Meet the ROSE Team

Kimarie Bugg, DNP, FNP-BC, MPH, IBCLC, is Chief Empowerment Officer (CEO) and Change Leader of Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere, Inc. (ROSE), a nonprofit corporation developed in 2011, to address breastfeeding inequities and disparities in the African American community. Dr. Bugg previously worked for Emory University, School of Medicine, as a nurse practitioner, private practice pediatrics as an NP, as a perinatal nurse consultant for the state of Georgia, perinatal educator, hospital nurse administrator, special care nursery staff, bedside breastfeeding consultant and pediatric emergency clinic staff nurse. Kimarie was a board member of the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) and faculty for CHAMPS (communities and hospital’s advancing maternal practices) a Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative. She also provided training for WIC Breastfeeding administrative staff and Peer Counselors nationally. Dr. Bugg completed a Community Health Leadership Program, within the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine that stressed best practices to provide global health equity and eliminating health disparities through action-oriented projects. Mrs. Bugg is married to Dr. George W. Bugg Jr. a neonatologist and they are the parents of five adult children.

Mary Nicholson Jackson has been a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) since 2006 and working in the Lactation community for over 30 years. Mary is a Co-founder of Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere, Inc. (ROSE) and their Community Engagement Director since 2011. Mary has worked at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Ga. for 18 years on the Lactation Team and WIC Program as a Lactation Consultant.

Mary has extensive leadership with several Georgia’s Breastfeeding organizations such as Georgia Task Force for Breastfeeding, Georgia Breastfeeding Coalition, Ga’s Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition Lactation Program, Georgia’s Hospitals Baby Friendly Initiatives, DeKalb County, Ga Health Department Faith Base Initiative. Mrs. Jackson has worked on many Local, State and National Committees in decrease health disparities to the most venerable population. She and her wonderful husband are the parents of 3 awesome adults and she has “mothered” many other awesome adults.

Mia Burrell, BS, Financial Manager, joined Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere, Inc. (ROSE) in 2013. Mia Holds a BS in Information Technology and Organizational Management from Tennessee State University.

Mia set up and implemented the financial software for Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere. She Provides financial reports and interprets financial information for the organization and recommends needed action steps. The goal is to enable the company’s leaders to make sound business decisions and meet the company’s objectives while also maintaining the financial health of the organization. Mia is a liaison with auditors to ensure appropriate monitoring of company finances are maintained. Mrs. Burrell is a wife and mother of 4 of which were all breastfed all a minimum of 12 months each. Mia believes that breastmilk is the best milk for babies.

G. Wesley Bugg, ROBE Director is a 2016 graduate of the University of Miami’s School of Law (JD, LLM), and 2013 graduate of Emory University (BA). He is currently the director of Reaching Our Brothers Everywhere, a program of ROSE that is focused on Fatherhood and increasing breastfeeding initiation and duration in communities of color and decreasing Black infant mortality.

He is deputy director of Court Vision International Inc., a nonprofit that promotes youth advocacy and conflict resolution. His current interests include legal compliance and business development, especially for startups and small nonprofits where these tasks are often expensive and difficult. In this spirit, he serves ROSE as the Legal Compliance Officer and financial assistant, aggregated into his role as Financial and Legal Operation Coordinator.

Andrea Serano, CLC, IBCLC, work in breastfeeding advocacy stems from her passion for addressing maternal and infant health issues, especially among communities of color. Breastfeeding is a preventative strategy for combating infant mortality and the health disparities that disproportionately affect African American families. Ms. Serano is originally from North Hollywood CA. She attended Mount St. Mary’s College with a major in Healthcare Policy and minor in Business Administration. In 2012, Andrea assisted in the coordination of Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere (ROSE) first breastfeeding summit titled, “Reclaiming an African American Tradition.”

Following the summit, she relocated to Atlanta, Georgia and currently serves as ROSE Program Director. In her role, Andrea serves on the coordinating team for ROSE events, trainings, and program related activities. In addition, Ms. Serano is a Co-Founder and Treasurer for National Association of Professional and Peer Lactation Supporters of Color (NAPPLSC), board member for the Georgia Breastfeeding Coalition, Stakeholder Advisory Board Member of the Emory Center for Children’s Health, the Environment, the Microbiome and Metabolomics, member of the Urban League of Greater Atlanta Young Professionals, and a member representative for the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC). Andrea also serves as a member of the Center for Social Inclusion (CSI) National 2016 First Food Racial Equity cohort, where she co-facilitates trainings for communities and organizations.

Halle Neeley is a 2017 graduate of Georgia State University’s Cecil B. Day School of Hospitality. She began working with Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere in 2018 as the Conference Coordinator. Today, she serves as the Development Director where she is responsible for project management, grant writing and being a community liaison. Halle is currently working towards becoming a certified community health worker in Spring 2021.

Tenesha Sellers, BS, CLC, is the Community Transformer Coordinator for Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere Inc. (ROSE). She is currently collaborating with Emory Decatur’s NICU department in their milk room laboratory while working in lactation there.

Tenesha has trained and mentored approximately 400 Community Transformers through her position as Community Transformer Coordinator at ROSE. She has also worked as a proud Peer Counselor, where she taught breastfeeding classes and followed moms on their breastfeeding journey through the Loving Support Curriculum. With 14.5 years of experience, Tenesha Sellers has stayed committed to lactation while serving as a WIC peer Counselor and Rockdale County school liaison. Tenesha is a member of the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) since 2016 and serves on their Workplace Constellation Board. Mrs. Sellers has received several certificates and acknowledgments for her work and participation in advocating breastfeeding in and out of her local communities. She is a modern mom of 6 beautiful children.

Courtnie Carter is an experienced breastfeeding support person, former WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor, and former Centering Pregnancy coordinator and facilitator. She also serves on the Maternal TeleHealth Access Project’s Lived Experience Advisory Group, was a panelist on the Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center Skills Institute and has also been a featured guest on Birth While Black: Giving Birth in COVID-19 – A Black Mother’s Journey Podcast. Courtnie Carter has spent the last almost 11 years, promoting breastfeeding and supporting mothers on their breastfeeding journey, in her local community. Courtnie Carter is driven by her love for all things pregnancy and mother/baby. She is committed to increasing the initiation and duration rates amongst breastfeeding mothers of color. As well as also being a voice and source of support for mothers, like her who currently deal with or have dealt with perinatal and postpartum depression and anxiety. Courtnie Carter is a graduate of the University of North Carolina with a BA in Communications Mass Media with a Psychology Minor.

Carl L. Route, Jr. Community Transformer and Wisdom Council member at Reaching Our Brothers Everywhere (ROBE) since 2019. Scholarship Recipient with MSM Satcher Leadership Institute’s Community Health Leadership Program 2020. Community Activist, Criminal Justice Reformer, Responsible Fatherhood Advocate/Ally/Author (1991 – present), & Advisory Council member with Community Council of Metropolitan Atlanta, Inc. (2017 – 2019). Member of former President Barack Obama’s initiative, My Brother’s Keeper Task Force. An Ambassador with the Russell Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (2015 – present).

Founder of Young Fathers of Metro Atlanta, Inc. (2016). A Certified Responsible Fatherhood & Family Life Coach with the National Partnership for Community Leadership (2010 – present). Featured on Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN)with host Lisa Ling, on “Our America” segment titled “Incarceration Generation” (2011). Lead Facilitator of an Access and Visitationpilot program for fathers on Child Supporting Georgia’s largest transition center, a potential model for programs to be facilitated at all 13 of the state’s transitional centers (2009 – 2011).

Caleb Bugg, MS is a graduate student (Ph.D.) in Operations Research at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a 2017 graduate of Morehouse College, where he studied and tutored mathematics, served as President of the Morehouse College Lacrosse Club Team (MCLCT), and became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, Fraternity Inc., the Alpha Rho chapter. Caleb seeks to discover and implement quantitative methods in the areas of operations and human resource management to improve efficiency and marketing strength. It is his desire to serve community-based nonprofits as a career, utilizing his future Ph.D. in Operations Research, a highly specified area of the management sciences.

Community Research and Evaluation Specialist

Results-oriented, public health professional with extensive executive- and management-level experience, excellent communication and written skills, and success with developing, leading, and managing multiple projects, people, and responsibilities with competing priorities at the local, state, and
national levels.