health consultant for Head Start and Early Head Start programs.  Linda now works on a part-time basis with the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education (NRC) as a child care health and safety nurse consultant and content manager for Caring for our Children.


Jodi Shaefer, RN, PhD
Director   
[email protected]
202-863-1630     
National Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Program, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The National Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Program (NFIMR) is a collaborative effort between the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (The College) and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), Health Resources and Services Administration. Since 1990, MCHB and the College have worked together as partners to refine and promote the FIMR process by funding demonstration projects, providing training and technical assistance, and developing the NFIMR resource center.  Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) is an action oriented, evidence based, continuous quality improvement process that examines de-identified fetal and infant deaths, determines preventability, and engages the community to take action to improve resources and services for families. Traditionally located in areas with high racial disparities, promoting safe sleep is the leading community action taken by local FIMR programs.  Local FIMR program networks are used by CoIIN initiatives for local dissemination of safe sleep messages.  

Your Contributions to the Field: Jodi Shaefer is the director of the National Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Program and Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.  For over 20 years, she provided training to local FIMR Programs on FIMR methodology and grief support.  She conducted a survey of FIMR programs, analyzed the survey data and reported findings to the HRSA Secretary's Advisory Committee on Infant Mortality.  She has written and presented  extensively on the FIMR process and its effectiveness in addressing health disparities  As a past president of the Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs, she was a member of the NICHD group that initiated the back to sleep campaign in the United States.  She is a patient education expert for messages about safe sleep and SIDS risk reduction.  She has multiple publications about safe sleep messaging, cross cultural expressions of grief and loss and home visiting.  She has clinical expertise in community health and home visiting.  She has evaluated programs at local, state, and national levels.  She was the data coordinator for the MCHB funded Nationwide Assessment of SIDS Services. These data provided recommendations for national policy makers regarding SIDS data accuracy and family support following infant death.  She currently is on the Maryland PRAMS advisory committee.


Carrie K. Shapiro-Mendoza
Senior Scientist
[email protected]
770-488-6263
Maternal and Infant Health Branch, Division of Reproductive Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: CDC's Division of Reproductive Health has lead several SIDS and other Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) activities including developing and disseminating guidelines and training for the investigation of SUID, analyzing and communicating SUID surveillance data, and supporting multistate surveillance systems with the SUID Case Registry.

Your Contributions to the Field: Carrie Shapiro-Mendoza holds a Ph.D. in Epidemiology and an MPH from the School of Public Health at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and a B.S. in Professional Nursing from the University of Vermont. Her public health career began in 1988 as a clinical research nurse at the National Institutes of Health. She then served as an Air Force nurse, a Peace Corps volunteer rural health nurse, and a research coordinator for border health research projects in Texas and Mexico. Currently, Dr. Shapiro-Mendoza is the Senior Scientist in the Maternal and Infant Health Branch at the CDC. Since joining CDC in 2003 she has advanced a national initiative to improve death scene investigation for the accurate detection and consistent reporting of SUID. This initiative has included development and dissemination of standardized SUID investigation and reporting forms, national training programs of coroners, medical examiners, and first responders, and development of a state-based SUID Case Registry. In addition, Dr. Shapiro-Mendoza has authored or co-authored more than 40 publications related to maternal and infant health. Much of her research and activities focus on improving the investigation, reporting, and classification of SUID; monitoring SUID trends; and understanding safe sleep practices.


Amy Terreros, DNP, RN, CPNP-PC
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
[email protected]
816-983-6820
National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP)

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: To empower pediatric nurse practitioners (PNPs) and their healthcare partners to enhance child and family health through practice, leadership, advocacy, education and research.

Your Contributions to the Field: Amy Terreros is the co-coordinator of the safe to sleep program at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. She was instrumental in educating the nursing staff and adopting use of wearable blankets on all nursing units. She established a Cribs for Kids program at her institution. She collaborates with local birthing hospitals to promote safe sleep in her community. She is recognized as an expert in safe sleep and speaks regularly on the topic. She has published about the efforts of her hospitals safe sleep program in a peer reviewed journal.


Calondra Tibbs
Senior Director
[email protected] 
202-507-4281
National Association of County and City Health Official (NACCHO)

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: NACCHO is the national leader, partner, catalyst, and voice for the 2,800 local health departments across the nation. In that role, NACCHO seeks to ensure the conditions that promote health, equity, and security for all people in their communities. NACCHOs work includes improvement of the health and well-being of women and children, as well as the prevention of injuries. 

Your Contributions to the Field: Calondra Tibbs manages the Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health and Injury and Violence Prevention portfolio at the National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO), which includes building capacity and providing tools for local health departments and communities to enhance programs and services to address the health and safety needs of women, children and families. She has over 14 years of public health experience, including 9 years of management, coordination, and executive level experience at local and state health departments and national public health agencies. She has led alignment of federal, state, and local funding streams to enhance collaboration and effective coordination of services for women, children, and families. Her work has also included addressing community-wide efforts to create systems change to improve the health and well-being of communities. She has also led development of training and technical assistance for multi-disciplinary teams of providers and agencies, as is currently leading one of NACCHO's largest funding efforts to provide training and technical assistance to enhance community-level organization capacity to implement and sustain funded efforts.


Angie Truesdale
CEO
[email protected]
857-284-7570
Centering Healthcare Insitute

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: Centering Healthcare Institute's mission is to improve maternal and child health by transforming care through Centering groups which bring patients out of the exam room and into a group space for prenatal, well-woman, and well-baby care. The Centering model of group care has three components: health assessment, interactive learning, and community building. The interactive learning component is supported by Centering Healthcare Institute materials that include education about safe infant sleep.

Your Contributions to the Field: As the CEO of Centering Healthcare Institute, Angie Truesdale oversees all operations and program advancement and is responsible for carrying out the strategic direction provided by the board of directors. She is active in the maternal and child health policy arena. Prior to this role, she helped build the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization into the largest national organization representing the hospice industry. As the Vice President of Public Policy and Advocacy, Ms. Truesdale was involved in strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, budgeting, and crisis communications, among other initiatives.


Kristin P. Tully, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Associate
[email protected]
919-962-1538
Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Your Organization's Role in Promoting Safe Sleep:
CGBI seeks to create an optimal breastfeeding and related reproductive health care norm through a program of research, service and training. Our comprehensive approach prioritizes the reproductive health continuum, including intergenerational considerations, and the "Three B's" (Birth, Breastfeeding, Birthspacing), with attention to local, national and global clinical and public health quality of care for the mother/child dyad.

Your Contributions to the Field: Kristin Tully serves on the NIH Safe to Sleep Breastfeeding Outreach Committee and the North Carolina Safe Infant Sleep Advisory Committee. Her program of research focuses on nighttime breastfeeding using infrared cameras in the hospital and home settings. She is currently the project manager for two NIH-funded studies on infant sleep development and for a PCORI Engagement Award on the "4th Trimester." Kristin holds a BA cum laude from the University of Notre Dame, a PhD in Biological Anthropology from Durham University, UK, and she completed three years of NIH-funded postdoctoral training in Human Development through the Carolina Consortium on Human Development.


Victoria Viellieu
Parent Services Manager
[email protected]
703-341-4100
Child Care Aware® of America

Your Organization’s Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: As the nation’s most respected hub for parents and child care providers, Child Care Aware® of America provides reliable information about quality child care and referrals to community resources. We work with state and local Child Care Resource and Referral agencies nationwide and serve as the “boots on the ground” through our frequent contacts with parents and guardians who are seeking information about quality child care, including licensing standards that include safe sleep regulations. Nationwide, Child Care Resource and Referral agencies reach to children and families is unmatched--they cover 99% of populated zip codes--making child care resource and referral an integral part of every community.

Your Contributions to the Field: Victoria Viellieu is the Parent Services Manager at Child Care Aware® of America. She brings more than ten years of experience working with and supporting children and families at the local and national level. Since joining Child Care Aware® of America in 2009, Victoria has led her team in developing and presenting consumer education materials to thousands of parents and providers via phone, online chat, email correspondence, and the Child Care Aware® website. Child Care Aware® consumer education information focuses on child care quality indicators, including safe sleep practices, as well as state licensing regulations, Quality Rating Information Systems (QRIS), and financial assistance. Victoria holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Virginia Tech and is pursuing a Master of Education degree from Arizona State University.


Ellen Volpe, MHSA
Chief, Eastern Branch, Division of State and Community Health
[email protected]
301-443-6320
Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The Division of State and Community Health (DSCH) oversees the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Block Grant program, which provides funding to states to address the priority needs of their MCH population, as identified through the state's five-year needs assessment.

Your Contributions to the Field: Ellen Volpe overseea the work of the MCH Block Grant in Regions I-V. She also serves as one of the DSCH representatives to the Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network (CoIIN) Learning Network to address Safe Sleep.


Donna Walls, RN, ICCE, IBCLC, ANLC
Director of Lactation
[email protected]
937-434-4650
International Childbirth Education Association

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The International Childbirth Education Association (ICEA) is a professional organization that provides current, evidence-based education for parents and health care providers about family-centered maternity and newborn care. ICEA is currently developing patient education materials that support safe sleep as well as continuation of breastfeeding to meet the Healthy People 2020 goals.

Your Contributions to the Field: Donna Walls develops position papers, professional education materials, and patient education on the importance of breastfeeding and how to safely feed during sleep times.


Robin Elise Weiss, PhD, MPH, LCCE
President, Lamaze International
[email protected]
502-233-1018
Lamaze International

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: Established in 1960, Lamaze International is a nonprofit organization composed of parents, childbirth educators, healthcare practitioners and other health professionals whose mission is to advance safe and healthy pregnancy, birth and early parenting through evidence-based education and advocacy. Knowing that access to credible information is key to a healthy pregnancy, childbirth and a good start to parenting, Lamaze works to educate women and provide support so they are equipped to effectively partner with their care provider, navigate their options in care and push for the safest, healthiest birth possible. Lamaze education and practices are based on the best and most current medical evidence available. The Lamaze Six Healthy Birth Practices are tried and true ways to teach parents how to have a safe and healthy birth and positive start to parenting. Our vision is "knowledgeable parents making informed decisions." Lamaze promotes safe sleep practices early on through our sixth Healthy Birth Practice "Keep mother and baby together - It's best for mother, baby and breastfeeding." Studies have shown that newborns who are placed skin-to-skin on their mother's chest right after birth will adjust more easily to life outside the womb, stay warmer, cry less and breastfeed sooner than newborns who are separated from their mothers.

Your Contributions to the Field: Robin is president of Lamaze International and serves on the board of her local March of Dimes. She works to educate families and those who teach families about research in safe sleep. Robin received her MPH and PhD from the University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences. She has been involved with the local and regional SIDS organizations since her nephew's death in 1992. 


Tareka Wheeler
Director of  Programs
[email protected]
202-662-0615
Safe Kids Worldwide

Your Organization's Role in Promoting Safe Sleep: Safe Kids Worldwide is a global organization dedicated to preventing injuries in children, the number one killer of kids in the United States. Under the leadership of President & CEO Kate Carr, Safe Kids Worldwide works with an extensive network of more than 500 coalitions in the United States and partners with organizations in 25 countries around the world to reduce injuries from motor vehicles, sports, drownings, falls, burns, poisonings, and more.

Your Contribution to the Field: As Director of Programs, Tareka Wheeler provides leadership and direction on the development of programs and initiatives local coalitions can use to educate parents and caregivers on how to keep their children safe. Prior to joining Safe Kids Worldwide, she served as the program coordinator for Safe Kids Austin, where she partnered with local and state agencies, developing strategic plans and mobilizing the community, to prevent injuries to children.


James Winston
President
[email protected]
202-463-8970
National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, Inc.

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: The National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) was organized in 1976. As the voice of the Black broadcast industry, NABOB has been instrumental in shaping national government and industry policies to improve the opportunities for success for Black and all other minority station owners. NABOB's member radio and television stations air public service announcements for many worthy causes. NABOB looks forward to working with NAPPSS to educate the public about safe sleep.

Your Contributions to the Field: James Winston is a communications attorney in Washington, DC and serves as President of the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, Inc. (NABOB). During his tenure he announced the creation of a "Broadcast to Broadband Health Equity Alliance"—a partnership with other organizations to recruit radio and television stations to promote and broadcast locally focused health equity programming.


Ryan Young, LMSW, MPA
Coordinator, Technical Assistance and Research 
[email protected]
National Council of Urban Indian Health
National Association of Social Workers

Your Organization's Role In Promoting Safe Sleep: We are a conduit for information flow to promote knowledge and best practices to address health disparities among urban American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Your Contributions to the Field: Responsible for ensuring that Urban Indian Health Programs have access to the most recent and culturally specific data available for improving quality of health care and expanding health services.