The ASPHN Board of Directors met on May 11, 2018.
The Board welcomed 5 new Expanded Members: Alyssa Auvinen (WA), Rebecca Dye (GA), Crystal Hurley (DE), Jennifer Johnson (AK) and Katlyn Le (TX), and 7 new Associate Members: Elizabeth Brandley (AL), Junia Brito (MN), Meg Bruening (AZ), Courtney Davis (WA), Carol Hui (CA), Molly Rigell (TN) and April Schmidt (MI).
- Election results were announced. The terms start August 1, 2018. Diane Golzynski is President-elect; Pat Simmons is Treasurer; Becky Adams, Jill Lange, and Jacqueline Rios-Avila are Director-at-Large; Heather Harrison-Catledge is MCH Nutrition Council Chair-elect; Megan Hlavacek is Fruit and Vegetable Nutrition Council Chair-elect; Helen Brown is Obesity Prevention Nutrition Council Chair and Elaine Russell is Chair-elect; Terrell Brock, Alma Hopkins, and Molly Killman are Governance Committee.
- The Policy Committee signed on to a letter to the USTR/members of Congress from CSPI on the content of unhealthy food and beverages—such as on the front-of-pack labeling—in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
- The Policy Committee signed on to a USBC letter to Anthem health insurance opposing cuts to reimbursement rates for breast pumps and concerns that this decrease will have a long lasting impact on maternal and child health outcomes and ultimately health care costs
- The Policy Committee signed on to a letter request from the USBC to Senator J. Merkley and Rep. C. Maloney in support of the Supporting Working Moms Act (SWMA) which would protect and expand working moms’ right to breastfeed by extending the existing federal law to ensure that executive, administrative, and professional employees, including elementary and secondary school teachers, have the right to reasonable break time and a private, non-bathroom place to express breast milk at work
- The Policy Committee signed on to a letter request from the USBC to Senator T. Duckworth and Rep. S. Knight in support of the Friendly Airports for Mothers (FAM) Act which would require all large and medium hub airports to provide a private, non-bathroom space in each terminal for mothers to express breast milk.
- The ASPHN Board of Directors concluded its two-day, in-person Board meeting on April 22 and 23 in Minneapolis, MN.