Congratulations to the 2019 winner!
The 2019 Award of Excellence goes to Dr. Ellen Chetwynd, PhD, MPH, RN, BSN, IBCLC
Dr. Ellen Chetwynd is most deserving for the USLCA Award of Excellence. She demonstrates all of the qualities for leadership, advocacy, and scholarship. Ellen has been the co-chair of the North Carolina Lactation Consultant Association. She aligned the organization with the North Carolina Breastfeeding Coalition; Created annual NCLCA Summit to mentor new IBCLCs into leadership roles, and reinforce a perinatal regional structure with localized objectives using a SMART goal setting theory of change; Implemented a listening tour across the state utilizing GIS mapping of perinatal regions to locate areas of strength and weakness; Worked with NC Child Fatality Task force to advocate for reimbursement of lactation consultants by NC Medicaid; Co-wrote and received a grant from NACCHO for Reducing Disparities in Breastfeeding through Peer and Professional Support. As a member of USLCA’s Licensure Committee, Ellen co-wrote a white paper for reimbursement and licensure of IBCLCs, now in its third edition and presented research on reimbursement of IBCLCs at USBC’s Fourth National Conference of Breastfeeding Coalitions. As a founding member of the Women’s Birth and Wellness Center lactation program, she instructs graduate students, mentors community clinicians and other lactation consultants, and writes grants to replicate and upscale their model of care. Ellen also serves as an instructor for two IBCLC training programs, at UNC Chapel-Hill and NC State. In terms of scholarship, Ellen has published over 20 peer-reviewed publications that have been cited and used to improve the quality of breastfeeding support.