Get acquainted with our staff
They have been chosen for their knowledge, expertise and experience. We are proud of every one of them!
Kirra Brandon, MD, FAAD, CBS
Kirra Brandon is a physician and, like so many of us in the field, inspired by her own breastfeeding experience. She nursed all five of her children for a total of one hundred and forty five months! She has over a decade of experience in providing online education for health professionals. As LER’s Medical Director, Kirra is focused on expanding access to exceptional lactation education around the globe, for all types of healthcare professionals.
Amy Black, BS, IBCLC
Amy enjoys guiding LER students in finding and setting up clinical internships at their local hospitals as well as coordinating our HOURS students. She joined LER in 2015 and her passion is helping others become an IBCLC as it has been so meaningful to her as well.
Amy's lactation background over the years has been working in a military hospital during her Pathway 3 internship through LER, as a Level III NICU IBCLC for 8-9 years, and helping families in their own homes through private practice. She continues to have a soft spot for the military community as they are a retired Air Force family and she is now a Navy mother.
Amy nursed all three of her children - some more easily than others in the early days. She thanks one of her children for her career change from finance to lactation. She is now parenting mostly adult children who still give her joy and planning out various camping trips with her husband and friends.
Julie Grimes, IBCLC
Julie has been supporting lactation since 2009, first as a La Leche League Leader and now also as an IBCLC. She plays various roles at LER—instructor, content reviewer, Q-Bank Coordinator, and even customer support! Working at LER helps keep her knowledge honed as she engages with students' inquiries and reviews and gathers research both for her own and other instructors' lessons. In her spare time, she is reading at least four books at once, cooking, playing board games, and listening to literary and pop-culture podcasts. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland with her husband, son, and three cats.
Sonja Kueppers
Sonja holds an MS in Computer Systems Management, and has over 30 years' professional experience in Information Technology. She has overall responsibility for LER's IT infrastructure, with a particular focus on our web and database servers.
Sonja nursed her own children and was a La Leche League Leader for many years, so the opportunity to help bring breastfeeding/chestfeeding education to more people is especially meaningful for her. In her spare time, Sonja is a Scout leader and enjoys playing board games.
Wendy Lawrence
Wendy manages our Lactation Consultant Training program and may likely be the friendly voice you hear when calling our office. She has been supporting LER students for over 10 years. She holds an Associate degree in Education and is the mother of two smart, strong, beautiful (and breastfed!) growing girls.
Her passion for assisting students along their path to becoming a credentialed lactation supporter is carried out through Student Advisement, Customer Support, general Tech Support as well as facilitating Estimates and Group Sales, Discounts, MyCAA Education and Training Plans, Scholarship Enrollments and general billing functions including Invoicing, Course Upgrades and Internship Payment Plans.
Contact Wendy at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Sekeita Lewis-Johnson, DNP, FNP-BC, IBCLC
Dr. Sekeita Lewis-Johnson is a Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner, International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and Birth Doula. She is the Accredited Provider Program Director and an Instructor for Lactation Education Resources.
For the past 25 years, her primary focus has been labor and delivery and maternal-child nursing. She has experience as a Nursing Instructor teaching clinical skills at various hospitals within the Metro-Detroit area. In 2019, Dr. Lewis-Johnson graduated from Wayne State University where she earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree and a Post-Graduate Nursing Education Certificate.
Dr. Lewis-Johnson has received multiple awards during her career. Most notably she received “The Award of Excellence” from the United States Lactation Consultant Association and “The Alumni Service Award” from The College of Nursing at Michigan State University.
Dr. Lewis-Johnson is an avid advocate for equitable and just policies and practice, especially related to black maternal-child health inequities. Passionate about maternal-child health and breastfeeding, she provides lactation and doula services within Metro-Detroit and surrounding areas. Her main goals are to prevent obstetrical harm, and to assist families to achieve their desired feeding goals. She believes that breastfeeding self-efficacy, along with skilled and timely lactation support are key to breastfeeding success. Dr. Lewis-Johnson is married to her college sweet heart and she is a proud mother of 3 breastfed children.
Angela Love-Zaranka, BA, IBCLC, RLC, FILCA
For nearly 3 decades, Angela’s contributions in lactation support, education, and leadership have been shaping the profession and impacting families worldwide.
Since becoming a La Leche League Leader in 1990 and a Board Certified Lactation Consultant in 1997, Angela has been a compassionate, innovative leader in the field. Her leadership includes serving on the boards of the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE) and the International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA). She has consulted for numerous non-profit organizations, hospitals, and governmental agencies, inside and outside of the United States, pioneering new ideas to expand access to lactation care and advocate for policy change. In all these roles, she draws on deep lived experience meeting the needs of lactating families — she has developed lactation programs for military hospitals, led the accreditation and redesignation of Baby-Friendly Hospitals, and provided clinical lactation support to thousands of families.
Committed to supporting culturally matched, skilled lactation care, support, and advocacy, Angela strives to enhance lactation management knowledge and skills for everyone, from breastfeeding counselors to advanced practitioners, empowering communities worldwide.
Jeanette McCulloch, IBCLC
Jeanette and the team at Birthswell oversee and execute LER's marketing and communications. Jeanette is the co-founder of BirthSwell and brings more than 20 years of experience in communications and health advocacy. She is passionate about eliminating the impact of racism on birth and lactation outcomes and ensuring that all families have access to high-quality, culturally sensitive care. She combines strategic communication skills with a love of social media and, as an IBCLC and trained doula, a real-world knowledge of birth and lactation.
Annette Nash
Annette is the right-hand assistant to Juanita Spears for the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative Program. She brings over 12 years of experience and organizational skills from her earlier career in Airline Carrier Operations. Annette joined LER in 2016 and has been an integral part of the BFHI program by providing customer service and group manager support. One of her many supportive roles is student enrollments.
In addition to her beliefs and dedication to LER’s Core Values, she serves her local church by volunteering. When she left her job in the Airline industry to become a stay-at-home mom of two breastfed children, she started a Backpack Weekend Food Program for local school children which is still thriving today!
Contact Annette at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Becky Nield
Becky holds a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Biology from Idaho State University. She studied gender expression and early ovule development in angiosperms (flowering plants) for her Master's thesis. Did you know that flowering plants have both male and female reproductive organs?
Becky's career at Lactation Education Resources of managing all aspects of content for three websites, Lactation Education Resources, Capacitación en lactancia and First Latch is made easy because of the extremely hard-working, dedicated and talented team working in her department.
Becky is the proud parent of 3 breastfed daughters. While breastfeeding seemed 'on track' and 'successful' for her, knowing what she knows now makes her wish that she had sought out some anticipatory guidance pre or postnatally. There is always something new to learn!
In her free time, you will likely see Becky on a turf field cheering on her soccer stars. Becky also enjoys birding and gardening.
Sarah Rasco, BSN, RN, IBCLC, LCCE, CPST, LMT
Sarah is a Registered Nurse, International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), Lamaze Certified childbirth educator (LCCE), and Child Passenger safety technician (CPST). She is certified in newborn behavioral observation (NBO) and is passionate about supporting and educating the Maternal-Child population.
Sarah is the Nurse Planner at LER, working in the Accreditation Department with the Accredited Provider Program Director to oversee compliance to our accrediting bodies and provide guidance for educational activities.
She is a mother of five breastfed children and a golden retriever. She is pursuing her Masters degree in Public Health with a concentration in Maternal Child Policy and Leadership. When not working or in school, Sarah loves to travel, read, enjoys eating good food, and spending time with her family.
April Smith
April has a B.A. in Liberal Studies and an extensive background in business and hospitality management, but in 2020 sought a change to a more balanced life. She is now LER’s content coordinator and enjoys working with her teammates, putting the finishing touches on the instructor-provided content.
Though she breastfed her son (now an amazing adult) without issue, she wishes she had known even a fraction of the breastfeeding/chestfeeding information she has been exposed to while working with LER. As such, she is a firm supporter of human-milk-feeding, and an ardent believer in the greatness of LER’s product.
When she is not working, April can be found hiking in the mountains of New Hampshire, playing pickleball, or tending her garden.
Juanita Spears
Skilled and dedicated with experience in project management, account operations, efficient workflow, and administrative functions, Juanita’s extensive background in these areas for more than 30 years, is behind the zeal she has in delivering outstanding customer service to our clients. She joined Lactation Education Resources in 2013 and since that time, has been your point of contact for all things related to the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative and the FirstLatch website, which supports the online training courses..
Aside from working on the BFHI project, Juanita is a Business Consultant and Professional Life Coach in the area of Management and Leadership. She is active in her local church and is currently taking piano lessons.
Contact Juanita at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Jill Stemm
Jill is the mother of two breastfed children with a degree in Information Technology and Computer Programming. Her daughter was born premature and was never able to take a bottle due to a genetic disorder that caused an anomaly with her esophagus so she was fed breast milk through a feeding tube to help build up her weak immune system. Her son was also born premature and was breastfed to help him grow and gain weight. Both are now happy, healthy, and thriving adults.
Jill's hobbies include spending time with family, anything computer-related, being outside watching the birds that visit her bird feeders, tending her plants, and learning anything new.
Nickole Unterzuber-Bowman
Nickole (Nickie) is responsible for the business operations of Lactation Education Resources, FirstLatch, and CEL. Her experience includes human resources, operations, and project management. Nickole is from Monterey, California, where she attended school, receiving her degree and starting and establishing her carrier in business; which has now been for the last 25 years. Nickole moved to the DC Metro area working in human resources, business, and within the defense industry; with a clearance of a TS-SCI FS. Nickole understands the importance of urgency, communication, detail, inclusion, and belonging.
Nickole is a mother of two daughters who were breastfed, and Nickole understands the challenges and rewards of breastfeeding. Nickole treasures and has a deep affection and devotion to LER and has been with the company for ten years within the same role.
Kimberly Weber, MSW, IBCLC
Kim is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant with a Master’s Degree in Social Work. She works in Customer Support, so you may "meet" her if you call the office or send us an email. Kim also works as a Lactation Consultant on the Postpartum and Pediatrics Unit of a hospital. She has a special interest in perinatal mental health. Kim is the mother of 3 amazing children, and when she’s not working you can find her spending time with family and friends, reading a book, or dreaming of the beach.
As LER's Former Program Director, Vergie Hughes brought a long history of experience in Maternal Child Health including labor and delivery, postpartum and pediatrics, and 30 years of involvement in lactation management.
We are grateful for her critical role in establishing and growing LER's stellar community of educators, staff, and students. We continue to look to the mission, vision, and core values that were established during her leadership.
We wish her well in enjoying her much deserved retirement, alongside her husband and LER's former Chief Technical Officer, Doug Thom.
