Meet the BWI Board of Directors

Ann Marie failed to find a successful carrier option for her oldest daughter despite trying. She was delighted to discover Babywearing International of DC-MD-VA after the birth of her second and set about learning as much as she could so that she could help prevent other parents from the frustration she had in not finding a good carrier with her oldest. She is now a VBE with BWI of DC-MD-VA and helps parents around our Nation's Capital to wear their babies safely and comfortably while regularly wearing her middle and youngest daughters. Ann Marie is the chair of the committee planning the 2012 International Babywearing Conference in Washington, DC. She is looking forward to hosting the world and spreading the babywearing love.

Susan earned her B.A. in Sociology with a minor in Women's Studies, along with a Certificate in Gerontology from the University of Tampa. During graduate school at Arizona State University, she studied Sociology, Statistics, and Education before pursuing her Graduate Certificate in Gerontology. After her first son was born, her family bought a business specializing in breastfeeding products and services, baby carriers, and other products related to natural family living. After closing her business, she continued to work in the baby retail industry, transferring her skills to a cloth diapering and natural parenting store which also sold baby carriers.

Susan has taught babywearing classes to parents and caregivers in her community over the past 8 years and has been a member of her local babywearing group since it was founded in 2004. In 2011, she became a VBE and organized her local babywearing group in Phoenix to become an affiliate of Babywearing International. She has worn all four of her sons since birth, and is dedicated to sharing her knowledge and passion of babywearing with others. Susan, her husband, and their four boys reside in the desert of Arizona. She is currently a stay-at-home mom who homeschools her sons, leads Babywearing International of Phoenix and the Phoenix Earth Scouts, and contributes to blogs related to babywearing, homeschooling, and cloth diapering.

Kimber Tower began her babywearing journey in 2002, when her first child was born. After the birth of her second child, Kimber decided to research babywearing more and found a vibrant and knowledgable community. From then on, Kimber has made it her mission to educate those around her of the benefits of babywearing. She started the first babywearing group in the state of Idaho and began teaching classes to church groups, parenting groups and individuals around the state who wanted to learn more about babywearing.

In 2005, she designed the Ball Baby Overall mei tai and started a business with the help of her sister. Kimber sold her business in 2009 in order to focus on babywearing advocacy. Her pattern is still available online for anyone to use for a personal carrier. Kimber was an instructor at the 2008 International Babywearing Conference in Chicago. She organized the 2010 International Babywearing Conference in Rigby Idaho, which was held in June of 2010.

Heather Felker earned her formal education in Human Services and Computer Information Systems, and holds a certificate in Advanced Family Studies. In 2009 she attended the Babywearing Institute to become a Certified Babywearing Educator. In 2010 she returned to the school and is now licensed to teach their curriculum.

She currently runs a small babywearing business, providing sales and personal consultations, and teaches classes to members of the medical and social services communities. She is also a La Leche League Leader and is studying to become a post partum doula. Also in 2009, she took over leadership of her local babywearing group from its founder, and in 2011 began the process of converting it to a chapter of BWI.

Heather is the mother of 8 children, spanning twenty five years from oldest to youngest. Each child was breastfed and parented in arms, cementing her passion for babywearing as an essential parenting tool. She and her husband live in Delaware, where they homeschool their children and are active in their local community.

Christie Everett Chapman holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from Eastern Nazarene College, and a Master of Social Science Administration from Case Western Reserve University. She is a Licensed Master Social Worker in the State of New York and works as a mental health counselor with young children. She specializes in family therapy,with an emphasis on maternal-infant attachment and its impact on the socioemotional wellbeing of infants and children. Everett Chapman holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from Easter

As a full-time nursing, working mother, Christie has found babywearing to be an indispensable tool for the promotion of healthy attachment. She is passionate about helping other families feel confident babywearing so they too can utilize this invaluable tool.

Jessica Tolliver a mother of two (2.5 years & 1 year) and an avid babywearer. Jessica’s professional background is in sales and global logistics. But her passion was not fully realized until she had children.

She first became interested in babywearing after the cesarean birth of her first child. Finding that keeping the baby close through babywearing, she was able to fend of PPD, successfully breastfeed and most importantly bond with her baby. Following her C-section, she became actively involved with ICAN and other charitable organizations but noticed that there was a void in the Louisville area for support with babywearing.

After the birth of her second child via VBAC, she became more actively involved in babywearing education, eventually being elected to the BOD of BWI. During International Babywearing Week 2011 she co-founded Kentuckiana Babywearers, a Louisville KY based organization dedicated to bringing babywearing back to Louisville and southern Indiana by providing free classes, support and education.

Medical Advisory Panel:

Lois Shiow-Balster

Lois Shiow-Balster earned her undergraduate degree in biology at the University of California, Berkeley, her medical degree from the Ohio State University, and completed her pediatrics residency at Columbus Children's Hospital/Ohio State University. From 2002-2005, she was an Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Ohio State University and taught medical tudents and residents in the outpatient clinics and in the newborn nursery wards. Her time working with newborns and their mothers inspired her to develop a breastfeeding curriculum for pediatric residents, and to become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). Since 2005, she has been in private pediatrics practice in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Lois is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the International Lactation Consultants Association (ILCA), the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABFM), and is a Medical Associate member of the La Leche League International (LLLI). She has been using baby carriers since the birth of her first child, but became passionate about babywearing after the 2004 birth of her second child who was born prematurely and battled gastroesophageal reflux during infancy.

Born in Ohio, Lois was raised in the East Bay suburbs of Northern California and then lived in Columbus Ohio for 10 years, where she met her husband and where her two sons were born. Lois and her family currently reside in the San Francisco Bay Area, but they still root for the Buckeyes.