Update, September 2026: this post describes work that was underway in the 2023 to 2024 school year. Carrboro went on to be proclaimed a Breastfeeding Family Friendly Community on June 17, 2025, the first community in the nation to complete all Ten Steps. Read what came of it.
Editor’s Note: The post has been updated to include additional information on the Capstone Project activities.
Welcome to the UNC Capstone Team! This year, Breastfeed Orange NC is excited to be participating in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health Capstone Program. We have welcomed an intrepid team of students. The energy and enthusiasm of the Capstone team will help to move the designation forward in some key areas that are outside the scope of our stakeholders and community advocates.
The Capstone Project focuses on building connections with government, businesses, and the local education system. The students are working with the Town of Carrboro – the Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Resources Department and the Communication and Engagement Department – to expand “breastfeeding welcome” signage throughout our community. The students also are connecting with Carrboro businesses. During the fall of 2023, the team reached out via email to businesses, sharing information about the initiative and the important role that businesses have in supporting lactating families. In the spring of 2024, the students followed up with in-person visits to the businesses to help business owners complete the Community Partner and Employer award. That spring the team also reached out the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education to encourage the development of a breastfeeding-friendly proclamation to highlight the ways that the local school district supports breastfeeding, chestfeeding, and human milk feeding staff and families.
The work of the Capstone Team fed directly into the designation of the Town of Carrboro as a Breastfeeding Family Friendly Community, which Carrboro received on June 17, 2025, and it provided a blueprint for achieving the designation in the rest of Orange County.
While we can write an introduction for each student, we cannot introduce the students as well as they have! Enjoy learning more about the Capstone Team – Kennedy, Hannah, Bridget, and Bridgette!
