2022-2023 BRAND Board

Our Board is comprised of elected and appointed officers.

Jena Savadsky Griffith, RDN, IHC

President
Jena Savadsky Griffith, RDN, IHC is an integrative dietitian and health coach with a private practice specializing in the foundational processes of body re-mineralization, gut restoration and immune resilience. She uses food, nature, functional medicine and targeted supplementation to nourish body, mind and spirit. After graduating from NYU with a BA in journalism and having a successful career in television production, Jena was inspired to redirect her work path and returned to school after transforming her own health and life with integrative and functional nutrition. Following a more circuitous route, she amassed certifications from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, the Institute for the Psychology of Eating and a digestive wellness mentorship while attending, graduating and completing her dietetic internship at the University of Northern Colorado. After almost 4 years creating and directing a successful nutrition program at Virginia’s top medical wellness facility, this year Jena transitioned to private practice full time. For the past 12 years, she has also been the primary nutrition instructor for Charlottesville’s community education program. Jena is a writer, mentor, frequent presenter, podcast guest and is the author of the chronic pain and nutrition chapter of Integrative and Functional Medical Nutrition Therapy, the most recent textbook reference for IFMNT practitioners. Jena is the current editor of The Integrative RDN, newsletter for Dietitians in Integrative and Functional Medicine (DIFM) and has been a member of BRAND since 2015. She credits the relationships formed with brilliant and generous RDNs of BRAND as a key factor in beginning her RDN career in Virginia!

Holly Van Poots, RDN, CSP, FAND

Nominating Committee Chair (Past President) and Treasurer
Holly Van Poots, RDN, CSP, FAND, is a private practice dietitian specializing in integrative nutrition care throughout the lifespan. Her practice, Be Balanced Nutrition, LLC, is part of an integrative performance center in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where she collaborates with two functional chiropractors, a massage therapist, and a trainer specializing in Pilates and Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization. She has over 15 years of experience working with acutely ill children in several large health systems and has been a Board Certified Specialist in Pediatric Nutrition since 2006. She has served as a subject matter expert for the Commission on Dietetic Registration's Pediatric Specialty Exam and has been a member of the advisory committee for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro's Dietetic Internship Program. She became a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (FAND) in 2015. She is a Past Chair of the Pediatric Nutrition Practice Group and has also been the editor of the PNPG Building Block for Life. She is currently copy editor for the Dietitians in Integrative and Functional Medicine newsletter, The Integrative RDN, and for the patient education team of the Renal Dietitians Practice Group. She is the 2018-2021 Pediatric Nutrition DPG delegate for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics House of Delegates. Holly is a dynamic speaker and dedicated leader with a passion for healthy living and for her family. Outside of nutrition, she spends her time raising two boys and teaching Pilates, TRX, and barre group fitness classes.

Kris Bonham RDN

Bylaws Chair
Kris has over 35 years of experience in varying areas of nutrition care including fitness and wellness; nutrition counseling in physician practices; nutrition support in medical centers; consulting in long term care, food service management, and medical and psychiatric/substance abuse hospitals. Kris has advanced training as a Health and Wellness Coach trained through Wellcoaches® Corporation and trained in Emotional Brain Training™ through The Institute for Health Solutions. Her current areas of private practice include eating disorders/disordered eating, chronic disease prevention and management, gastrointestinal disorders, food allergies/intolerances, sports nutrition and general wellness. She and her colleague-friend have formed Nourishing Resilience, a method for rewiring the emotional brain including brain-body balancing strategies that support resilience to stress. Kris has served on the BRAND and VAND boards for many years and enjoys the collaborative work with other RDNs.

Kristen Hamilton, DCN, RDN, CSSD, CHES

Communications and IT Chair
Dr. Kristen P. Hamilton, DCN, RDN, CSSD, CHES, NSCA-CPT is a Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, a Certified Health Education Specialist, and a Certified Personal Trainer. She has spend the last two decades working in sports nutrition, health promotion, and higher education. She is currently in private practice as the Director of Performance Nutrition for SiSu Systems, LLC. She also serves as UVA's Sports Medicine Dietitian at the Ivy Orthopedic Center in Charlottesville, VA.

Kaitlyn Good

Co-Communications and Membership Chair
Kaitlyn is a recent undergraduate of James Madison University where she received her Bachelors of Science in Dietetics. Currently, she is an Applied Nutrition graduate student at JMU. Her career aspirations consist of working with patients with disordered eating/eating disorders as a nutrition counselor. Kaitlyn's graduate research will focus on familial influence on the etiology of eating disorders. During her free time, she loves going to new restaurants and taking daytrips to new places. She also loves to run and participates in the local community band in Harrisonburg, Virginia where she plays the saxophone. Kaitlyn is excited to come aboard and support the BRAND organization as she continues working towards receiving a master's degree in applied nutrition and obtaining her RDN credential!