API's Board of Directors
The dedicated professionals who are members of Attachment Parenting International's Board of Directors meet quarterly to develop policies and procedures, define the vision and mission of the organization, and advise staff when needed.
API's Co-Founders
Barbara Nicholson, MEd
API Founder
Barbara Nicholson holds a master's degree in Education, specializing in learning disabilities. She has volunteered for over 20 years with La Leche League International, an educational and support organization for breastfeeding mothers. She is also trained as a facilitator in the Nurturing Parenting Program. Ms. Nicholson co-founded Attachment Parenting International in 1994.
She has spoken to a variety of groups -- including parent educators, psychology students, conference attendees, and juvenile probation officers -- about parenting as a prevention model for societal violence. Ms. Nicholson continues to work closely with API on fundraising and has served on the development committee for the Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker (MIHOW) Program at Vanderbilt University. Barbara is the mother of four adult sons and resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
Lysa Parker, MS, CFLE
API Founder & Director Emeritus ParentsLifeLine.com
Lysa Parker has a master's degree in Human Development and Family Studies, is a Certified Family Life Educator (C.F.L.E.), and is a trained facilitator for the Nurturing Parenting Program. Ms. Parker is the co-founder of API and served as the Executive Director from 1994 to 2007. She managed program development and public relations and continues to speak to various groups and conferences about parenting as a prevention model for societal violence.
With a bachelor's degree in Education, specializing in special education, she taught in California, Tennessee, and Alabama during her 20-year career, working with children with multiple handicaps and/or learning disabilities. Other experience includes several years of volunteer work with La Leche League International, a nonprofit organization that provides breastfeeding education and support, and as an API Support Group Leader.
She is the mother of two adult sons and an adult stepdaughter and grandmother to twin grandsons. She lives with her husband in Madison, Alabama. Lysa Parker is available for private consultations, personal parent coaching sessions, workshops, and speaking engagements. Visit her web site to learn more!
API's Board of Directors
Janet Jendron
Janet Jendron, President of the Board of Directors, has been a long-time supporter of API. She served for eleven years on the LLLI Board of Directors and many years on the LLLI Alumnae Association Council. Janet has also served on numerous other non-profit Boards, including church-related and wish granting organizations. She has written articles and spoken at conferences throughout the United States on a wide variety of issues related to her non-profit and paid work. The mother of four children ages 25 to 33, she spends as much time as possible with her five-year-old granddaughter Mary Grace. She lives in South Carolina near Columbia and works full time at the USC School of Medicine in the SC Assistive Technology Program, where she specializes in information technology accessibility, conference planning, equipment reutilization and public relations.
Lu Hanessian
LetTheBabyDrive.com
Lu Hanessian is author of the acclaimed memoir Let the Baby Drive: Navigating the Road of New Motherhood (St. Martin's Press, 2004), veteran TV journalist and former NBC anchor of Real Life, Discovery Health Channel host of Make Room for Baby, weekly newspaper parenting columnist, national speaker, and workshop facilitator.
She is the founder of WYSH® (Wear Your Spirit for Humanity) - a unique brand of "socially-conscious" apparel and accessories for children and parents that promote attachment and connection - and is pioneering an educational approach and curriculum for gifted children with special needs called "ENGAGE." She and her husband are the grateful parents of two boys, ages 6 and 9.
Reedy Hickey, International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)
Reedy Hickey is a La Leche League Leader and Area Professional Liaison for La Leche League of Georgia, and is on the Board of Directors for AnotherLook, as well as API. She is the mother of a daughter and son-in-law, a son, and foster mother to 32 foster babies as they awaited adoption, one at a time. She has practiced Attachment Parenting with all of these children.
Gena Kirby
Gena Kirby is a wife, mother of two children, doula, and co-owner of Mommy Matters Maternity Boutique and Family Resource Center in Fresno, California. She is the creator and host of the radio show Progressive Parenting. She is turning the show into a live-streaming-video format, with the hopes of creating a television show. Her mission at Mommy Matters is to educate parents about gentle birth and to share the joys of parenthood with families using the principles of Attachment Parenting.
Picture courtesy of Present Photography.
Martha Sears, RN
Registered Nurse & Author
AskDrSears.com
Martha, wife of renowned pediatrician William Sears, MD, is the mother of eight children, a registered nurse, a former childbirth educator, a La Leche League Leader, and a lactation consultant.
Martha is the co-author of 25 parenting books and is a popular lecturer and media guest, drawing on her 18 years of breastfeeding experience with her 8 children (including Stephen with Down Syndrome and Lauren, her adopted daughter).
Martha speaks frequently at national parenting conferences and is noted for her advice on how to handle the most common problems facing today's mothers with their changing lifestyles. Martha is able to connect with both full-time mothers and mothers who work full-time, because she herself has experienced both styles of parenting. Martha takes great pride in referring to herself as a "professional mother," and one of her favorite quips when someone voices their concern about her having eight children in an already populated world is: "The world needs my children."
Martha and Dr. Bill have been guests on over 100 television shows including 20/20, Donahue, Good Morning America, The Oprah Winfrey Show, CBS This Morning, CNN, The Today Show, Dateline, and, most recently, The Dr. Phil Show, where they are regular guests. Martha and Dr. Bill are best known for their Sears Parenting Library published by Little Brown: The Pregnancy Book, The Birth Book, The Baby Book, The Discipline Book, The Breastfeeding Book, The Fussy Baby Book, The A.D.D. Book, The Family Nutrition Book, The Premature Baby Book, The Baby Sleep Book, and The Healthiest Kid In The Neighborhood.
Judy Sanders
Judy connected with La Leche League in 1965 and has been involved ever since, serving in many ways, including time on the LLLI Board of Directors. Judy and her husband, Gordy, raised five children: Rick, Dave, Kathleen, John, and Maria. She cannot imagine who they all would have been without the loving philosophy of LLL woven into their family. Twelve grandchildren enrich her life. She delights in seeing her children and their spouses matter-of-factly and lovingly parenting their unique families.
Judy edited Northwest Baby & Child, a Seattle newspaper for families with babies and small children. She has worked as a professional actress and produced vocal concerts. Among her volunteer work she served as a court-appointed special advocate for abused and neglected children. Judy lives in Seattle and exchanges grins with babies whenever possible.
Art Yuen