Community Advisory Board (CAB)

Mastoorah Ahmadi

Mastoorah Ahmadi is a certified community health worker and a dedicated family engagement specialist. She has experience supporting Afghan refugee families by providing culturally sensitive services and resources. She speaks Pashto, Urdu, and English, which helps her bridge communication gaps and build strong relationships. Her work focuses on empowering families through education, outreach, and advocacy. She enjoys organizing and presenting workshops in Pashto to ensure the information is accessible and relatable. She is passionate about helping people feel welcomed, informed, and supported. Every day, she strives to make a positive difference in her community.

Sameera Benbarket

Noura Diwouta

Noura Diwouta, MPH, DTR works as a health educator and dietetic technician and is excited to join the Community Advisory Board as a professional member. She is a passionate community advocate with interests in public health, nutrition, and health equity. She believes that maternal and child wellness is one of the most crucial steps toward lifelong health, and that everyone deserves access to the care and support they need. Her global upbringing, having grown up in Cameroon, France, and now living in the U.S., has shaped her perspective on community, culture, and health. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outdoors, surfing, cooking, and traveling. She finds inspiration in the stories and strengths of the communities she serves.

Oneida Escobar

Oneida is deeply committed to improving lactation support and advocacy, particularly in the Central Valley, where she was born and raised. As a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) and a current IBCLC candidate, her work is driven by a passion for addressing the disparities in lactation care that families in our region face. Her own journey as an exclusive pumper with her first baby and now as a chest feeding parent has given her firsthand experience of the challenges many families encounter—whether it's lack of access to skilled lactation care, workplace pumping barriers, or societal attitudes that make sustaining breastfeeding and chest feeding difficult.

Through her work with Modern Momma Lactation, she strives to close equity gaps by offering evidence-based support to families, checking insurance coverage for lactation services, and advocating for more accessible care. She also collaborates with an IBCLC in private practice to expand lactation services in Fresno and Visalia. Beyond direct support, she recognizes that real change happens when organizations like yours thrive—bringing advocacy, community engagement, and legislative action to the forefront.

As a Central Valley native, she understands the unique cultural and socioeconomic factors that influence lactation experiences here. Her background, both personally and professionally, equips her with a perspective that blends lived experience, clinical knowledge, and a commitment to maternal-child health equity. She would be honored to contribute to the Community Advisory Board to help shape policies and initiatives that create lasting change for families in our region.

Natasha LaBeaud, PhD

Dr. Natasha LaBeaud is a dedicated public health professional, writer, and parent of two, with a Ph.D. in Public Health & Human Services and a strong commitment to improving child health through community-based initiatives. She is a professor at UMass Global, where she teaches courses in nutrition, wellness, and global health, inspiring the next generation of public health leaders. Dr. LaBeaud is also the co-founder of 2nd Recess, a youth running nonprofit that has empowered over 10,000 children in the San Diego region to lead active, healthy lives. Her doctoral research focused on familial food consumption patterns and childhood obesity in food deserts and non-food deserts. As both a public health advocate and mother, she believes that health literacy—especially surrounding breastfeeding—requires far more attention in public discourse and health education. In addition to academia, she has led health communication efforts through journalism and public relations work in the health and wellness space. A professional runner and motivational speaker, Dr. LaBeaud integrates athleticism with advocacy to champion healthier, more equitable communities. Her expertise in maternal and child health and commitment to accessible health education make her an invaluable partner to the Human Milk Institute’s community engagement mission.

Hsihsa Thaw

Hsihsa Thaw joined the Community Advisory Board (CAB) as a parent as well as a professional. She is a full-time staff with the Karen Organization of San Diego serving Refugee from Burma in San Diego County. She currently serves as a Community Program Manager as well as a Community Health Worker. She is a mother of two children. Her daughter just turned seven, and her son is 3 years old. Among her community where she grew up, breastfeeding is a strong tradition with high initiation rates and prolonged duration. Infants are generally breastfed for around 1.5 to 3 years. Maternal nutrition is seen as crucial for exclusively breastfed infants. She has experience breastfeeding both her son and daughter when they were little. However, she found it difficult when she returned to work while breastfeeding. It was particularly challenging when requiring her to balance work demands with the need to feed and pump her baby. She also realized that the stresses of work and childcare can lead to exhaustion and negatively impact milk production. As a member of the CAB, she hopes to improve health outcomes by reaching marginalized communities, reducing health inequalities, and promoting quality care especially for the breastfeeding women and newborns.

Paw Say

Paw Say joined the Community Advisory Board (CAB) as both a parent and a professional. She is a caseworker at the Karen Organization of San Diego, a nonprofit organization that serves refugees from Burma. Many women in her community breastfeed their children. However, the younger generation—herself included—often faces more challenges with breastfeeding. Long work hours and a lack of support can make it more difficult for breastfeeding mothers. She wants to encourage women in her community to continue breastfeeding and to provide them with the support they need on their breastfeeding journey.

Ayesha Zafari

Ayesha Zafari is deeply committed to supporting Afghan and refugee families in San Diego County. At the Holistic Afghan Women Association (HAWA), she helps lead programs that focus on mental health, family engagement, and access to essential services—all through a culturally affirming lens. She has had the opportunity to be involved in several initiatives, including the Afghan Refugee School Impact (ARSI) program, the BUILD Health Challenge with Health through Housing Project, and other community collaborations focused on equity, healing, and systemic change. Her work is driven by a strong belief in building trust, creating safe spaces, and ensuring that communities feel seen, heard, and supported as they navigate new environments and opportunities.

Stefania Santarsiero

Stefania Santarsiero is a 4th year undergraduate student at UC San Diego majoring in Microbiology and minoring in Global Health. As an active member of the CAB Advisory Board, she combines her academic pursuits with community advocacy, focusing on challenging breastfeeding biases and developing more accessible, user-friendly resources for women and families. Through her work as a Spanish-interpreter and clinic coordinator for Health Frontiers of Tijuana, Stefania has cultivated a deep interest in women's reproductive health. While preparing for medical school, she remains committed to supporting the Breastfeeding-Friendly Environments Committee and CAB in making breastfeeding resources more equitable across San Diego communities.