Staff and Board

Denise Dixon

Executive Director

Denise is a versatile Executive Director with over 10 years of leadership expertise in the Idaho nonprofit sector. She has strong working relationships with strategic partners around the state. In 2021, after seven years with the Idaho Farmers Market Association, Denise took the reins of the Task Force.

Kasey Giles

Produce Prescription Program Coordinator

Kasey is an aspiring Registered Dietitian with an interest in finding ways to increase access to local produce, close the gap between producer and consumer, and ensure that all communities feel supported nutritionally.

Gabrielle Guzdek

AmeriCorps VISTA

Gabrielle is an aspiring public health policy analyst with a focus on identifying the root causes of hunger, addressing food insecurity, and understanding the role social determinants of health play in one’s nutrition and well-being.

Oliver Thompson

Volunteer Extraordinaire

Oliver Thompson is an emerging leader in the field of public health. After a long career in corporate high tech (Apple and HP), Oliver has been exploring opportunities to make a difference in the areas of health equity, environmental justice, and food security.

 

Board Members

Dawn Pierce, LPN

Dawn Pierce is the National Organizing Manager for Hunger Free America.  She has lived in Boise, Idaho, for 42 years. Dawn offers a lived experience as a hunger and poverty survivor. She shared the story of losing her job during the great recession, needing SNAP, while raising a teenage son and managing health concerns at the 2013 Bread for the World’s National Gathering and in the 2016 Bread for the World Institute’s Hunger Report

Dawn Pierce

Dawn Pierce is the National Organizing Manager for Hunger Free America. She has lived in Boise, Idaho, for 42 years. Dawn offers a lived experience as a hunger and poverty survivor. She shared the story of losing her job during the great recession, needing SNAP, while raising a teenage son and managing health concerns at the 2013 Bread for the World’s National Gathering and in the 2016 Bread for the World Institute’s Hunger Report. In 2016, Dawn participated in a White House panel discussion with Rep. Jim McGovern highlighting child hunger in America. She attended the 2022 White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health and has become a respected voice for those with a lived experience. Dawn serves on the Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force board of directors as board president, Alliance to End Hunger Advisory Council, frequently advocates for anti-hunger and anti-poverty legislation in Washington DC and locally, fierce community advocate for the Idaho Food Bank. Dawn is a former member of the Bread for the World Board of Directors, RESULTS Experts on Poverty Cohort, and former Co-Chair of the Idaho Interfaith Roundtable Against Hunger.

Barbara Gordon EdD, RDN

Barbara Gordon is an Associate Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at Idaho State University and Registered Dietitian. She has decades of experience developing, implementing, and evaluating programming for nonprofit organizations, including the American Diabetes Association and American Heart Association.

Barbara Gordon

Barbara Gordon is an Associate Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at Idaho State University and Registered Dietitian. She has decades of experience developing, implementing, and evaluating programming for nonprofit organizations, including the American Diabetes Association and American Heart Association. For five years, she served as the Executive Director of the Interstitial Cystitis Association, a nonprofit advocating for patients with chronic bladder pain. Barbara’s expertise spans health communications, health literacy, programming, and nonprofit management. Dr. Gordon has presented and published on food security issues, including evaluations on the efficacy of fruit and vegetable prescription programs. She is a vice chair of the Idaho Interfaith Roundtable Against Hunger Board of Conveners.

Kayla Brisby, LCSW

Kayla Brisby is a licensed Clinical Social Worker and Non-Capital Mitigation Specialist. As a social worker, Kayla has worked in several different community settings. Experiences range from community mental health to the criminal legal system to college student services at Boise State University.

Kayla Brisby

Kayla Brisby is a licensed Clinical Social Worker and Non-Capital Mitigation Specialist. As a social worker, Kayla has worked in several different community settings. Experiences range from community mental health to the criminal legal system to college student services at Boise State University. Kayla also had the opportunity to complete an internship as a Care Navigator with the Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force while pursuing her undergraduate degree. Through this internship and her professional experiences, Kayla has developed a passion for fighting food insecurity, advocating for social justice, and cultivating communities. Kayla holds both a bachelor's and master's degree in Social Work from Boise State University. She is honored for the opportunity to be of service to others as a member of the IHRTF Board of Directors.

Erin Bennett

Erin Bennett is the Government Relations and Advocacy Director for the American Heart Association in Idaho. In this role she advocates for public policy to improve community health, and works to educate and engage advocates.

Erin Bennett

Erin Bennett is the Government Relations and Advocacy Director for the American Heart Association in Idaho. In this role she advocates for public policy to improve community health, and works to educate and engage advocates. Bennett has worked as a public policy and political consultant at federal, state, and local levels, helping advise candidate and issue campaigns across a variety of subjects including education, health, energy, transportation, and taxes since 2000. She has worked in public opinion polling, research, and fundraising and uses this experience to create successful strategies and effective communication campaigns. Erin earned her Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Idaho, and received a Master of Science in Political Management from George Washington University. She currently volunteers for a number of community organizations in Boise, ID and in her spare time plays and coaches water polo, travels as much as possible, and annoys her dog.
 

Full Circle Research Team

Jessica Gibbons, MD

Dr. Jessica Gibbons grew up in Ontario, Oregon and Payette, Idaho.  She completed her undergraduate degree in BioResource Research at Oregon State University in the College of Agricultural Sciences, and then pursued medical school at Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Jessica Gibbons

Dr. Jessica Gibbons grew up in Ontario, Oregon and Payette, Idaho.  She completed her undergraduate degree in BioResource Research at Oregon State University in the College of Agricultural Sciences, and then pursued medical school at Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine.  Since she grew up in the rural parts of Idaho and Oregon, she chose to complete her clinical rotations of medical school in rural Eastern Idaho at the critical access hospital in Blackfoot, Idaho. Dr. Gibbons chose her residency in Idaho because her long term goal is to work as a physician in rural idaho to give back to the people she grew up with, and to lessen the state’s healthcare disparity.  Her mission is to facilitate positive patient-physician relationships with every patient she meets. Her professional passions include lifestyle medicine and sustainable weight loss.  In her free time, Jess enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter.  She also enjoys baking, cooking healthy versions of her favorite restaurant or bakery foods, and fitness.

Nichole Cortez

Nichole is a registered dietitian specializing in pediatrics and a student pursing a Doctorate in clinical nutrition. Nichole grew up in Horseshoe Bend, Idaho and enjoys all things outside and with her family. She received her Masters in Dietetics and Nutrition from the University of Kansas.

Nichole Cortez

Nichole is a registered dietitian specializing in pediatrics and a student pursing a Doctorate in clinical nutrition. Nichole grew up in Horseshoe Bend, Idaho and enjoys all things outside and with her family. She received her Masters in Dietetics and Nutrition from the University of Kansas where she is currently enrolled, and has a passion for family-centered patient care and increasing access to food and nutrition services.