This case explores the formation and growth of an innovative nonprofit venture that provides human milk banking services. It describes the challenges faced by the founder getting medical buy in, establishing operations and adressing intial challenges. This case enables an exploration of the challenges of entering a new and untested market. This case demonstrates the value of using a business model canvas to evolve a new venture as well as the way an entreprenur can utilize key marketing frameworks (5 P and 5 C) to evolve a new venture.

Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam is founder and director emerita of Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast and past president of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America. Her professional training is in childbirth education, social work, and social policy, with a focus on family policy and advocacy. Naomi’s training and personal experience as the mother of four children, two of whom were NICU babies, have informed her work in milk banking locally, nationally, and internationally.

Mark I. Rosen is a teacher, consultant, researcher, and author. For more than three de- cades, he taught principles of management and organizational behavior to undergradu- ate and graduate students at Brandeis University and Bentley University. He earned his PhD in Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Mark has also served as a consultant and researcher for busi- nesses, nonprofits, and philanthropic foundations. He is the author of two books and the lead author/co-author of more than fifty research and consulting reports, case studies, and professional publications. Mark joined the board of Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast in 2017 and became the board chair in 2023.