Congratulations to the 2015 winners and finalists!
The 2015 Award of Excellence goes to Deborah Lang, MSN, RN, IBCLC.
Deborah developed a breastfeeding program for Howard County General Hospital in MD, as well as a mentoring program enabling staff members to get the clinical experience they need to become lactation consultants. She developed a similar program for Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. She is guiding Johns Hopkins on their journey toward Baby-friendly Designation. In 2008, it was Deborah who made the case to “Ban the Bags to Johns Hopkins’ CEO and financial committee and, they did just that. She helps to educate both nurses and physicians about breastfeeding in Hopkins’ Schools of Nursing and Medicine and is currently establishing a lactation program for the Latino population of East Baltimore. She was part of ILCA’s liaison team to the United Nations and helped develop a panel discussion for the Committee on the Status of Women conference and is already part of the agenda planning for the UN’s 2025 Breastfeeding Advocacy Committee. USLCA thanks Deborah and congratulates her on winning USLCA’s Award of Excellence.
This year’s finalist for the Award of Excellence was Virginia Baker, MPH, RN, IBCLC.
Ginni founded and currently leads the University of San Diego program that has trained over 4000 lactation professionals and who is involved in breastfeeding promotion and support in her community and state. Many thanks to Ginni for all that she has done and continues to do for our profession.