Lissa Knudsen is a Health Communication PhD student. Lissa’s work uses a critical-cultural lens and focuses on health policy efforts to increase breastfeeding rates, media representations of breastfeeding mother-child dyads, and contested space(s) and the breastfeeding-mother. 

In 2007, Ms. Knudsen won the National Public Health Association Inaugural Trong Nguyen Memorial Award for Student Leadership in recognition of the policy work she did to get the New Mexico ‘Breastpump Use in the Workplace’ bill signed into law. That same year Lissa also received the University of New Mexico (UNM) Student Volunteer of the Year Award. From 2009-2011 she served as the UNM Graduate & Professional Student President, where she advocated on behalf of graduate students, with an emphasis on efforts that would create space and open doors for students who were also parents. Lissa has served as the Executive Director of the Democratic Party of New Mexico and is currently the chair of the New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force, a local non-profit advocacy organization. 

Born in San Luis Obispo, CA on August 31, 1974, Ms. Knudsen received a B.S. degree in health science, and a Masters in Public Health degree, graduating with distinction, from California State University, Northridge in 2005. She is currently lives in downtown Albuquerque with her 11 year old daughter, two dogs, a kitten and a small flock of backyard chickens.