Guiding Star Project to Honor Marian Tompson with Lifetime Achievement Award at Fearless Future Gala

Orlando, FL – The Guiding Star Project is proud to announce the presentation of its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award to Marian Tompson, one of the seven founding mothers of La Leche League International, at the Fearless Future Gala on March 1st, 2025, in Orlando, Florida. This momentous event marks a milestone in recognizing those who have pioneered efforts to transform the culture of women's health and empower mothers worldwide.

Marian Tompson, 95 years old, has dedicated much of her life to the advocacy of breastfeeding and natural maternal care. As one of the founding members of La Leche League, she has had an immeasurable impact on generations of mothers, children, and families, influencing global breastfeeding practices and maternal health advocacy for decades. The Guiding Star Project, known for its commitment to holistic healthcare for women and families, has chosen to honor Marian for her extraordinary contributions to the world of maternal and child health.

Marian Tompson: A Lifetime of Advocacy

Marian Tompson’s journey began in the 1950s when, alongside six other mothers, she co-founded La Leche League International (LLLI) with the goal of supporting women in breastfeeding and promoting the practice as the best form of nourishment for babies. The organization was born out of a shared vision among these pioneering mothers to provide peer-to-peer support for breastfeeding, an endeavor that ran counter to the prevailing cultural norms of the time, which heavily favored formula feeding.

Marian served as president of La Leche League from 1956 to 1980, leading the organization through its formative years and expansion, and continuing to shape its global mission. Her leadership, informed by her own experiences as a mother of seven, provided a beacon of support to countless families who sought to return to natural, nurturing practices for child-rearing. Marian’s advocacy extended beyond breastfeeding; she was also an early supporter of home birth, with four of her own children, along with many of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, being born at home.

Despite the enormous success of La Leche League, Marian Tompson made the difficult decision to resign from the organization in 2024. Her resignation, which came after significant internal disagreements over the organization’s stance on breastfeeding by men identifying as women, was a turning point in her career. In her resignation letter, Marian expressed her concerns that the organization’s shift away from the “norms of nature,” which she believed were central to the mission of mothering through breastfeeding, had led to a dilution of La Leche League’s core values. As she put it, the indulgence of “the fantasies of adults” was “destroying our organization.”

Her courage to stand firm in her convictions continues to resonate with many in the maternal health community, and the Guiding Star Project is honoring her pioneering work as a true champion for women's health.

Guiding Star Project: Empowering Women, Affirming the feminine design

The Guiding Star Project, founded by Leah A. Jacobson, has long been committed to offering women a wholistic, natural approach to healthcare that aligns with their biological rhythms and honors their natural feminine abilities to ovulate, gestate, and lactate. Like Marian Tompson and the early La Leche League founders, Leah and the Guiding Star team are dedicated to creating an environment where women can make informed, empowered decisions about their health, with a focus on honoring the natural processes of their female bodies.

Leah A. Jacobson, founder of the Guiding Star Project, shares a deep connection with Marian Tompson. Just as Marian and her fellow founding mothers challenged the prevailing cultural norms by advocating for breastfeeding, Leah and her team have similarly challenged the outdated and one-size-fits-all approaches to women’s healthcare. Their work emphasizes a revolution in how women’s health is understood and approached, providing care that aligns with a woman’s natural biology—something that Marian Tompson has always championed.

In a recent interview, Leah A. Jacobson and Guiding Star Project President Lisa Canning discussed the power of Marian Tompson’s resignation and how it highlighted the importance of staying true to the values that center women’s natural biology. You can watch the full conversation here: Watch the Video.

Fearless Future Gala and Conference: A Revolution in Women's Healthcare

The Fearless Future Conference will precede the Gala and take place over two days, offering a dynamic platform for experts, advocates, and attendees to explore new approaches to women’s health. The conference will emphasize building a "Fearless Future" for women, where healthcare supports the needs of women in their natural cycles, from fertility to menopause and beyond. The conference will feature dynamic speakers on holistic women’s health, including Jamie Rathjen, MA, CFCP and Teresa Kenney, APRN-NP the co-hosts of The Hormone Genius Podcast, as well as Tammy Masut, APRN, CNM,the Clinical Director of Guiding Star Tampa Bay Birth and Wellness Center. These esteemed speakers will offer insights into the future of women’s healthcare, pushing for a revolution that will align, affirm, and honor a woman’s natural female body.

The Fearless Future Gala, featuring a “Dress to Impress” theme with a catered meal, VIP speaker (TBA soon!) taking place on March 1st, 2025, will feature an exciting evening of celebration, networking, and recognition, where Marian Tompson will attend virtually (since she no longer wishes to travel) to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for her lifetime of dedication to empowering women through breastfeeding and natural health practices.

Early Bird Tickets Available Until January 10th! The last day to purchase early bird tickets for both the Fearless Future Conference and Gala is January 10th, 2025, at midnight. Save $100 by purchasing your tickets now at www.fearlessfutureconference.com. There are also options to attend the conference only or the gala only.

About The Guiding Star Project The Guiding Star Project is a nonprofit organization committed to transforming women’s healthcare by by equipping women through education, wholistic healthcare solutions, and community to embrace fertility, childbirth, breastfeeding, and motherhood.providing natural, while providing women with a lifetime of care at every stage of life. Through their nationwide sisterhood of Guiding Star Centers, their mission is to build a world where women’s healthcare aligns with the natural biology of a woman and affirms the goodness and necessity of the feminine design.

About La Leche League International La Leche League International is a nonprofit organization that provides mother-to-mother support and information on breastfeeding. With chapters in over 70 countries, La Leche League is dedicated to promoting breastfeeding as the optimal method of infant feeding and supporting mothers through education and peer support.