Cristina Martinez

Cristina Martinez is giving a voice to the controversial struggle of those who work without papers in Donald Trump’s America.

She has led the initiative #Right2Work to promote a public dialogue about the conditions for undocumented workers in the restaurant industry and to generate meeting spaces for exchanging information and support for those who need it most.

The Mayor of Philadelphia, Jim Kenney, awarded her the Nationalities Service Award for her fight for immigrant rights and for her contribution to making the city a celebrated gastronomic destination.

Inspired partly by her work, the local council has now passed a resolution that recognizes work as a human right, regardless of a person’s immigration status.

Anne McBride

Dr. Anne E. McBride is vice president of impact at the James Beard Foundation, overseeing JBF’s initiatives around policy advocacy, research, and training. She holds a PhD in food studies from New York University and wrote her dissertation on the changing role of the chef in the 21st century.

Previously, Anne was deputy director of the Torribera Mediterranean Center, a joint project of the University of Barcelona and the Culinary Institute of America that offers curricula, conferences, and editorial material at the intersection of health, sustainability, and flavor. As programs director for the CIA’s Strategic Initiatives Group for nearly 10 years, she was responsible for the acclaimed Worlds of Flavor International Conference and Festival, among other industry leadership programs.

She is the co-author of seven books and has written extensively about professional and experimental cooking for academic and consumer audiences. A native of Switzerland, Anne is a 2024 Aspen Institute Food Leaders Fellow, the treasurer of the North Plainfield Library Advisory Council, and a past board member of the Association for the Study of Food and Society, New York Women’s Culinary Alliance, and Culinary Trust. She is a frequent presenter and moderator at academic and professional conferences around the world.

Alina Alam

Alina Alam started MITTI CAFE at the age of 23, with the dream of showing the world the magic of
abilities. MITTI CAFEs work towards economic independence and dignity for persons with disabilities.

The organization’s outreach initiative helps create awareness about inclusion and disability rights.
Alina is a 4 time TEDx speaker and has been featured in the Forbes list of 30 under 30 Asia.
In 2024, Alina received the National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities from the
President of India.

She is also a Commonwealth Youth Awardee and has received the Niti Ayog-Women
Transforming India Award, Helen Keller Award, and United Nations Intercultural Innovation Award.
Also, she has received Times of India-She Unlimited Award, Rotary Exemplar Award, and Tiecon Young
Female Entrepreneur of the Year Award, amongst the others.

Francesca Zampollo

Dr. Francesca Zampollo is a Design Theory and Food Design researcher, consultant, teacher, and keen public speaker. She is the author of the Food Design Thinking methodology which she brings to companies, schools, and professionals.

Francesca is the founder of the OSFD Online School of Food Design© (onlineschooloffooddesign.org), the founding editor of the International Journal of Food Design (the first and only academic journal on Food Design), the founder of the International Food Design Society, and she organised the first, second, and third International Conferences on Food Design. 

Francesca earned a PhD in Design Theory applied to Food Design in 2014, she taught Food Design and Design Theory at London Metropolitan University and Auckland University of Technology as a full time lecturer and researcher, and now teaches in various universities as a visiting lecturer.

Francesca’s current research and work revolves around Design Theory, System Design Thinking, Design Activism, and the role of spirituality in Design (francescazampollo.com).

Fabio Parasecoli

Fabio Parasecoli is Professor of Food Studies in the Nutrition and Food Studies Department at New York University. His research explores the politics of food, particularly in media, design, heritage, and international affairs.

Recent books include Knowing Where It Comes From: Labeling Traditional Foods to Compete in a Global Market(2017), Food (2019), Global Brooklyn: Designing Food Experiences in World Cities (2021, coedited with Mateusz Halawa), Gastronativism: Food, Identity, Politics (2022), and Practicing Food Studies (2024, coedited with Amy Bentley and Krishnendu Ray).

Emma Blecker

Emma Blecker is a New York-based restaurant executive with career experience spanning New York City and London. Starting in the industry at 15, she refined her expertise alongside celebrated restaurateurs like Richard and Oliver Gladwin, Michelin-starred chef Adam Byatt, and James Beard Award winner® Gabrielle Hamilton.

Since joining Boqueria in 2018 as chief of staff, she has advanced to director of business systems, focusing on data analytics, process scaling, and restaurant technology. Recognized as a thought leader, Blecker has shared insights at industry events such as the National Restaurant Show, FAB Conference, and New York State Restaurant Association (NYSRA) NextGen Hospitality Innovation Conference.

She has been featured on popular podcasts including Order Up and Restaurant Strategy, and interviewed in publications like Nation’s Restaurant News and Hospitality Tech. In 2023, Blecker joined the NYSRA’s board as vice chair of the New York City Chapter, and in 2024, she was named one of FSR’s 40 Under 40 Rising Stars.

Megan Storms

Megan Storms is the Associate Director of Women’s Leadership Programs at The James Beard Foundation.

In her 5+ years at JBF, Megan has contributed to all facets of the Foundation’s industry facing work and currently oversees the programmatic and community building work supporting hundreds of women business owners across the country by providing key resources, tools, and networking opportunities to ensure the success of women owned business and women in leadership positions.

Megan is based in Brooklyn, NY and loves to try new restaurants, cook, and visit antique stores to find treasures to fill her home with.

Kristin Reynolds

Dr. Kristin Reynolds is Chair and Associate Professor of Food Studies, and Founding Director of the Food and Social Justice Action Research Lab in the Schools of Public Engagement at The New School.

As a critical food geographer, her scholarship centers questions of power, scale, spatiality, and social justice. She is author of numerous publications on these themes, including Radical Food Geographies (2024, Bristol University Press, coedited with Colleen Hammelman and Charles Levkoe); Beyond the Kale: Urban Agriculture and Social Justice Activism in New York City (2016, University of Georgia Press, with Nevin Cohen).

Dr. Reynolds collaborates regularly with community based groups working for social justice in the food system in the US and globally. More about her work is at www.foodscholarshipjustice.org.

Katherine Miller

Katherine Miller is a proven expert in helping foundations, nonprofits, and socially responsible companies connect with consumers, activists, and other partners through strategic programs and communications. 

Katherine spent several years as the James Beard Foundation’s vice president of impact, working with food system leaders to create new and innovative programs that address gender equity, sustainability, food waste, and child nutrition. At Beard, she developed the Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change, Waste Not Campaign, and the Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Program. 

She is an adjunct professor at the Culinary Institute of America, a Sine Institute of Politics and Policy Fellow at American University and the Terker Distinguished Fellow at The George Washington University. 

Her book, At the Table: The Chef’s Guide to Advocacy, was nominated for a James Beard Foundation media award. Her second book, Beyond the Plate: The Insider’s Guide to Running a Sustainable and Profitable Restaurant, will be out in 2026 from Island Pres.

Karen Washington

Karen Washington is a farmer and community activist, striving to make the New York a better place to live. As a former community gardener and current board member of the New York Botanical Gardens, she worked with Bronx neighborhoods to turn empty lots into community gardens.

As an advocate, and former president of the New York City Community Garden Coalition, she stood up and spoke out for garden protection and preservation. As a member of the La Familia Verde Garden Coalition, she helped launch a City Farms Market, bringing fresh vegetables to the community.

in 2010, Co- Founded Black Urban Growers (BUGS) an organization supporting growers in both urban and rural settings. Karen has received numerous awards most recently the co-recipient of the 2023 James Beard Humanitarian Award and the 2024 Emerson Collective Fellowship. She has been credited with the term food apartheid instead of food desert, to bring to the forefront the inequities seen in the food system. Mama K as she is known in the community, serves on the boards of the New York Botanical Gardens, Black Farmer Fund, Soul Fire Farm, the Mary Mitchell Center, and Green Workers Cooperative

Joanna Savill

Joanna Savill is a longtime journalist and events director who specialises in food, travel and gastronomy. She has written for most major food publications in Australia, edited the country’s most prestigious restaurant guide and presented a long-running TV series on Australia’s many diverse food cultures, farmers and artisan producers.

She is widely known for her support of all aspects of the food and restaurant industry – from the farm to the table – and for her deep concern for our food future.

She has supported Parabere Forum since the first edition in Bilbao and is a strong champion of its objectives.

Ireland

Jess Murphy

Jess Murphy is an award winning chef and co-owner of the iconic Kai Restaurant, located in the heart of Galway City.

Coming from Wairoa New Zealand, Jess moved to Ireland in 2003. She has since made Galway her home. After opening up Kai Restaurant in 2011 with her husband Dave Murphy, this extraordinary husband-wife team has continuously nourished the souls (and bellies) of all who pass through the doors of Kai. With a clear emphasis on community and sustainability, Jess has made it her mission to provide sustenance through food as well as friendship.

With the only Michelin Green Star in Ireland, Kai is celebrated for their environmentally focused menu working closely with over 100 local producers and farmers ensuring your plate is full of honest local ingredients.

By working to build up the community around her, Jess’ impact is insurmountable and is highly valued by all around her.

Ruth Reichl

Ruth Reichl has been writing about food since 1971, when she wrote her first cookbook. She was the restaurant critic of the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and the Editor in Chief of Gourmet Magazine.

She has written 5 memoirs and 2 novels and produced Food and Country, a movie about our broken food system. She also produced 2 reality television shows and was a judge on Top Chef Masters.

Her Substack newsletter is La Briffe.

Pia Sörensen

Dr. Pia Sörensen leads Harvard’s Science and Cooking Program, which includes research, teaching, and outreach at the intersection of science and food. 

The program impacts over five million learners from around the world. She developed the online classes Science&CookingX and Food FermentationsX which have close to a million subscribers world wide. 

She is author and editor of several books, including the best-seller “Science and Cooking: Physics meets Food, from Homemade to Haute Cuisine” (Norton, 2020). 

She leads a research group studying science education, fermentation technology, and the science of food. 

She received a BS in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University, and a PhD in Chemical Biology from Harvard University.