Hot Bread Kitchen (HBK) strives to provide a path to financial stability for immigrant and minority women through connection to meaningful careers in the food industry. Established in 2008 and located in East Harlem in New York City, HBK’s signature programs provide culinary job training and placement to underserved women, incubate small food businesses, and create jobs. Since inception, the organization has created over 200 jobs resulting in $104 million dollars in social impact. WDI has been working with Hot Bread Kitchen for the past two years, supporting their culinary workforce apprenticeship program, equipment for their commercial bakery, and participating in an overhaul of the way the organization tracks and reports on outcomes.
HBK’s culinary workforce apprenticeship program prepares low-income women for successful culinary careers. Their training combines intensive instruction in fundamental culinary skills and job readiness with three months of paid apprenticeship training at one of a number of business partners. This signature apprenticeship program results in skills-shortage solutions for local manufacturers as well as good quality jobs for program participants. Companies partnering with Hot Bread Kitchen include Google, Facebook, Eataly, Whole Foods Market, Union Square Hospitality Group, and many others. The results of the program are clear- with 100% placement into full-time jobs, HBK graduates are in demand.
The organization also runs a Culinary Business Incubator with a commitment to supporting women, minority and immigrant entrepreneurs. Membership includes access to an affordable licensed commercial kitchen and comprehensive business support services including access to market and capital, business advising, and financial literacy. Finally, HBK also runs its own successful commercial bakery where delicious international breads are sold and where they employ still more apprentices and graduates. The bakery’s revenue is folded back into the non-profit to further support programming.
We see Hot Bread Kitchen as a model for other food incubators and pre-employment programs. HBK examines their own outcome data to ensure they understand the measures that best inform them whether the organization is succeeding in its mission. As a result, WDI has learned from this HBK process and has been examining its own outcome collection processes in a similar style. For more information about Hot Bread Kitchen’s programs, visit www.hotbreadkitchen.org.
