The ASPHN Board of Directors met on February 10, 2023.
- Nine General member applications were approved: Ruhiyyih Bannister, Hannah Barnes and Vanessa LeMire (FL); Carrie Lindquist (MN); Cynthia Ervin and Konnie Tran (NC); Hannah Scott (NH); Maggie Hartig and Hannah Wise (NY).
- Eighteen Associate member applications were approved: Kelsey Kamanani Conklin and Sarah McKenzie (CA); Adewumi Oladele (MD); Huda Gass and Abigail Gelineau (MN); Mohammadi Amena, Molly Ball, Patrick Blower, Gillian Bridges, Damion Daley, Jackie Dalzell, Shelby Fink, Alexandria Owen, Samantha Simmons, Marcy Steigerwald and Beth Stepp (NC); Leah Ahkee-Baczkiewicz (NM); and Susan Kreager (WY).
- The motion to approve an amendment to the ASPHN bylaws to increase the limit of board members from a single state from a maximum of 2 to a maximum of three (3) for the 2023-2024 Board of Directors passed unanimously.
- The motion to request that the Bylaws Committee debate this 2-person limit and consider a permanent change to the limit of 2 people from one state passed unanimously.
- Policy Committee actions on behalf of ASPHN since last board report:
- Did not opt of out of the National Partnership for Women & Families’ letter addressed to Congress endorsing the Job Protection Act’s reintroduction in the 118th Congress. The bill text will remain the same, and the sign-on letter text has only minor updates to reflect new data.
- Signed-on in support of the National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity (NANA) coalition’s comment to US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expressing support for mandatory front-of-package (FOP) nutrition labeling. For reference, the full petition calling for mandatory FOP labeling, submitted to FDA by Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), the Association of SNAP Nutrition Education Administrators, and the Association of State Public Health Nutritionists (ASPHN), can be found here.
- Signed-on to the United States Breastfeeding Committee’s (USBC) joint letter welcoming the new Congress and urging them to take action on this session’s breastfeeding policy priorities:
- Federal funding for breastfeeding
- Infant nutrition security
- Access to lactation support and supplies
- Workplace protections
- Maternity care
The letter is to be delivered electronically to all Senators and Representatives as part of the USBC Welcome Congress campaign.