John Boller

Chair

John Boller is the Executive Director of the Coralville Community Food Pantry, an anti-hunger nonprofit providing critical food assistance services to the greater Coralville community. He was co-founder and former director of Grow: Johnson County, a hunger-relief and educational farm program. John lives in Iowa City with his family and is passionate about food justice, cooking, gardening, and Iowa Women’s Basketball.

Email John: iowahungercoalition@gmail.com

Paige Chickering

Vice Chair

Paige Chickering is the Iowa State Manager for Save the Children Action Network and the Vice Chair of the Iowa Hunger Coalition. Paige is a graduate of American University’s School of International Service, where she studied global development, and has a legislative background from working on Capitol Hill and the Council on Foreign Relations. At SCAN, she helps to coordinate grassroots engagement and advance state and federal policy priorities to ensure that all children get access to the nutrition and early education they need for a strong start in life. Paige believes that investing in kids is the best investment we can make. Her goal is to leverage her experience to serve and uplift the most vulnerable members of our communities.  

Nicole McAlexander

Secretary

Nicole McAlexander is the Executive Director at Southeast Linn Community Center, a rural human services non-profit. The organization’s largest program is a weekly client-choice, no limit food pantry which is used by 11% of the community. For the last 6 years, Nicole has managed a volunteer-run garden to grow fresh produce for the pantry. Nicole also serves as a Board member for the Housing Fund for Linn County, and is passionate about addressing the intersecting issues of housing challenges and food insecurity.

Jean Logan

Jean Logan has been the Executive Director of the Community Action Agency of Siouxland (CAAS) since 1998. Throughout her career, she has been a key leader in advocating policy

changes that benefit low- to middle-income families in Woodbury County and all throughout Iowa.  Jean and her husband have two daughters, two pups, and two new grandbabies!

Sheila Hansen

Sheila concentrates her work on early childhood, primarily child care, preschool and home visitation. She also coordinates the advocacy and lobbying work at the state capitol. She has received numerous awards for her advocacy work around early childhood issues from the Iowa Head Start Association, the Association for the Education of Young Children and Early Childhood Iowa. Sheila holds degrees in sociology and psychology from the University of Iowa. She resides with her family in Fort Dodge.

Mary Beyerhelm-Huey

Ryan Bobst

Ryan Bobst is the Executive Director of the North Liberty Community Pantry, providing food, clothing, and referrals to neighbors experiencing food insecurity in Johnson County. Ryan is an anti-poverty advocate and serves as an Adjunct Instructor for the University of Iowa School of Social Work. Ryan lives in Iowa City with his family and is passionate about ending hunger and poverty. 

Andrea Cook

Andrea Cook is currently the Executive Director of the Johnston Partnership, a central Iowa non-profit that operates a food pantry, clothing closet, and other school-based support programs. She has worked in 2 other DMARC pantries, and spent time working in homelessness before working in food insecurity. Her personal mission is to learn and advocate for those experiencing any form of marginalization. She lives in West Des Moines with her spouse, and enjoys cooking, baking, reading, and building community. 

Marc Craig
Marc Craig is an advocate based in Des Moines. After experiencing 18 months of homelessness, including living out of his car, Marc developed a firsthand understanding of the gaps and opportunities within systems that serve people in crisis. That experience ignited his passion for advocacy around food insecurity and homelessness, and he brings both lived experience and a neurodivergent perspective to that work.

Amy Schaefer