“What She Said” 2023 Speaker Series Celebrating Women in Culinary (W Hotel)

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Join W San Francisco on Thursday, May 4th for What She Said, Women in Culinary – an evening for cocktails and conversation to inspire, connect, and learn from fearless leaders in the culinary world.

Originating at W San Francisco with its launch in 2016, What She Said is a W Hotels & Resorts branded series featuring conversations among women that celebrate individuality, inclusivity, and honesty, tackling the issues of today from work, love, play and everything in between. The platform, which has since been adopted by W hotels worldwide, offers a safe space to drive progress in the gender equality movement and cultivate community with open conversations that inspire, educate, and enlighten.

The event will be co-presented by Naturally Bay Area and moderated by Robyn Rutledge, founder and CEO of SBG Growth, who will help reveal the good, the bad and the ugly of many women’s journeys to success, including that of Christine Keller, CEO/co-founder of Moodify, Kathy Fang, TV personality and chef/owner of San Francisco’s Fang Restaurant, Na’ama Moran, CEO/co-founder of Cheetah, Imana, Owner/chef of Oakland’s Hi Felicia and San Francisco’s Sluts Wine Bar, and Dawn Taylor-Cole, executive chef of W San Francisco.

This event is free to attend, but donations are encouraged. All donations will be going to La Cocina, a nonprofit working to solve problems of equity in business ownership for women, immigrants and people of color.

Learn more about the panel event’s moderator, panelists, Naturally Bay Area, and La Cocina below. We hope to see you there!

MEET OUR MODERATOR

Robyn Rutledge is the Founder & CEO of SBG Growth, a consumer-focused investment and advisory business. Through SBG, Robyn invests directly in consumer-facing businesses, often serving on the Board of Directors and as a regular advisor to the leadership team. Robyn also currently advises leading private equity and venture firms, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders on the consumer market landscape.

Robyn is a proud, founding member of Naturally Bay Area, a corporation that was formed in 2018 to connect entrepreneurs, investors and corporate innovators in the food and natural products community. She remains a dedicated Board member in this community. Robyn has also been serving a leadership role in an innovative startup backed by the University of California, which seeks to marry best-in-class consumer engagement, healthcare and technology.

MEET OUR PANELISTS

Christine Keller, CEO/co-founder of Moodify, has dedicated her career to developing brands and products for both large and small companies. With experience in multiple food categories, as well as a deep knowledge and passion for fresh foods and produce, Keller launched products for Fresh Express, Safeway, Mann Packing, Dole and Plenty, and advised countless others on strategic innovation pipelines. In 2020, she launched Moodify, a line of food products with a holistic approach to nourish both the body and mind.

Na’ama Moran, CEO/co-founder of Cheetah, is the only female leader and pioneer in last-mile food solutions, evolving archaic and status quo restaurant wholesale distribution practices by bringing honesty and efficiency to the fold. Based in Pleasanton and serving Northern California, Cheetah is a sustainability-focused technology-driven restaurant supply app that provides the simplest and most affordable way for restaurants to order and receive daily supplies. The company has cultivated partnerships with more than 3,000 restaurants, making sure all customers receive the same fair price regardless of their size. Cheetah is proud to give smaller, artisanal vendors a major platform, changing the way restaurants have access to unique, local, products.

Kathy Fang is Chef/co-owner of Fang, a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco’s South of Market (SOMA) neighborhood offering a fresh take on dishes influenced by both Northern and Southern China’s cuisine. She recently starred in the Food Network docuseries titled “Chef Dynasty: House of Fang” which debuted in December 2022. Leading up to the premier, Fang has appeared on a number of Food Network shows including “Beat Bobby Flay,” “Cutthroat Kitchen” “Guy’s Grocery Games,” and is a two-time “CHOPPED” champion. She is a returning guest on NBC’s TODAY Show and has been a guest judge on Alex vs America in 2022. In 2020, Fang published “Easy Asian” cookbook and started selling her restaurants’ famous hot sauces in the midst of the global pandemic as a way to bring Asian cooking into the home kitchen.

Imana is the Chef and sole owner of Hi Felicia, a Michelin-rated restaurant off Broadway in Oakland that began during the pandemic as an underground supper club of the same name and is now a successful brick and mortar. Imana disregards the stereotype that fine dining must be uptight and instead serves upscale California comfort food in a welcoming setting. Inclusivity is important to Imana, so she prioritizes staffing an extremely diverse team to work alongside her to combat the gatekeeping she personally experienced in the industry. With an emphasis on equity, diversity, and standout dishes, Imana has created an intimate experience with the level of quality and service that one would expect from a luxury meal. Imana also recently opened Sluts, a natural wine bar located in San Francisco’s SOMA district that offers local and international wines with casual snacks in a moody, fun atmosphere. This new venture is an opportunity for Imana to express herself by being avant-garde while pushing boundaries in the industry.

Dawn Taylor-Cole is Executive Chef at W San Francisco where she oversees the culinary program at the hotel, including developing menus for its catering and banquet facilities, room service, Living Room bar, and W Hotels’ concept restaurant, TRACE. Taylor-Cole is an accomplished culinary professional who draws inspiration from her southern roots as well as seasonal produce and what is available in the local environs. She also seeks opportunities to work with up-and-coming female, immigrant chefs through local nonprofit organizations.

ABOUT NATURALLY BAY AREA

Naturally Bay Area was incorporated in 2018 to extend the impact of the Naturally Network, a national non-profit association of natural product companies and individuals. Naturally Bay Area offers year-round education programming and networking events, mentoring for entrepreneurs and established businesses, and creates a platform to celebrate and deepen the diverse community of the natural products industry. As part of our mission, Naturally Bay is committed to J.E.D.I. (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion) practices to best serve members and promote equity and inclusion in the natural products industry. For more information or to become a member please visit https://naturallybayarea.org/.

ABOUT LA COCINA

Food lies at the heart of this community as La Cocina breaks barriers towards a more diverse and equitable food industry. Since 2005, La Cocina Municipal Marketplace has focused, exclusively, on the project of small business incubation, with a vision to increase inclusivity in the food industry and offer equitable opportunity for living-wage work and asset generation. La Cocina supports businesses by providing an affordable commercial kitchen space, industry-specific technical assistance and access to market opportunities. Focusing primarily on providing resources to women from communities of color and immigrant communities. You can find other ways to donate to La Cocina by visiting https://lacocinasf.org/support.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.