Maya Radoccia-Kennen, BSW, IBCLC
International Board Certified Lactation Consultant
Director, Treasurer
Maya developed a strong understanding of successful lactation and nursing a baby through a combination of professional development and personal experience. Her clinical experience first began as a social worker and Breastfeeding Peer Counselor for at-risk families in rural Arizona. This soon sparked an interest in the field of lactation as she watched parents struggle to breast/chest feed due to a lack of professional support.
In 2010 Maya became an IBCLC and started out at the Flagstaff Medical Center while also opening a private practice. Maya then became the IBCLC for the Flagstaff Birth and Women’s Center for 4 years. She now runs northern Arizona’s only non-profit Lactation Center, High Country Lactation Care, Inc within the Flagstaff Birth Collective. She also operates a private practice in the Verde Valley and Prescott areas. Over the last 12 years it has been her joy to assist 1,000’s of families in their lactation journey!
As a mother of 3 children, she has experienced the many joys and benefits of nursing. But also experienced many of the real life challenges like sleep deprivation, breast infections, breastfeeding a NICU baby, postpartum depression and pumping and working to name a few.
Maya believes that breast/chest feeding is the biological norm and that babies and birthing or lactating parents are capable of amazing things! Her professional passion lies in helping families achieve their lactation goals with competent, evidence-based, compassionate and experienced support.
“Being a part of the lives of the families I serve is a great honor and pleasure. I see breast/chest feeding as a means to a healthier, happier world!”
- Member International Lactation Consultant Association
- Member United States Lactation Consultant Association
- Certified by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners
Email me: ibclc@highcountrylactation.org
Kelly McCue, MPH
President
Kelly McCue grew up in Fort Collins, CO, and moved to Flagstaff, AZ in 2007. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Northern Arizona University, and a Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health from Boston University.
Kelly’s interest in maternal health piqued while living in India and Nepal. She was moved by the resilience of women she met, and assisted organizations aiming to empower communities through environmental health and sovereignty. In Boston, Kelly helped coordinate Birth Story Slam, a Boston-based spoken word series featuring stories of reproductive health journeys.
As a Senior Research Coordinator at the Center for Health Equity Research, Kelly works on several maternal and child health projects, with communities including the Navajo Nation, Yavapai County, and the Arizona State Health Department.
Kelly is the Chair of the First Things First Coconino Regional Partnership Council, and member since 2016. She is also a trained Birth Doula and Pilates Instructor.
You can find her running and biking the trails in northern Arizona.
Dr. Paula Pelletier-Butler
Vice President
Global Maternal Health and Midwifery Specialist, Former Owner/Midwife at Flagstaff Birth and Women’s Center.
Paula’s love and passion for pregnancy and birth began with the births of her 3 children, who were all born with the loving assistance of a midwife. Paula has a background in nursing and massage therapy and has been working in the women’s health field since 1986. She received her Master of Science in Midwifery from Bastyr University and has her Doctor of Midwifery from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. She has been attending births for over 13 years and her clinical midwifery experience includes both community and hospital settings including homebirth practices, Seattle area birth centers, Victoria Hospital in the Caribbean, and Tuba City Hospital (TCRHCC). She is currently on faculty at Bastyr University and City University of London. She is also past Vice President and current Board member of the American Association of Birth Centers (AABC). In her spare time, she loves hiking, dancing, cooking, listening to music, reading, playing cribbage, and being with her husband, kids, and extended family.
DANIKA DANKER, BS, BA
Secretary
Danika Danker moved to Flagstaff, Arizona in 2013 to pursue a Masters of Arts in Sustainable Communities at NAU. She had previously studied at Messiah College in Grantham, PA, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. She recently became a Certified Lactation Counselor through Healthy Children, Inc and a Child Passenger Safety Technician through Safe Kids Worldwide.
Danika has fallen in love with the sounds, cultures, flavors, and families of Flagstaff. It is her honor to call this town both her home and the birthplace of her daughters, Baby E who was born at Flagstaff Birth and Women’s Center in 2018, and Baby C who will be born at FMC in May 2022. Baby E’s birth and development and the care that Danika’s family received have so deeply impacted her that she has joined the birth to five resource net in Flagstaff and is now working as the HealthySteps Specialist at Mountain View Pediatrics. Danika remains passionate about Maternal and Child Health and community organizing as well as the knowledge of and access to community resources… y se habla español!
When they’re not at home, the Danker family is usually hiking and exploring with their two golden retrievers, Cimarron and Taos, or riding historic trains and eating way too much green chile in New Mexico. Danika and David have visited all 50 states and have started over with their daughters.
LAUREN HAYWARD, MD, FAAP
Member at Large
Lauren is a local pediatrician at Mountain View Pediatrics. She was born and raised in the Valley and moved to Flagstaff in 2016.
Lauren’s love for learning kicked off at the University of California, Berkeley where she studied Integrative Biology and became interested in reproductive health and medicine.
She spent a gap year volunteering in both Mumbai, India and Johannesburg, South Africa which further cemented her love for vegetarian food and broadened her sense of the world. She attended Tulane University School of Medicine with the intent of working with women and children, and did research in the area of breastfeeding and health disparities in Louisiana. Pediatrics seemed to perfectly combine her passions, and she spent her residency training at the University of California, San Francisco.
Lauren is also the mother of two rambunctious boys, both of whom were breastfed (with help). You can find her paddleboarding at Lake Mary in the summer and skiing at Snowbowl in the winter.
Aimee Stone, RN, MPH, IBCLC
Member at Large
Aimee’s love for lactation started as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua. Assisting mother’s on their nursing journey instilled a love of breastfeeding and desire to learn more.
After her service, she went on to pursue her Masters in Public Health and Bachelors in Science of Nursing degree at the University of Arizona.
Prior to living in Flagstaff, she worked as a Birthing Center nurse on the Apache Reservation. There she continued her desire to work with underserved women and provide them with labor, birth and breastfeeding support. In 2019, Aimee became an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant.
Aimee is also the mother of two children, both of whom have been breastfed and worked through common breastfeeding challenges.