Please begin joining the meeting at 9:45 as we will begin promptly at 10am. This Meeting will be recorded and available for 30 days.
10:00 am – 11:00 am "Mentorship for the Win-Win-Win"
Jennifer Hafele, M.Ed., IBCLC & Katelyn Kleven, CBS, Mama Bear Intern
Jennifer Hafele, M.Ed., IBCLC, is an IBCLC in private practice based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Owner and leader of Mama Bear Family Care, she offers in-home, in-office, and telehealth options for expert lactation care. A former public school teacher with a Masters in Education, Jennifer supervised pre-service student teachers in a former life, making IBCLC mentorship an easy “yes” for her. She is passionate about pouring resources into others, building our profession, and equipping more lactation supporters to positively impact our communities.
Kate Kleven is a Certified Breastfeeding Specialist (CBS) and a Baby-Led Sleep & Wellbeing Specialist through Isla-Grace. Kate is pursuing IBLCE Pathway 3 and recently completed her 500 hours of mentorship with Jennifer. She will take her board exam in Spring of 2026.
Not to be too presumptuous, but we know you. Like us, you’re passionate about accessible, inclusive lactation care for families. If you’re already working in this field, you are constantly reminded that you don’t have enough bandwidth to meet this gigantic need yourself. But it might seem even harder to mentor someone else toward doing the same work you do, and you worry that if you try to, your bandwidth for serving lactating families may decrease – the exact opposite of the end goal. If you are trying to enter this field, you want to help equip families with the lactation support they need while helping to ease the burden on existing lactation care providers. But it might seem impossible to find a mentor who will invest time and energy in you so you CAN join the field and provide much-needed reinforcements. Quite the stalemate. What if a win-win-win were possible?
We (Jennifer and Kate) found our mentorship win-win-win, and we want to give you a window into what it has looked like for us. By sharing ours, we invite you to open your mind to mentorship for the win-win win: creative mentorship possibilities that can benefit our profession, as well as all parties involved – mentor, mentee, and lactating families. Mama Bear Lactation Care team.
Learning Objectives – By the end of this presentation attendees will be able to:
- Understand what the mentoring relationship looked like for us (Jennifer & Kate) in our context of outpatient private practice with part-time, flexible hours.
- Access and utilize our curated list of reliable resources regarding IBLCE mentorship requirements/expectations for eligible mentors and aspiring mentees.
- Engage in thoughtful consideration and exploration of what could be possible in various practice settings with individualized pairings to create more mentorship opportunities.
Please note: Jennifer & Kate are not representatives of IBLCE. As such, we must offer a disclaimer that while we have done our best to accurately represent mentorship and its current requirements, we do so through our own lens and understanding. We cannot be held responsible for information shared in this session that could be incomplete or incorrect for someone else’s individual situation. In addition to utilizing the following resources for the most up-to-date guidance available, please be sure to submit questions for clarification to IBLCE directly. Thank you.
11:00 am – 12:00 pm “Becoming” an IBCLC as Informed, Benevolent, Competent, Legitimate, Champions
Sekeita Lewis-Johnson, DNP, FNP-BC, IBCLC
Dr. Sekeita Lewis-Johnson is a Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner, IBCLC and Birth Doula. She is the Accredited Provider Program Director and an Instructor for Lactation Education Resources.
This presentation will provide anticipatory guidance on what to expect after passing the IBLCE exam. The presenter will describe how to build your practice from a justice-oriented lens and how to avoid common pitfalls. This session is recommended for anyone wanting to understand the realities of being and becoming an IBCLC, and for new IBCLCs who have recently passed the exam.
Learning Objectives – By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
1. Provide anticipatory guidance to new and aspiring IBCLCs
2. Describe common pitfalls to practice and how to avoid them
12:00 pm – General Meeting – All are welcome to attend
Registration link to follow soon. Link to the Zoom event will be sent via email several days before the event.
CERPs – 2 R CERPs
