We need at least 50% of our members to vote in order to certify the election, so please log into your account and place your vote as soon as possible. Voting closes on August 16, 2025 at midnight Eastern time.
Members may vote for one or all three of these candidates at the end of this post. Before or after you cast your vote, you may wish to view our 2025 Annual Report.
Meet your 2025/2026 BCIA Board candidates! Each of these women is a dynamic force in the babywearing business world.
At the BCIA, we strive to invite a variety of perspectives onto our board, and we are always eager to receive new nominations for board members or committee leaders — and you are welcome to nominate yourself.
Our current board is made up of the following members:
- Kristi Hayes-Devlin, chairwoman, is the executive director of the BCIA, babywearing educator, chair of the ASTM committee for the sling/wrap standards in the US,
- and former product manufacturer. She lives in the US (nonvoting board member)
- Allie Vella, secretary, has worked with BabyTula and ErgoBaby in both product marketing and compliance, among other roles. She lives in the US.
- Melissa Macleod, treasurer, is the operations manager for Wildbird, a babywearing educator, formerly the president of Babywearing International of Salt Lake. She lives in the US.
- Diana Mateescu, CEN liason, is a babywearing educator, the owner of PoartoMa, and a member of the European CEN committees for slings and soft carriers. She lives in Romania.
- Tina Hoffmann is the owner of Didymos slings. She lives in Germany.
- Rebecca Grove is a babywearing and postpartum educator and the owner of Grove Family Care. She lives in Canada. She will be retiring from the board this year.
We are hoping all three candidates listed below will join our board for 2025/2026. Board members generally serve a 3 year term at minimum.
We are excited to have a variety of perspectives represented by these three candidates.
You can read their full bios below, but here is a quick overview:
- Allie Dennis, from Canada, will bring the perspective of both a babywearing educator and a retail store owner to the board.
- Geta Rasciuc, from Netherlands, will bring the perspective of a product designer, educator, manufacturer, researcher, and activist to the board.
- Sarah Zinn, from the United States, will bring the perspective of the babywearing garment field, wholesale accounts, carrier compliance specialist, and former military service member to the board.
Allie Dennis, Canada
Allie Dennis is the founder and CEO of Little Zen One, a Canadian retailer committed to accessibility, sustainability, and community. A dreamer and doer, she launched Little Zen One in 2015 and has turned it into a leading source of ethically made baby carriers and babywearing education. Allie has designed a visionary Try Before You Buy program for baby carriers in 2020 and scaled it to 11,000 free week-long trials in 2024 alone. She now guides a remote team of over 50 part-time women contractors. With a background in international development and her experience as a deaf parent, Allie combines vision and execution to build technology-driven systems that empower families and advance industry standards.
Geta Rasciuc, Netherlands
I do consultancy for brands and retailers. Prior to babywearing I have a Masters degree in Marketing Communications.
I consult with:
-Innovation, product design [including textile, software, hardware ]
-product development and audit [including software, hardware and data product development]
-training materials development and audit [instruction manuals, staff training material, point of sales teams materials]
-product validation strategy, including clinical space
I do staff training and public speaking in the babywearing space and I have worked with the World Health Organization.
I have experience working with wearable tech, electronic textile sensors & haptics development, clinical product development, as well as international IP strategy [patents, industrial models, trade secret].
Sarah Zinn, United States
Thank you so much for considering me for a position on the Baby Carrier Industry Alliance board. I currently work for Lalabu, a baby carrier manufacturer, which is how I came to be a participating member of the BCIA. I am also the Compliance Officer for Lalabu and while I sometimes find it daunting to read through all of the different regulations that impact safe baby carrier manufacturing, I also find it fascinating. I was previously an Air Traffic Controller (in the Air Force), so I’m no novice to attention to detail and the importance of regulations when it comes to safety.
I deeply value the amazing benefits of wearing “babies”. I have witnessed the value of carriers and the ability to wear children in so many different situations, most especially in my own parenting journey. Just this morning my 5 year old, who is in kindergarten this year, was being very snuggly and sweet, but I had things I needed to accomplish. I offered her snuggles in our child sized carrier, which she gladly accepted. I truly don’t understand how caregivers manage without baby carriers!
The BCIA provided me with a wealth of knowledge when I first started my position and I would love the opportunity to share my passion for knowledge and information with a team of like minded people.
Ballot
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