Michele Lefebvre holds a Bachelor’s degree in Dietetics from SUNY Oneonta and a Master of Management in Hospitality from The Hotel School at Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. Shortly after graduating, Ms. Lefebvre started her first company, a personal chef and nutrition counseling company. Cooking meals for families gave her expertise in food allergies and ingredient substitutions. She served as the Food Allergy Specialist at Cornell University Campus Dining for ten years, where she worked one-on-one with students with food allergies and food intolerances.
In her tenure at Cornell, Ms. Lefebvre developed several campus-wide food allergy policies and procedures, including establishing point-of-sale allergen labeling for all foods served across campus. She led other initiatives such as requiring all outside catering companies to follow allergen labeling protocols, established allergy-friendly food stations, and initiated food allergy training for all foodservice staff. More recently, she facilitated the launch of a certified “Free From” dining hall, the first of its kind in the United States. Ms. Lefebvre frequently consults with manufacturing and distribution companies to establish standards in ingredients, allergens, and best practices. In 2018, Ms. Lefebvre was awarded Best Overall Food Allergy Program Manager for Universities by AllerTrain.