A person could easily make the case that the Boise Farmers Market is one of the most community-forward organizations around. Shoppers know it for its vibrant mix of high-quality organic food, but just as central to its mission is making sure that good food reaches households across the economic spectrum.
One of its most meaningful efforts is the Mobile Market, a partnership with City of Good, a fellow nonprofit similarly committed to equitable food access. The Mobile Market’s van, covered with bright paintings of vegetables, brings organic produce directly to neighborhoods throughout the city. It works on a pay-what-you-can model. Farmers get paid regardless.
These four alumni, working for the organizations, help carry this worthy mission forward.
Amber Beierle
Boise Farmers Market Executive Director Amber Beierle (BA, history and secondary education, 2004; MA, public/applied history, 2007) credits Boise State with helping shape both her career path and approach to public service. “What is your skill set, what is your passion, and how do you integrate those things?” she said, reflecting on the guidance she received from mentors like Professor Emeritus Todd Shallat. “Boise State was really about getting students into the community and making a difference.”
That emphasis on hands-on learning – through internships, service learning and community partnerships – helped her move from classroom study into public history work. Beierle pointed to the importance of encouragement from faculty who helped her recognize her strengths. “Those early experiences open doors and help you see what’s possible,” she said.
While still a student at Boise State, Beierle served as the city’s first historian through a city/university partnership. Another high-profile role was historic sites administrator for the Old Idaho Penitentiary – Idaho’s territorial prison that housed inmates until the 1970s. Beierle helped reimagine the site. She dramatically increased the number of visitors and added new programming, including cemetery tours. This led to a partnership with the geophysics department at Boise State that used ground-penetrating radar to locate unmarked graves.
Beierle also established the Ray Knight Memorial Scholarship in honor of a longtime volunteer. What began as a fund to help rural schools afford bus transportation to the Old Idaho Penitentiary grew into a program that covers transportation costs for any Title I school visiting an Idaho State Historical Society site.
Today, she brings that same expansive mindset to the Boise Farmers Market. In 2025, when sudden SNAP benefit cuts and system delays created uncertainty for families who receive aid, Beierle and her market team quickly reworked operations, distributing up to $40 in free vouchers per household to anyone showing an EBT card. With emergency support from local healthcare and food coalition partners, the market helped close the “SNAP gap.” It distributed more than $72,000 in assistance while paying farmers fully for their harvests.
Beierle described her current work as rooted in listening. “It is no different than public history,” she said. “It’s about bringing people into a space where we have common values, or creating that space if it doesn’t exist.”
Beierle feels a deep connection as an Idahoan. “We are a state of hardworking people. The local food system is something that can unify us at a time when we want to be good stewards of our land, support small businesses and good health. Anyone can find an entry point in those values,” she said.
Olivia Wargo
Boise Farmers Market Manager Olivia Wargo is a Boise native and, like Beierle, a double Bronco (BA in global studies with an emphasis in sustainable futures, 2019; MPA with a focus in state and local government and nonprofit management, 2022). She joined the Boise Farmers Market in 2024. She manages the Saturday walk-through market and works daily to connect vendors, shoppers and community partners.
Wargo’s professional path has always centered on people. Before joining the market, she worked in museum education and refugee resettlement, experiences that deepened her commitment to helping people feel connected to their communities. In the past, she did communication and outreach for Treasure Valley Roller Derby. “I was active in high school – Honor Society, theater, basketball. I developed a passion for community early on,” she said. “As I started my career, I realized I needed to do work that felt meaningful. I work to pay my bills, of course, but I also get to do something that impacts the community I’m part of. I haven’t wanted to stop yet.”
For Wargo, the market is an embodiment of those sentiments. “So many people from different backgrounds come together around local food,” she said. “People stay for hours, chatting with vendors, seeing familiar faces, or discovering something new. It’s joy and support, all in one place.”
She points to moments that reveal the market’s deeper role in people’s lives. “The market becomes a safe space,” she says. “You see people going through hard things – loss, tough seasons on farms – but they still show up for each other. And then you see kids in programs like Sprouts Kids Club (a free program that educates kids about local food) trying new foods or making seed art. You think about the next generation growing up with that sense of connection.”
Boise State, Wargo said, was central in shaping how she approaches this work. “The MPA program was especially valuable because so many of our instructors were nonprofit leaders sharing real-world experience.” She credits Boise State with giving her practical skills in collaboration, fundraising, and organizational leadership. “I’m grateful for that education. I never planned to work with refugee programs or farming, but the knowledge I acquired there opened a lot of doors. I’m excited for what’s ahead.”
Drea Davis
A third double Bronco, Drea Davis (BS, psychology, 2017; MPA with a graduate certificate in nonprofit management, 2019) is the City of Good director of community engagement. She grew up in the Seattle area but found both her career path and her community on Boise State’s campus. As an undergraduate, she spent much of her time involved with the Dance Marathon, a student-led, philanthropic project that raises money for St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital. An internship with St. Luke’s Health Foundation introduced her to donor relations and philanthropy.
A conversation with a hospital parent set Davis on a new path. The parent encouraged her to look into a Master of Public Administration degree. “I didn’t even know what an MPA was,” Davis said. “But I knew I loved the work I was doing, and that fundraising didn’t scare me.”
After earning her bachelor’s degree, Davis joined Boise State’s Division of Student Affairs while completing her master’s degree. She credits the MPA program with preparing her for nonprofit leadership. She appreciated that the program was not test-based, but focused on conversation and writing. This style of learning boosted her confidence as a student, she said. “As one of the younger people in the room, I learned so much from professors and classmates who had been in the workforce for years.”
As City of Good’s director of community engagement, Davis helps cultivate the partnerships, donors, volunteers and community support behind the organization’s programs. One initiative especially close to her heart involves buying surplus produce from local growers and distributing it to 30 food pantries throughout the Treasure Valley. Working with a network of volunteers, City of Good delivers the produce to communities like Marsing, Caldwell, Homedale and Parma as well as Boise, including the food pantry at Boise State. For many of the pantries, Davis said, City of Good is the sole source of fresh local produce.
She is equally proud of the Mobile Market partnership with the Boise Farmers Market. During the SNAP benefits disruption in 2025, City of Good expanded the program to provide produce, bread, eggs and meat, all while sticking with the pay-what-you-choose model.
“People would be waiting for us before we could even unload the van,” she said. “Some showed up with bags of coins because they wanted to contribute something. People were so thankful and wanted to talk. The Boise Farmers Market and City of Good helped ease a really difficult situation.”
Her work, she said, often feels more like a calling than a job. “I’m so grateful and lucky,” she said. “Everyone is trying to spread the good. You can feel that energy through every part of what we’re doing.”
Mark Whiteley
City of Good External Communications Coordinator Mark Whiteley (BA, integrated media and strategic communications, television, broadcast, and digital media production, 2023) chose an unusual time to transfer to Boise State. After moving from Chico, California, in 2020, he spent much of his college experience navigating remote classes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Most classes were remote, but I had a few in person. I even had a class in ExtraMile Arena. It was a wild experience,” Whiteley said.
He worked full-time during college, advancing from shift lead to assistant manager at a local coffee shop while earning his degree. During his junior year, he wrote for the student newspaper, The Arbiter.
“I was writing for the culture section,” he said. “I really enjoyed it. It taught me about interviewing and writing.” Among the stories he remembers most were features on Boise State theater productions, where he interviewed actors and costume designers. “Seeing my byline in the physical paper was very cool,” he said.
He joined City of Good in 2025. He uses his writing skills to share stories about food access and community need. During the SNAP benefit reduction in 2025, he helped share information about available resources while also encouraging community members to donate if they could. “It was heartbreaking because of the need, but also gratifying to see how people stepped up,” he said.
Recently, Whiteley helped pack hundreds of boxes of fresh produce destined for local food pantries. He said the food itself stood out – beautiful, fresh produce that might otherwise have gone uneaten. Knowing it would reach people who needed it instead was deeply meaningful, he said. “Food access should never be an issue.”