DDA Board of Directors

Governance Committee

President

Jessica Roberts, MS, RDN

Jessica is a clinical Dietitian at Saint Anthony North. This is her fourth year on the board of directors. This year she is taking on the role of President. She completed her undergraduate degree at BYU, completed a distance internship in Colorado, and completed her Master's degree through Sage Colleges. She is very musical and plays the piano, organ and harp. Jessica has a golden retriever named Cosmo and loves the color pink.

President Elect

Katie Painter, MS, RDN

Katie is the Clinical Nutrition Instructor at Metropolitan State University of Denver and a PRN Clinical Dietitian at The Medical Center of Aurora. This is her second year on the board of directors. This year she is taking on the role of President-Elect. Katie attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she obtained both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Nutrition and Health Sciences. During this time, Katie also achieved a minor in Business Administration and a certificate in Transdisciplinary Childhood Obesity Prevention. Katie completed her Dietetic Internship at Tri-County Health Department. Katie likes to travel and is a Colorado native. She enjoys spending time outside skiing in the winter and gardening in the summer.

Nominating Committee Chair

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Nominating Committee  

Emily Hunt

Nominating Committee

Catie Van Horn

Public Policy Chair

Shane Spritzer is a Registered Dietitian working at Presbyterian/St. Luke’s & Rocky Mountain Hospital for children as well as Rose Medical Center. He completed both his undergraduate degree and dietetic internship through Metropolitan State University of Denver, and his Masters of Public Health in Maternal & Child Health from Colorado School of Public Health. His free time is usually spent cooking, listening to a podcast, watching TV, or seeing a show at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. This is his third year on the board of directors, and he is excited to help strengthen Denver’s dietetic community.

Meeting Planning Committee

Meeting Planning Committee

Mary Kuester, RDN

Mary Kuester is an outpatient Dietitian at Children's Hospital, Colorado. This is her first year on the board of directors under the role of meeting planning committee. She completed a Coordinated program at St Joseph College in West Hartford, CT. Mary loves watching English Premier League Soccer (Go Liverpool!) . Her favorite hobbies include hiking, backpacking, and reading historical fiction.

Membership Committee

Secretary

Stephanie Neu, RDN

Stephanie Neu is a clinical Dietitian at The Medical Center of Aurora and is currently attending Colorado State University pursuing a Master’s degree in Food Science and Nutrition. This is her first year on the board of directors under the role of secretary. She completed her undergraduate degree and her Dietetic internship at MSU Denver. Stephanie enjoys traveling, especially internationally; is a Colorado native; and she’s a firm believer in “a cookie a day keeps the doctor away.” 

Membership Chair

Brianna Landis

Brianna Landis is currently pursing a graduate degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from MSU Denver and works for Sticky Fingers Cooking. This is her first year or the board of directors as the role of membership chair. Brianna grew up in Alaska mushing dogs. She also loves to scuba dive (not in Alaska), and her household is absolutely run by a 13-year-old toy australian shepherd.

Membership Committee

Megan Pfeiffer

Megan graduated from Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU) in May of 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics. At MSU Denver, she served as a board member of the Auraria Campus Student Dietetic Association. Megan plans to become a registered dietitian in the near future. Her previous experience working with eating disorders ignited her passion for helping patients with nutrition. Recently, she volunteered with the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) for its Denver walk. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, reading for her monthly book club, hiking, camping, and snowboarding. This is her first year on the DDA board and she is excited to connect with others in the Denver dietetic community.

Diet Tech Representative

Julie Morse, DTR

Julie Morse is a Dietetic Technician Registered at Rose Medical Center. This is her fourth year on the board of directors under the role of DTR representative. She completed her undergraduate degree at Johnson & Wales University. She volunteers at Brent’s Place cooking nutritious meals for the families of children with cancer.  She enjoys the process of preparing the menus meeting the nutritional guidelines, such as gluten free and food allergies, provided to her by the staff at Brent’s Place. Julie recently got a new car, drove down pikes peak, and spent labor day in Angel Fire, NM.

Johnson and Wales Student Representative

Race Shepherd

Race Shepherd is a Culinary Nutrition major at Johnson & Wales University - Denver.  This is his second year on the board of directors as Johnson & Wales University Student Rep. He is the President of the JWU Mixed Martial Arts Club. Race is from Kansas City, Missouri, and hopes to be accepted to Kansas University's Dietetic Internship next fall.

Johnson and Wales Student Representative

Megan Fira

Megan Fira is a senior Culinary Nutrition major at Johnson & Wales University. This is her first year on the board of directors as Johnson & Wales University Student Rep. Megan has a deep passion for cooking, and has been cooking for 14 years. She loves the outdoors - one of her favorite things to do outdoors is fly fishing. Megan currently works at UCHealth as a nutrition ambassador. Her goal is to complete a dietetic internship and to receive her Master's degree. She is passionate about assisting individuals with diet education and exercise! She hopes to combine her passion for food and exercise to create a place where individuals can come and begin a new journey in health and wellness.

Metropolitan State University of Denver Student Representative

Rusul Hamad

Rusul is a student at MSU Denver who is seeking a degree in nutrition and willing to get her masters degree. This is her first year on the board of directors under the role of MSU Student representative. Rusul is married and a mother of two children.

Metropolitan State University of Denver Student Representative

Delaney McCutcheon

Delaney McCutcheon is a student at MSU Denver who is in her final year of earning her bachelors in Human Nutrition and Dietetics. She works for the food and nutrition services at North Suburban Medical Center while she finishes school. This is her first year on the board of directors under the role of MSU Student representative. Delaney was born in California but has lived in Colorado since she was three. She loves to paddle board, and tries to travel every year.

Metropolitan State University of Denver Student Representative

Martha Prisby

Metropolitan State University of Denver Student Representative

Chelsea Wisch

Chelsea Wisch is a senior nutrition major at MSU Denver. This is her first year to the board of directors under the role of MSU Student representative. She works over night at King Soopers, stocking shelves and listing to her school lectures while she works. Chelsea is an undergraduate nutrition intern at the Health Center on MSU camps and in the spring, she will be a TA for Medical Nutrition Therapy. She is also working on a grant project with a professor at MSU, to create a rooftop garden on top of the newly remolded Health center. Chelsea is a long distance runner and races in 2-3 half marathons a year. She would love to do a full marathon at least once in her life. She is obsessed with her dogs. She has a corgi named, Pancake, who is pictured in her head shot. He is her heart. Chelsea loves the outdoors. You can usually find her trail running, hiking, or camping in the mountains. 

Public Relations

PR/Social Media Chair

Sara Scheler, RDN

Sara Scheler has been on the DDA board for 3 years now, serving as Social Media committee member and now chair. She completed her dietetic internship at Tri-County Health Department in Colorado and is now working full-time as a clinical Dietitian at Rose Medical Center, while finishing up her Master's Degree from CSU. Sara enjoys exercise, dinner parties, wine, food festivals and snowboarding. She can be reached at: sarascheler@gmail.com. 

PR/Social Media Committee

Tessa Cushman

Tessa Cushman is currently in her dietetic internship at Tri-County Health Department. This is her first year on the board of directors under the role of PR/Social Media Committee. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Tessa served AmeriCorps this past year with the Farm to School program teaching nutrition education in elementary schools. She loves playing volleyball (especially in Washington Park since moving here!). This is her first time living anywhere outside of Wisconsin!  

Speaker's Bureau Chair 

Meghan Perkins, RDN

Meghan Perkins is currently serving her first year on the DDA Board as the Speaker’s Bureau Chair. She is also the registered dietitian at Project Angel Heart, a local non-profit that prepares and delivers medically tailored meals to people living with life-threatening illnesses. After earning her bachelor’s degree at the University of Northern Colorado she completed her dietetic internship at the University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson, AZ. She then worked at a private practice in Phoenix, AZ for a few years before moving back to Colorado to be closer to family. Meghan, her husband Brad, and their dog Barney like to backpack and try new coffee shops around town. They recently moved to Denver’s Harvey Park neighborhood and are enjoying exploring the new-to-them area and figuring out how to grow a garden in their yard.

Website Chair

Nicole Bollinger, RDN

Nicole Bollinger is a clinical Dietitian at The Medical Center of Aurora. This is her first year on the board of directors under the role of Website Chair. She completed her undergraduate degree at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, and completed her Dietetic Internship at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore. Nicole loves being active, especially outdoors. Her favorite hobbies include rock climbing, snowboarding, hiking, rafting/kayaking, and everything in between. Her favorite food is ice cream and she loves making new friends.

Historian

• Lizzie Hellman, RDN

  Lizzie Hellmann is a clinical Dietitian at The Medical Center of Aurora. This is her first year on the board of directors under the role of Historian. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Kentucky, and completed her Internship in Winston-Salem, NC through Morrison Healthcare. Lizzie is originally from Tennessee. She is a runner and ran her first marathon in April 2019. She loves backpacking/trail running/anything outdoors.

Volunteer Coordinator

Christine Caruso

Christine is a Human Nutrition & Dietetics major at MSU Denver, graduating in May 2018. An avid cook since she was a teenager, she’s enjoyed sharing food and the health benefits of cooking and sharing meals with others for most of her life. Upon moving to Denver two years ago, she decided to make a career change, and pursue Nutrition to find a way to share the power of food with others. As the Coordinator for the Denver based co-op Walk2Connect, she organizes and leads food-focused walks, to educate her community on food and wellness. She also serves on the Board of the Auraria Campus Student Dietetics Association, where she enjoys connecting students to each other and to the world of Nutrition. After graduation, she looks forward to becoming a Registered Dietitian, and continuing to bring health and wellness to her neighbors in Denver.

Financial Committee

Treasurer 

Stephanie Weise

Fundraising Committee Chair

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