HealthConnect One Appoints Brenda Reyes to Lead Global Policy Expansion

Reyes brings over two decades of leadership in lactation policy and coalition building to this position. Her primary mandate involves bridging the gap between grassroots birth work and international health ministries. By translating the organization's community-based doula and breastfeeding peer counselor model into a diplomatic framework, she aims to integrate localized care into national health systems across a new corridor spanning Mexico, Central and South America, and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean.

Dr. Twylla Dillion, President and CEO of HealthConnect One, emphasized that Reyes possesses the necessary cultural and policy fluency to represent the organization at the highest levels of government. Beyond her international duties, Reyes will continue to manage the nonprofit's legislative engagements in Washington. Her inaugural appearance in this capacity is scheduled for the 15th Anniversary ROSE and ROBE Breastfeeding & Birth Justice Summit in New Orleans, held from August 26 through 29, 2026. There, she will engage with providers and policymakers on the summit’s theme of breastfeeding, power, and birth justice.