The Breastfeeding Family Friendly Communities (BFFC) global board is a working board, and members devote their time to this work. We welcome recommendations for board members who can provide time and energy to this exciting project.
Salma Ali
Salma Ali is a member of the Breastfeed Durham implementation team. Salma is coordinator for the Breastfeed Durham newsletter, The Durham Digest, and the Breastfeed Durham blog, StayAbreast.
Salma recently graduated with a Master’s in Public Health in Maternal, Child, & Family Health from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel. She is passionate about reproductive justice and working towards sexual and reproductive health, justice, and equity for all. This includes ensuring that families have the lactation support they need to support their infant’s nutrition and health.
Linels Higuera Ancidey
Linels Higuera Ancidey, IBCLC, MPH-MCFH, is a bilingual public health professional, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, and Certified Spanish Healthcare Interpreter with more than a decade of experience supporting families in their infant feeding journeys. She holds a Master of Public Health in Maternal, Child and Family Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and serves as a Social/Clinical Research Specialist and bilingual Ready Set Baby Facilitator at the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute.
Linels is the co-facilitator and co-founder of Un Dia a la Vez, an initiative of Breastfeed Durham Lactancia Latina that provides culturally responsive support to pregnant and postpartum Spanish-speaking families in Durham. She serves as a preceptor for aspiring lactation consultants, a board member of Breastfeeding Family Friendly Communities, and a volunteer IBCLC with the Breastfeed Durham Lactation Collaborative.
In December 2024 she volunteered with the SAFE Team – Infant Feeding in Emergencies to support Hurricane Helene relief efforts in Western Carolina, providing lactation support, interpretation, and community education on safe infant feeding practices during emergencies. A bilingual presenter and educator, she has presented at the 47th Annual Minority Health Conference, the MaryAnn Black Symposium, and continuing education sessions for NC WIC Region 1 and Region 2 peer counselors, and contributed to community education at the UNC Science Expo. Her passion is ensuring that every family, regardless of language or background, receives the support they need to meet their infant feeding goals.
Love Anderson
Love is the co-founder of Breastfeeding Family Friendly Communities (BFFC), and actively supports our community-led projects across the United States, including Breastfeed Durham, the North Carolina Breastfeeding Coalition (NCBC), and the SAFE Team (Support and Advocacy for Feeding Emergencies). In her leadership roles, she works at the intersections of policy development, digital strategy, and collaborative advocacy to build family-friendly communities that center perinatal and infant health equity.
Her lived experiences as a parent of two spirited boys and as a Black-Cherokee woman raised in the rural South ground her holistic approach to community health advocacy. Professionally, Love brings a diverse background in system analytics and education. Her journey into lactation began with breastfeeding her two children with special needs—an experience that inspired her to volunteer in lactation support, universal access, and infant and young child feeding in emergencies (IYCF-E).
Melissa Henry
Melissa Henry is a devoted mother of 8 breastfed babies and a community college teacher. For over 30 years, she has also been an advocate for women’s health and well-being in California and the Carolinas.
Melissa graduated from UC Berkeley, where she earned a B.A. in English. This academic foundation laid the groundwork for her involvement in community initiatives. Through support groups, workshops, and one-on-one consultations, she has supported countless women navigating the journey of motherhood. Her expertise in breastfeeding has empowered families to embrace this natural and nourishing practice. In 2016, she completed her Lactation Peer Counselor training. In 2018, Melissa shared her personal account at an event organized by Sistas Caring 4 Sistas, Mothers Matter: An Intimate Evening of Birth Near Death Stories. In 2021, Melissa began her work with the Buncombe Partnership for Children, advocating for breastfeeding in public. Her commitment to maternal wellness, combined with her invaluable insights, has helped support networks that continue to benefit families.
Fariha Rahman
Fariha Rahman is a birth doula and chief operating officer for BFFC. She is a member of Breastfeed Durham’s implementation team, where she also served as a policy coordinator.
Fariha graduated from Duke University with a Masters of Science in Population Health Sciences and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Science in Health Policy and Management. Throughout her course of study, she gained invaluable experience as a birth doula at UNC Hospitals and contributed to research understanding the impact of social determinants on women’s mental health. These experiences, particularly her work with new mothers from diverse backgrounds, fueled her passion for maternal health equity and policy advocacy. She is excited to continue contributing her expertise and dedication to BFFC, where she is committed to making a lasting impact on maternal and child health.
Interested in learning more about joining the Board? Please reach out!
Advisors and Support Team
Kathleen Anderson – Board Member Emerit
Kathleen began working with the BFFC initiative while at the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She was delighted to be a part of the development team for the pilot in her local community and continued to work with BFFC after retirement.
A background in teaching and early intervention has given Kathleen the opportunity to provide resources on optimal infant development to families and communities for over 30 years. She also has continued to advocate for policies and practices that support children and their families. Kathleen’s love for breast/chestfeeding and her understanding of its vital role in a child’s development began as a nursing parent, and her work in early intervention has given Kathleen a deeper appreciation of the importance of equity in breast/chestfeeding promotion, protection, and support. Kathleen firmly believes that our communities play a pivotal role in improving the health and well-being of children and families by welcoming nursing families to feed their children safely and happily in all areas of community life.
Bernadette Greene
Bernadette Greene is a dedicated community advocate and breastfeeding champion, serving as the Executive Director and Board Member of Breastfeed Durham. She also sits on the board of Fatherhood of Durham, contributing her expertise in family support and community engagement.
With a background in childcare, Bernadette previously worked with the Durham Head Start program and served as a Community Health Worker with the Durham County Department of Public Health (DCoDPH). In her role as a breastfeeding advocate, she continues to provide technical assistance to both Head Start and DCoDPH, ensuring that families receive comprehensive breastfeeding support.
As a mother and grandmother who has breastfed five children, Bernadette brings a wealth of lived experience to her advocacy. Her motto, “A happy mom breastfeeding is a happy baby eating,” reflects her passion for supporting families in their breastfeeding journeys. She is a trusted resource in the Durham community, known affectionately as the “resource lady” for her ability to connect parents with essential local services.
Bernadette actively engages with the community by attending events, sharing knowledge about chest/breastfeeding, and promoting equitable access to breastfeeding support. Her leadership at Breastfeed Durham has been instrumental in establishing Durham as the ideal pilot project for Breastfeeding Family Friendly Communities, serving as a model for cities worldwide. With its racial diversity and balanced size—not too big, not too small—Durham provides critical insights that help shape the global initiative. Bernadette’s commitment to family well-being, her deep connections within the community, and her expertise in early childhood care make her a vital addition to the advisory group for Breastfeeding Family Friendly Communities Global.
Allyson Flores
Allyson Flores is a graduate student in the Master of Public Health program from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina. She is passionate about sexual and reproductive health, health equity, and health care service delivery and accessibility. In her role as a Policy Coordinator with BFFC, Allyson applies her knowledge in health policy, systems level thinking, and health law to connect with legislators and community partners to support maternal and infant health initiatives.
Allyson’s work focuses on advancing lactation equity through systemic policy, community organizing and environmental change. Allyson is interested in bridging the gap between complex policy and the people it intends to serve, by uplifting community partners and leaders who value a community based approach to health care and accessibility to health care services regardless of race, gender, or socioeconomic status.
Anaiyah Morgan
Anaiyah Morgan has a strong background in community-based program coordination, implementation, and evaluation. As a Financial Strategist with BFFC, she focuses on advancing sustainable funding solutions for community-driven maternal and infant health initiatives.
Recognizing that sustainable funding remains a major barrier to achieving equitable outcomes, particularly in under-resourced rural and BIPOC communities across North Carolina, Anaiyah supports breastfeeding programs in identifying and addressing financial challenges. Through a community-informed evaluation guided by the Ten Steps framework, she analyzes qualitative and programmatic data gathered from interviews and community-supplied documents to identify funding gaps, assess program progress, and prepare tailored grant proposals.
Her work integrates public health, financial strategy, and community engagement to strengthen breastfeeding support systems and promote health equity for mothers and infants.
Ty Troped
Ty Troped is a technical writer and Written Communications Specialist with Breastfeeding Family Friendly Communities (BFFC). He graduated from Temple University with a Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Management and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Vermont. In his role with BFFC, Ty applies expertise in persuasive writing, health communication, and web design to strengthen maternal and infant health initiatives through community-centered communication and systems change efforts.
Ty’s work focuses on improving communication systems through emergency preparedness, equity-centered messaging, and collaborative approaches that help communities better connect with the families they serve. His work includes supporting newsletter development, website content, and communication initiatives for both BFFC and the SAFE Team, helping translate complex public health concepts into practical tools and resources for communities.
Ty’s graduate research focused on developing communication tools to help communities overcome barriers to equitable breastfeeding support, particularly in rural and under-resourced areas. This work resulted in a set of evidence-informed communication tools that adapt successful strategies from established communities to support emerging local programs.
Although Ty originally planned to work with BFFC during his graduate program, he developed a deep commitment to the organization’s mission and continues supporting BFFC and the SAFE Team through strategic communication, advocacy, and community partnership efforts.