Amy Thomas-Mellema: Executive Director

Amy Thomas-Mellema is a visionary leader with exceptional experience and a leadership style focused on collaboration, empathy, transparent communication, accountability and having fun! During her 25-year legal career, in addition to managing her own law firm, Amy has held positions as general and senior counsel at organizations including Priority Health and Health Alliance Plan. Amy is passionate about health and healthcare, and the impact of nonprofits in our community.

Mandy Thompson: Executive Chef

Chef Mandy Thompson has a passion for food is medicine, plant-based cooking, and teaching. With a background as a Holistic Health Practitioner and Instructor for children and youth cooking classes at Kent District Library, her talent and experience are an amazing fit with Revive & Thrive Project's mission. She brings her skills for healthy and delicious cooking as well as youth development into the kitchen. Mandy is a mom of three and is always cooking something new for her family. When you see Chef Mandy in the kitchen, she will be wearing one of her awesome veggie t-shirts.

Donna Tefft: President

Donna retired from her position as Chief Operations Officer at D.A. Blodgett – St. John’s in the spring of 2021, following a career that included direct service, volunteer management, grant writing, program development, mentoring and coaching, risk management, quality assurance and evaluation, accreditation, and executive leadership. Eager to find new and unique ways to continue to serve our community, Donna found the mission of the Revive and Thrive Project to be a great fit with her passion for individual, family, and community well-being.

In addition to her work as an accreditation consultant, Donna serves as a Peer Reviewer for the Council on Accreditation. Donna is an active outdoors woman, favoring running, hiking and biking to most anything other than time with her husband, children and grandchildren, preferably in northern Michigan.

Steve Williams:  Board Member

Steve Williams is a former executive and consultant who spent his career in managed health care, administration and chronic disease training and program development. In the last nine years of his career he served as executive director of the non-profit Michigan for Clinical Systems Improvement (Mi-CCSI) which adapted and developed programs and training for primary care teams in complex patient management. In his career he worked for two large, regional health maintenance organizations and consulted with regional and national health plans and insurers in a variety of operational and strategic initiatives. Now semi-retired, Steve enjoys cooking, reading and volunteer work. He lives with his wife Lisa and has two adult sons.

Krista Koster, CPA, MSA:  Board Treasurer

Krista is a Senior Manager at Hungerford Nichols. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Cornerstone University, and completed her Masters in Accountancy at Grand Valley State University. As part of the Specialized Accounting Services Team, Krista works closely with a variety of businesses and not-for-profit organizations to ensure they have accurate financial information. Her areas of expertise include accounting processes, financial statements, payroll, budgeting, and cleaning up accounting messes.

Krista brings her passion for healthy eating to our team. In addition to cooking plant based, Krista enjoys spending time with her family, playing golf, reading, and watching the Detroit Tigers.

Christina Hazekamp Wright, MPH: Secretary

Christina holds a bachelor’s degree in Nutritional Sciences from Michigan State University and a Master's degree in Public Health from Boston University. She also holds certifications in Lean Management and Improvement Capability. Christina currently serves as the Director of Program Management for the I-PASS Institute, leading teams who manage large-scale implementation projects across health systems. Her professional background also includes clinical nutrition counseling and research administration.

Working with chronically ill patients to improve their quality of life through food, Christina developed a strong appreciation for the positive impact that can be had on individual and community health when food systems are sustainable and equitable. In her spare time, Christina enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband and their dog, Clifford. 

Lindsay Schmidt: Board Member

With 15 years of Human Resources experience with Fortune 500 Companies, Lindsay brings deep expertise in coaching, compensation, talent management, HR policy, company culture, and diversity & inclusion. She is passionate about finding and growing talent and creating a culture where employees can thrive as their authentic selves. Lindsay completed her Master's degree in Human Resources at the University of Minnesota and most recently completed a certificate course in Diversity & Inclusion through Cornell University.

Originally from the Kansas City Metropolitan area, she has moved around the US and lived in 11 states, but has been happy to call Grand Rapids home since 2017. She is passionate about healthy eating and does her best to apply those principles as she cooks for her 3 children and husband. She also enjoys Yoga, hiking with her family, planning dinner parties, and reading.

John Williams CPA:  Board Member

John is a Income Tax Manager at Meijer Inc.  Previously, he spent 5 years with BDO as a member of the core tax services group and 4 years with Vail Resorts as an EMT/patroller while living in Colorado. He is a Grand Rapids native and Michigan State alumni. John brings his accounting skills and his passion for helping others within the community to the Revive and Thrive Project. He enjoys working in his garden and cooking new meals with the produce, seeing first-hand the positive impacts of fresh food and quality nutrition on a person’s overall health.

Lynne Logan: Board Member

Photo & Bio coming soon!

Michael Puff, MD, FACG: Board Member

With over 30 years of experience in his medical career, numerous academic appointments and Board Certifications, Michael brings an unparalleled wealth of clinical expertise to Revive & Thrive Project. He is a lifetime proponent of Food as Medicine and feels strongly about the organization’s mission of providing nourishing meals to those facing a health crisis while empowering the next generation. Michael shared about his passion for RTP’s mission: "I am a gastroenterologist and have talked about Food as Medicine throughout my career. Diet is huge. It has enormous consequences. I enjoy giving back and appreciate being able to support the work of Revive and Thrive and empower more teens as they learn about healthy eating habits and volunteerism.” Not only is Michael a passionate supporter, but he can also be found volunteering in the kitchen or in packaging alongside teen volunteers, enjoying the opportunity to connect.