Following her heart and her passion for baking, Joanne Canady-Brown left a corporate project management position in 2008, joined Panera Bread later that year, and within two years ventured out on her own as a food entrepreneur.

As a child, Cheetie Kumar moved with her family from India to the United States, bringing along high hopes for the American-dream lifestyle portrayed on TV.

Over 27 years, Ellen Yin has built numerous successful restaurants and amassed top awards, including Philadelphia Business Journal’s “Women of Distinction” award and “Outstanding Restaurateur” by the James Beard Foundation.

“We need to raise people up.”

“Every dish has a narrative.”

“Without the diversity that is in the restaurant business today, this business is not a business.”

A certified trainer for the National Coalition Building Institute, Emerald Mills is the visionary behind two Milwaukee-based organizations: Diverse Dining and Turning Tables. Both are dedicated to breaking down barriers and promoting inclusivity through food.

FE&S Kitchen Storage Makeover contest winner Brewability gained organization and storage improvements at a facility with a unique operation model that puts inclusivity at the forefront.

Founded in Denver in 2018, CHOW is a nonprofit whose acronym stands for Culinary Hospitality Outreach Wellness. Its goal is to create a more sustainable workforce by helping hospitality industry employees improve their mental and physical well-being, often compromised by job-related stressors.

Gerry A. Fernandez, president and founder of the Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance, will retire effective December 31, 2023. Beginning next year, Fernandez will support MFHA in an advisory role. MFHA will conduct a national search for his successor.

Over the past decade, Irene Li has grown her business from Chinese-American food truck to restaurant to factory to consulting startup.

Shannon Solomon refers often to a quote by poet and civil rights advocate Maya Angelou in describing her approach to leadership and to creating a culture that embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

The first new dining hall on campus in 49 years, Yahentamitsi Dining Hall at the University of Maryland completed an 11-year new-build project when it opened in 2022. The nearly 68,000-square-foot all-you-care-to-eat facility can serve up to 15,000 guests daily.

After nearly two decades spent working his way up through the kitchens of top Minneapolis restaurants, Chef Sean Sherman had an epiphany.

Among the toughest challenges industry leaders working to advance diversity, equity and inclusion face has to do with eggshells, and not those left over from cooking, suggests Tracey MacRae, campus executive chef, assistant director of culinary and dining systems at the University of Washington.

“I’ve never had a woman sous chef, and I’m not starting with you.” Such was the welcome Brittani Ratcliff received from the executive chef she’d been hired to work under in her first job out of culinary school. The foodservice director, who overheard the declaration, laughed it off. Three weeks later, Ratcliff was shifted to another position.

Stephan C. Baity vividly recalls the 2020 KIA/Culinary Olympics in Stuttgart, Germany, for many reasons.

The foodservice industry has faced many major challenges over the past couple of years. Despite all the struggles, the industry has shown admirable perseverance and we think it’s time to start focusing on opportunities. This one has been hiding in plain sight: It’s time to embrace diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).