The 2nd Annual RVA Breastfeeding Symposium will take place Friday, August 4th at the Virginia Historical Society, 428 N. Boulevard. The focus of this year’s symposium is First Food: The Intersection of Health, Race, Policy and Practice.
The morning session of this day-long event is free and open to the public from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Keynote speakers will be Kimberly Seals Allers, an award winning journalist, author and nationally recognized advocate for breastfeeding and infant health who is the project director for the First Food Friendly Community Initiative (3FCI), a W.K. Kellogg funded pilot project in Detroit and Philadelphia.
Also speaking will be Elizabeth Gray Bayne, who will present excerpts from Chocolate Milk, her documentary exploring African-American women’s experiences with breastfeeding. A panel discussion moderated by Dr. Danny Avula, Director of the Richmond City Health District will be featured during this portion. Panelists are: Kimberly Seals Allers; Senator Jennifer McClellan; Shakeya Lewis; Alicia Turner, Associate CEO, Virginia Premier; Valerie Coleman, RN, MSN, IBCLC, LCCE, FACCE. Panel members will share their perspectives on the breastfeeding environment from personal, business, healthcare, legislative and policy perspectives.
