The Editorial Team of Lactation & Breastfeeding is delighted to present an interview with Mihaela Niță, President of ELACTA. We had the privilege of speaking with her to learn more about ELACTA’s organisation, initiatives, and vision for the future.
L&B: Mihaela, you are currently serving your third term as President of ELACTA. Could you tell our L&B readers a little bit about your background and what motivated you to run for President?
Mihaela: My professional path has always been closely linked to education, breastfeeding support, and building professional communities. Before joining the ELACTA Board, I served as President of the Romanian Lactation Consultant Association from its foundation in 2014 until 2019. During those years, I coordinated national educational programmes, including 90-hour training courses, conferences, and mentoring activities for future and newly certified IBCLCs.
At European level, I joined the ELACTA Board in 2018 and served first as Vice-President between 2018 and 2020. During that period, I chaired the Recognition Task Group, working with colleagues from many countries on strategic projects such as translating the IBCLC professional profile and mentoring national associations in their efforts to achieve professional recognition.
What motivated me to run for President was a strong belief that IBCLCs can and should have a more visible and clearly defined role within European healthcare systems. ELACTA has the potential to act as a bridge between countries, professions, and institutions, and I wanted to contribute to strengthening that role through structured governance, education, and advocacy.
L&B: Could you also describe your role as President and what it involves?
Mihaela: The Presidency is a combination of strategic leadership, coordination, and constant communication. I chair Board meetings, support decision-making, and ensure continuity between the work of the task groups, national associations, and the Board.
A large part of the role also involves external representation: participating in conferences, meeting partner organisations, maintaining dialogue with IBLCE, EISL, and other stakeholders, and promoting ELACTA’s mission in different professional settings.
Behind the scenes, the work is equally intensive. It includes supervising organisational development, supporting educational projects, participating in conference planning, and ensuring financial and administrative continuity. It is a demanding role, carried out entirely on a voluntary basis, but also a deeply rewarding one.
L&B: Which ELACTA achievements during your presidency are you most proud of?
Mihaela: One of the achievements I value most is that ELACTA did not merely weather the COVID-19 years, but emerged from them stronger and more active. We adapted rapidly, moving education and professional exchange into the online space and ensuring continuity at a time of profound uncertainty. This included organising virtual conferences—such as the CERPs International event and the training on infant and young child feeding in emergency settings at the beginning of the Ukrainian war—as well as introducing new formats like online clinical case presentation sessions.
In parallel, we continued our strategic and advocacy work. We revised and translated key professional documents, conducted surveys to better understand the realities faced by IBCLCs across Europe, and maintained an ongoing dialogue with European institutions regarding professional recognition.
Strengthening ELACTA’s international visibility was another important priority. I represented the association at major events including the World Breastfeeding Conferences in Brazil and Egypt, the Nordic Breastfeeding Conferences in Iceland and Finland, the EISL Congress, and several national professional meetings, helping to position ELACTA as a credible and active voice within the global lactation community.
Following the ELACTA conference in Bremen, which we had recorded, we developed an educational platform that allows those who were unable to attend to access the full programme or select individual sessions of interest at a very reasonable cost. This project was highly cost-efficient, as the majority of the work was carried out on a voluntary basis by Board members.
Our membership has continued to grow steadily. Each year, we welcomed new individual members and additional national associations, further reinforcing our European network. We also introduced regular online Presidents’ Meetings—an initiative born out of the pandemic—which has since become an essential channel for dialogue, coordination, and mutual support among national associations.
All of this has been achieved without any paid staff, relying entirely on the dedication and professionalism of Board members and volunteers. This collective commitment is, in many ways, the most meaningful achievement of all.
L&B: What are ELACTA’s current focus projects, and are there any important updates from the task groups?
Mihaela: At present, a significant part of our work focuses on strengthening governance and internal structures: clarifying procedures, aligning daily practice with our statutes, and preparing the organisation for sustainable growth.
The task groups remain central to this process. The Recognition Task Group continues its efforts related to professional visibility and status, while the Education Task Group is developing new online educational formats and consolidating partnerships with organisations such as EISL.
We are also investing considerable effort in working with national associations. Over the past year, I have been directly involved in discussions with the Swiss and Spanish associations regarding their integration into ELACTA. The Spanish association is going to ELACTA in 2026, which is an encouraging sign of growing European cohesion.
L&B: What are the main challenges or obstacles you encounter in your work with ELACTA?
Mihaela: The most fundamental challenge is that ELACTA is entirely volunteer-driven. Board members and task group participants balance this work with demanding professional and personal lives. When someone faces illness, family responsibilities, or professional overload, the impact on the organisation is immediate.
Another challenge is administrative capacity. I actively supported the proposal to create a freelance administrative position, precisely to allow the Board to focus more on strategic development rather than operational workload, but we have not yet proceeded with this step as we need to secure the funding for the project first.
Finally, like many non-profit organisations, we face limitations in financial and human resources. ELACTA’s finances are based mainly on membership fees, which we try to keep as affordable as possible.
L&B: What are the benefits of joining ELACTA, and how can national associations or individual members practically benefit from being part of ELACTA?
Mihaela: ELACTA offers a professional home at European level. Members gain access to high-quality education, reduced event fees, networking opportunities, and representation in discussions that extend beyond national borders.
For national associations, ELACTA provides a platform for cooperation, shared projects, mentoring, and advocacy at European level. For individual IBCLCs, it offers visibility, professional identity, and a sense of belonging to a wider community committed to evidence-based practice and ethical standards.
Perhaps most importantly, it creates connections: between countries, between generations of professionals, and between clinical practice and policy.
Another important benefit is the access to the journal Lactation & Breastfeeding with the Editorial Team continuously delivering engaging issues, sharing the latest developments in the lactation field and providing practical handouts.
L&B: Looking ahead, what are ELACTA’s future plans, and where do you see yourself fitting into them?
Mihaela: Our future direction is clearly outlined in the Strategic Plan that we have developed, focusing on governance, education, advocacy, partnerships, communication, and financial sustainability, with strong emphasis on accountability and evaluation.
Personally, I see my role as helping to ensure continuity and stability, while also mentoring future leaders and strengthening international partnerships.
At the same time, I strongly believe that structures alone are not enough. Our collaboration should be guided by respect, mindfulness, teamwork, and mutual support. This is voluntary work, and it should not only bring responsibility but also professional fulfilment.
Only with this balance between professionalism and humanity can ELACTA remain resilient, credible, and truly representative of the European IBCLC community.
L&B: Thank you, Mihaela, for your insightful answers during this interview, which provided valuable perspectives on ELACTA as an organisation and its operational work.