SPEAKERS

Jodine Chase

Jodine Chase is a public relations and communications consultant specializing in issues and crisis management news analysis. She is currently enrolled in a Master of Arts program at Royal Roads, specializing in Intercultural and International Communication and Disaster and Emergency Management. Along with co-lead Michelle Pensa Branco, MPH, IBCLC, Jodine founded SafelyFed Canada, which is a national, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the protection of infants and young children in emergency through safe and appropriate feeding. SafelyFed Canada advocates for improved infant feeding policy federally, provincially and locally, designs and delivers training and co-ordinates direct aid to families in emergencies through our staff, volunteers and partner organizations.

Jodine is a long-time breastfeeding advocate who, as a volunteer, has worked for many breastfeeding-related causes including advocating for the re-establishment of milk banks, amending policies and legislation to protect breastfeeding rights. Jodine serves on the board of her local breastfeeding advocacy group, the Breastfeeding Action Committee of Edmonton (BACE), which is implementing a human rights education grant project to increase the number of Breastfeeding Friendly public spaces in her city.
She also volunteers with the Best for Babes Foundation, ILCA, INFACT Canada, and Friends of the WHO Code. She’s involved in many breastfeeding related events including BfB’s Miracle Milk Month and Quintessence’s Breastfeeding Challenge.

Carole Dobrich RN, B.Sc., IBCLC, ANLC

Carole is Australian born & currently lives in Montreal, Canada. She is a Registered Nurse and has a Bachelor of Science in Maternal Child Health-Human Lactation. She has experience volunteering with WABA-NA, INFACT Canada and was past Chair of INFACT Quebec, all organisations supporting International Code work. She completed International Code Training under the guidance of Elisabeth Sterken (INFACT Canada), David Clark (UNICEF), Joo Kean Yeong and Constance Ching (IBFAN-ICDC). She has been a strong advocate for the International Code since the 1990’s. She has been teaching health care professionals about Ethics and the International Code since 2002.

She also has a vast experience with complicated lactation cases, has been involved with lactation and research since the early 2000’s. She believes in the importance of sharing knowledge, supporting research and building strong professional and ethical relationships.

Disclosure: She co-founded the HFPC-Goldfarb Breastfeeding Clinic and the first bilingual lactation education program in Canada. She is co-director and professional development educator for Health e-Learning-IIHL online lactation education and Step2 Education International Online Baby Friendly education.

Dr Karleen Gribble

Dr Karleen Gribble is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Western Sydney University. Karleen began work in the area of infant and young child feeding in emergencies (IYCF-E) after the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004 and started working with the international interagency collaboration the Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies Core Group in 2006. She was the first person to be made an individual member of the IFE Core group in 2010, and has been at the forefront of the development of policy, training and research in this field. She is one of the authors of the Operational Guidance on Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies and has been a part of the development of other international guidance including the Guidance on infant feeding in the context of ebola, and the Interim operational considerations for the feeding support of infants and young children under 2 years of age in refugee and migrant transit settings in Europe.

She has provided advice to multiple humanitarian organisations on policy, training and implementation of IYCF-E programs including UNICEF, UNHCR, World Vision and Save the Children. She has provided advice to health professionals, emergency responders and government bodies on IYCF-E in countries as diverse as the Philippines, Haiti, Myanmar, Syria, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Canada, and the USA. She is also an Australian Breastfeeding Association Community Educator and Breastfeeding Counsellor.

Magdalena Whoolery

Magdalena Whoolery is a Maternal Child Health (MCH) and Infant & Young Child Feeding (IYCF) Consultant. She has 19 years experience as a registered nurse, with a PhD in Health Studies from Brunel University. Her experience is in the health sector, including designing and developing programs, project management, community development and humanitarian and emergency response for UNICEF and WHO. She has worked in Indonesia, Southern Africa, Timor-Leste and recently the Philippines assisting, on the ground, emergency response following catastrophes, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, soil liquefaction, fires and volcanic explosion. She has expertise in assessing and managing MCH-IYCF in emergencies, as well as experience in laying ground work for development projects. Magdalena founded both the Compassion Movement and La Leche League in Botswana, And internationally she has been instrumental in constructing strategic partnerships with Government, United Nations, NGOs, corporations and community leaders.

Strengths include, coalition building, advocacy, building local capacity, and developing innovative social behaviour change materials, with a strong focus on sustainability through evidence-based capacity building trainings, curriculum development and supportive supervision. She is a strong champion of the WHO Code and Nurturing Care, including protector, promotor and supporter of breastfeeding, skin-to-skin contact and kangaroo mother care. Magdalena is passionate about compassion for all, especially underserved populations and those facing emergencies.