MANAGER OF COMMUNITY COLLABORATION

Tameka Jackson-Dyer, BASc, IBCLC, CHW, CLE, CLS, CLC

Tameka has grounded her career in the belief that everyone should have a voice in the things that shape their lives. With over 20 years of clinical and lived experience in maternal and infant health, Tameka uses her voice as Coffective Manager of Community Collaboration to ensure communities’ needs are uplifted and centered across initiatives.

Tameka was initially introduced to Coffective as a WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor through their breastfeeding education materials. She appreciated that the materials made her job easier and fit her teaching style, but most importantly, she liked that the photos reflected the families she served.

Tameka currently supports QI-TRACS efforts to improve care and reduce racial disparities in marginalized communities by using her expertise to help build trust between communities and hospitals, integrate community voice, and establish sustainable institutional change.

Outside of Coffective, Tameka is Co-Founder of Southeast Michigan IBCLCs of Color, owner of CrazyMilkLady Lactation Support Services, LLC and Chair of the Metro Detroit / Wayne County Breastfeeding Coalition. Tameka is also a breastfeeding subject matter expert for Eastern Michigan University’s CDC funded Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Healthy Asian American Project.

Tameka volunteers as a mentor for Birthing Project USA’s SisterFriends Detroit, sits on the Henry Ford Lactation Advisory Council, and is a member of the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services (MDHHS) Safe Sleep Action Committee and Mother-Infant Health and Equity Collaborative. As a member of Michigan Breastfeeding Network (MIBFN), Tameka serves on Mi Milk Collective and Breastfeeding & Mental Health Workgroups.

Previously, Tameka was a Job Coach at Jewish Vocational Services (JVS), where she taught life skills and workforce readiness to people living with developmental disabilities and mental illness. She spent five years as a peer counselor plus two years as a lactation intern with Michigan WIC before working as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) for the Southeastern Michigan Health Association.

Tameka earned an Associate in Arts from Henry Ford Community College before graduating Siena Heights University with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Health Studies.

She originally pursued a paralegal degree, and although Tameka discovered law wasn’t for her, time spent polishing her ability to make effective arguments has been helpful throughout her work. Tameka lives in Detroit with her 8th grade sweetheart and three children. A preacher’s daughter, Tameka enjoys singing and once auditioned for Star Search.