ANDREA SERANO, CLC, IBCLC

Andrea Serano’s work in breastfeeding advocacy stems from her passion for addressing maternal and infant health issues, especially among communities of Color. Our newest CHAMPion of the Week is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant® (IBCLC®), Certified Lactation Counselor® (CLC®), and Executive Director of Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere (ROSE).

Originally from North Hollywood, California, Andrea graduated from Union Institute and University with a Bachelor of Science in Maternal Child Health and a concentration in Human Lactation. In 2012, she coordinated ROSE’s first-ever breastfeeding summit, “Reclaiming an African American Tradition.” Following the summit, she relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, and served as ROSE Program Director before becoming the Executive Director. Andrea currently helps manage the planning, fundraising, and coordination of the annual summit and serves on the coordinating team for ROSE events, trainings, and program-related activities. She is also pursuing a Master of Public Health at Georgia Southern University.

In addition to her leadership at ROSE, Andrea is the Chair of the Stork’s Nest Committee for the Phi Omicron Zeta chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., serving Rockdale and Newton counties in Georgia. She has also served on the Board of the Georgia Breastfeeding Coalition and the United States Breastfeeding Committee. Andrea was selected as a member of the Center for Social Inclusion’s (CSI) National 2016 First Food Racial Equity cohort, where she facilitated workshops on equity and action planning for community organizations. Additionally, she has provided direct lactation support to families in two Baby-Friendly designated hospitals in Metro Atlanta.

When speaking on why she does this work, Andrea states that “the work to address inequities in health is important, meaningful, and takes time. However, breastfeeding has the power to heal two generations at one time. Therefore, it is imperative to do all we can to address the needs of families to help them reach their feeding goals.”

ROSE has been a key partner of CHAMPS since 2014, and Andrea’s work for ROSE has positively impacted CHAMPS in many ways. We look forward to Andrea speaking at our upcoming Mississippi CHAMPS Virtual Conference on December 12! Check out the full agenda here.

CHEER is grateful for Andrea’s dedication to serving communities, centering the breastfeeding needs of Black families, and impacting maternal-child health outcomes across the nation. We are thrilled to celebrate Andrea Serano as our CHAMPion of the Week.