San Jose, CA — September 18, 2025 — [NEWS DIRECT]— Mothers’ Milk Bank California (MMBCA) announces the appointment of two distinguished leaders to its board of directors: Nicole Anderson, M.D., neonatologist and medical director of the Watsonville Community Hospital Intensive Care Nursery, and Ali Starling, CNM, MPH, certified nurse midwife and maternal health advocate.
“Dr. Anderson and Ms. Starling bring an exceptional blend of clinical expertise, leadership and personal commitment to maternal and infant health,” said Katie Anderson, chair of the board of directors of Mothers’ Milk Bank California. “Their voices and perspectives will strengthen our mission to provide safe donor milk and help more families in need.”
Anderson: Advancing Neonatal Care
Anderson is a practicing neonatologist with clinical roles at Dominican Hospital, El Camino Hospital and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. Since January 2025, she has served as medical director of the Intensive Care Nursery at Watsonville Community Hospital, where she led the rollout of a donor breast milk program, which launched in August 2025.
Her work has focused on bridging the gap between large academic centers and smaller community hospitals, ensuring that life-saving donor milk is available wherever infants need it. “Every baby deserves the best possible start,” Anderson said. “I am honored to join the board and help Mothers’ Milk Bank California reach more families across California and beyond.”
Starling: Personal and Professional Commitment
Ali Starling is a full-scope certified nurse midwife with more than a decade of experience providing perinatal care. She holds a master’s degree in maternal and child health and has conducted research at the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute, focusing on lactation support and maternal-infant health outcomes. She currently serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor at UCSF in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences.
Her connection to Mothers’ Milk Bank California is deeply personal: As a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) parent, her preterm infant received donor milk, and later, she was able to donate more than 700 ounces of her own milk to the bank. “Donor milk is more than a medical resource — it is a lifeline for families,” Starling said. “I am committed to supporting Mothers’ Milk Bank California’s efforts to expand donor recruitment, community outreach, and access for families who need it most.”
A growing vision for California’s families
With the addition of Anderson and Starling, MMBCA’s board continues to expand its expertise, ensuring that the organization is well-positioned to meet the growing demand for donor milk across California and beyond.
For 50 years, Mothers’ Milk Bank California has provided safe, pasteurized donor human milk to premature and medically fragile infants, serving hundreds of hospitals and thousands of families each year. The addition of these two new leaders will help MMBCA advance its mission to support more families in need and ensure that every baby has the strongest possible start in life.
For b-roll and photos, visit the Media Resources tab on our website. To schedule an interview with Ali Starling, Nicole Anderson or Katie Anderson, please contact Nannette Miranda at News@MothersMilk.org or (510) 646-1201.
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Media Contact:
Nannette Miranda
(510) 646-1201
