Rachel M. Dean (Maiden: Davis) is a Registered Dietitian, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and the owner of Harmony Nutrition & Lactation, LLC. From a young age, she has always had a strong desire to serve others which was further instilled in her through a family that believed in the importance of maintaining the health and wellbeing of both oneself and others. Her remarkable passion for nutrition began after recognizing and becoming saddened by the fact that many individuals were suffering from ailments that likely could have been prevented.

Rachel received a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutritional Sciences from the Pennsylvania State University. She began her career over 15 years ago providing maternal and pediatric nutrition counseling through several government programs and Medical Nutrition Therapy to patients in hospital and outpatient clinical settings. Further curiosity in preventative measures for optimal health sparked her interest in learning more about lactation and the periods of infancy and young childhood. Rachel returned to school  in 2012 and earned a Master’s in Public Health from the Department of Maternal and Child Health at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, where she also completed her lactation training through the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute. She continued to provide nutrition and feeding education and support services on a local and regional level. Rachel began to feel that although the experiences she gained were extremely valuable, there were still gaps in service and many families in the community that still needed support.

She is particularly passionate about decreasing racial/ethnic health disparities and achieving health equity among all people. After seeing an immense need, she wanted to create  and participate in spaces where this was being addressed intentionally.  In addition to her private practice she also serves as the Executive Director for Queen City Cocoa B.E.A.N.S., a 501c3 non-profit also dedicated to the nutritional health of families of color. Through both organizations, Rachel offers an array of family-centered nutrition and lactation services from preconception through preschool including nutritional counseling, breastfeeding education, office-based and in-home lactation consultations, group nutrition classes, group breastfeeding classes, cooking and grocery shopping classes and more! Rachel also provides professional training and presentations and has spoken locally, nationally and internationally for many groups and organizations on a variety of topics addressing adult and pediatric nutrition, lactation, and disparities in health. She also helped create and was the Program Director for the first two cohorts of the Lactation Consultant Training Program at Johnson C Smith University, the first Pathway 2 training program implemented at a historically black college/university in an effort to help diversify the field of lactation.

Rachel is committed to life-long learning and providing excellent quality of care. She continues to review current recommendations and guidelines for patient care, feels her roles are highly rewarding and loves being able to motivate and assist individuals and families in improving their overall health and well-being.