Devita Davison is Executive Director at FoodLab Detroit, a membership-based nonprofit focused on traditionally underresourced entrepreneurs and communities that aims to build economic power and resilience by supporting local food entrepreneurs. In this position since 2014, Ms. Davison works to cultivate, connect, and catalyze a supportive community of food entrepreneurs with the goal of creating a new food economy that acknowledges the importance of food justice, community representation, local ownership, and sustainability. She was previously managing director of Detroit Kitchen Connect, a board member of Hopeful Harvest, and founder/owner of Southern Pantry Company. Ms. Davison was a 2014 TEDx Detroit speaker and 2014 UIX Urban Innovator, and she was named one of 100 Women to Watch in Wellness by mindbodygreen.
Post-2020 Food and Beverage
Event Overview
The pandemic has highlighted for the public the issues of staffing and labor, wage theft and disparity, workplace culture and discrimination, predatory technology platforms, ever-shrinking profit margins, and difficult customers that many owners, operators, and employees have always known about.
As the industry faces massive closures and fights for greater federal support, many questions remain as to how the food and beverage industry will respond to the changed social landscape in a post-COVID-19 world.
Will the lessons of social, economic, political, and cultural unrest in 2020 lead to long-lasting improvement in the industry, or will the industry return to its pre-pandemic dysfunction? When restaurateurs look toward the future, what are the changes they hope to see industry-wide and what are the items they plan to act upon to reimagine and rebuild this embattled industry?
What You'll Learn
- How the last year has changed the way industry professionals look at the restaurant industry
- How operators are forging a new path with an eye toward changing the culture of restaurant work
- How industry leaders are creating opportunities for the next generation of F&B entrepreneurs
Speakers
Irene Li (she/hers) opened Mei Mei Restaurant in Boston in 2013 and has spent the years since driving the industry forward in ethical sourcing and fair and transparent employment practices. A Boston native and Cornell University graduate, Ms. Li has worked on farms, taught in prisons, and watched perhaps hundreds of hours of YouTube videos on food and cooking. Mei Mei has been featured by Food & Wine, Eater Boston and Eater National, The New York Times, People, Bon Appetit, The Boston Globe, and more. She is an Eater Young Gun, Zagat 30 Under 30, and Forbes 30 Under 30 winner, as well as a six-time James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef semifinalist.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Ms. Li has pivoted her business to serve hot meals and groceries to hospital workers and to provide low-cost staples and household essentials to other food industry workers. She co-founded Project Restore Us, whose mission is to serve working immigrant families by raising funds and paying restaurants to package and deliver culturally relevant grocery staples — including rice, beans, maseca, and produce — straight to their doors in the neighborhoods hit hardest by the pandemic. Since June 2020, PRU has delivered over 400,000 pounds of groceries to over 1,500 families.
Ms. Li serves on the boards of Project Bread, the Haley House, and Lovin’ Spoonfuls. Currently, she is serving as the Program Manager for CommonWealth Kitchen’s Restaurant Resiliency Initiative, putting her experience to work in supporting BIPOC restaurant owners in the City of Boston.
Jonathan Geffrard is the director of restaurants, bars and events at Thompson Dallas. He uses his past 15-years of food and beverage space experience to direct and coordinate activities at Thompson Dallas. A native of New York City, Geffrard knew from a young age that he wanted to be in the hospitality business.
In between his junior and senior year of college, Jonathan was the first American to be selected for the coveted internship with Ritz Paris. After graduating from Georgetown University in 2007 with a degree in English, Jonathan began his career with the Hillstone Restaurant Group. At age 23, he was the general manager and completed several restaurant openings with the company. Geffrard became known for his ability to successfully develop and improve businesses. At this point, he had worked for the Hillstone Restaurant Group for nearly a decade. His outstanding reputation led him to become the regional director for SoulCycle in 2016. There he was responsible for studio operations at 39 locations across the US and one in Canada. In 2017, he returned to the Hillstone Restaurant Group to resume his executive general manager position. Throughout his career, Geffrard has been featured in a variety of publications.
Lilly Jan is a lecturer of food and beverage at Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration. She brings nearly 15 years of experience in hospitality and foodservice, having worked in restaurants, catering and events, retail, and television production. Prior to joining Cornell, Dr. Jan was the Director of Culinary Operations for Newbury College in Brookline, Massachusetts. She also served as a faculty member and academic advisor at Newbury College, creating and teaching a range of classes across culinary and hospitality management. Dr, Jan has also taught for Le Cordon Bleu and Boston University.
As a chef, product and recipe developer, and foodservice consultant, Dr. Jan has worked with a variety of food-based businesses, including a food truck, on-demand food delivery, food startup, and retail food stores. She specializes in operations management, focusing on ushering food business concepts to market.
A frequent speaker and media contact on food culture, cooking, and Chinese cuisine, Dr. Jan has been featured in print and radio outlets. She worked on TV production for America’s Test Kitchen and was a regular contributor for WGBH’s Boston Public Radio.
Dr. Jan is a two-time graduate of Boston University in Communications (B.Sc.) and Gastronomy (MLA). She earned her Ph.D. from Iowa State University in hospitality management with a focus on food allergy knowledge and training in ethnic restaurants. Dr. Jan’s research interests include workplace training and education in foodservice, career progression in foodservice, food safety and food allergy in restaurants, and culture and cuisine.
Devita Davison is Executive Director at FoodLab Detroit, a membership-based nonprofit focused on traditionally underresourced entrepreneurs and communities that aims to build economic power and resilience by supporting local food entrepreneurs. In this position since 2014, Ms. Davison works to cultivate, connect, and catalyze a supportive community of food entrepreneurs with the goal of creating a new food economy that acknowledges the importance of food justice, community representation, local ownership, and sustainability. She was previously managing director of Detroit Kitchen Connect, a board member of Hopeful Harvest, and founder/owner of Southern Pantry Company. Ms. Davison was a 2014 TEDx Detroit speaker and 2014 UIX Urban Innovator, and she was named one of 100 Women to Watch in Wellness by mindbodygreen.
Irene Li (she/hers) opened Mei Mei Restaurant in Boston in 2013 and has spent the years since driving the industry forward in ethical sourcing and fair and transparent employment practices. A Boston native and Cornell University graduate, Ms. Li has worked on farms, taught in prisons, and watched perhaps hundreds of hours of YouTube videos on food and cooking. Mei Mei has been featured by Food & Wine, Eater Boston and Eater National, The New York Times, People, Bon Appetit, The Boston Globe, and more. She is an Eater Young Gun, Zagat 30 Under 30, and Forbes 30 Under 30 winner, as well as a six-time James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef semifinalist.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Ms. Li has pivoted her business to serve hot meals and groceries to hospital workers and to provide low-cost staples and household essentials to other food industry workers. She co-founded Project Restore Us, whose mission is to serve working immigrant families by raising funds and paying restaurants to package and deliver culturally relevant grocery staples — including rice, beans, maseca, and produce — straight to their doors in the neighborhoods hit hardest by the pandemic. Since June 2020, PRU has delivered over 400,000 pounds of groceries to over 1,500 families.
Ms. Li serves on the boards of Project Bread, the Haley House, and Lovin’ Spoonfuls. Currently, she is serving as the Program Manager for CommonWealth Kitchen’s Restaurant Resiliency Initiative, putting her experience to work in supporting BIPOC restaurant owners in the City of Boston.
Jonathan Geffrard is the director of restaurants, bars and events at Thompson Dallas. He uses his past 15-years of food and beverage space experience to direct and coordinate activities at Thompson Dallas. A native of New York City, Geffrard knew from a young age that he wanted to be in the hospitality business.
In between his junior and senior year of college, Jonathan was the first American to be selected for the coveted internship with Ritz Paris. After graduating from Georgetown University in 2007 with a degree in English, Jonathan began his career with the Hillstone Restaurant Group. At age 23, he was the general manager and completed several restaurant openings with the company. Geffrard became known for his ability to successfully develop and improve businesses. At this point, he had worked for the Hillstone Restaurant Group for nearly a decade. His outstanding reputation led him to become the regional director for SoulCycle in 2016. There he was responsible for studio operations at 39 locations across the US and one in Canada. In 2017, he returned to the Hillstone Restaurant Group to resume his executive general manager position. Throughout his career, Geffrard has been featured in a variety of publications.
Lilly Jan is a lecturer of food and beverage at Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration. She brings nearly 15 years of experience in hospitality and foodservice, having worked in restaurants, catering and events, retail, and television production. Prior to joining Cornell, Dr. Jan was the Director of Culinary Operations for Newbury College in Brookline, Massachusetts. She also served as a faculty member and academic advisor at Newbury College, creating and teaching a range of classes across culinary and hospitality management. Dr, Jan has also taught for Le Cordon Bleu and Boston University.
As a chef, product and recipe developer, and foodservice consultant, Dr. Jan has worked with a variety of food-based businesses, including a food truck, on-demand food delivery, food startup, and retail food stores. She specializes in operations management, focusing on ushering food business concepts to market.
A frequent speaker and media contact on food culture, cooking, and Chinese cuisine, Dr. Jan has been featured in print and radio outlets. She worked on TV production for America’s Test Kitchen and was a regular contributor for WGBH’s Boston Public Radio.
Dr. Jan is a two-time graduate of Boston University in Communications (B.Sc.) and Gastronomy (MLA). She earned her Ph.D. from Iowa State University in hospitality management with a focus on food allergy knowledge and training in ethnic restaurants. Dr. Jan’s research interests include workplace training and education in foodservice, career progression in foodservice, food safety and food allergy in restaurants, and culture and cuisine.
- View slide #1
- View slide #2
- View slide #3
- View slide #4
View Keynote by completing the form below.
You're Registered!