Brandi Gates-Burgess, IBCLC, the founder and Executive Director of Breast Friends Lactation Support Services, a nonprofit that provides clinical lactation care, peer counseling, support groups, and community-based education to Black families across the Bay Area, also works as a hospital-based lactation consultant at Highland Hospital in Oakland. In addition to her clinical work, Brandi serves as the Community Engagement Specialist for the UCSF MILK Research Lab, where she co-developed the NICU Toolkit for Black Families, Hospitals, and Birth Centers. She is also deeply involved in community research and advocacy, serving on the Community Advisory Boards for the UCSF Preterm Birth Initiative and the Perinatal Equity Initiative and also co-chairs the Breastfeeding Cultural Outreach Taskforce (BCOT), whose mission is to revive the art and tradition of breastfeeding in the Black community.