LaShanda Dandrich (she/her) is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, IBCLC and co- founder of the worker owner Cooperative, Uptown Village Cooperative. After the birth of her daughter in 2009, her passion for breastfeeding and supporting mothers and families in the postpartum period blossomed. She became a trained postpartum doula while pursuing her IBCLC credential. She has supported families of all diverse, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds throughout NYC. She resides in Harlem with her daughter.

Patricia McGuire (she/her) is an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) since 2008 for over 15 year. Along with her private practice, Patricia works part-time at NYU Langone Hospital on the “mother/baby” floor and initiated a Lactation support group in Greenpoint at The Wild. Patricia is co-owner, along with La Shanda Dandrich and Allison Walsh of the Lactation Learning Collective.

Allison Walsh is an IBCLC, Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, and doula in private practice in New York City. She also serves as the Outreach Coordinator for the New York Milk Bank and trains childbirth educators as a Co-Director of the NYC Lamaze Childbirth Educator Program. She is a past president of Lamaze International and currently serves on Lamaze’s Certification Council. Allison has represented Lamaze International as a delegate to the United States Breastfeeding Committee since 2004, and has served in various leadership and committee roles. Allison is a member of the New York City Breastfeeding Leadership Council, the New York Lactation Consultant Association, and an active La Leche League Leader since 2001. She is a graduate of Syracuse University and mother of three formerly and lengthily breastfed children.