Paul Capp, MBA/MPP
Sasha Kolodkin, MSI/MBA
Isabel Talsma, MSI

A new restaurant concept with a rotating chef-in-residence model to give ambitious young chefs a space to tell remarkable stories over outstanding food. Tableaux creates an immersive dining experience for diners that brings to life the context of the food they’re eating and who is making it, and is built upon an equitable and empowering employment model through mechanisms such as profit-sharing, a service fee, and career laddering.

Kateri Gutierrez, MBA
Eli Forrester, MBA/MS
Chloe Preble, MSI
Allison Fritsch, MPH/MSW
Amy Engineer, MSI

A platform that connects food lovers to small and local vendors through an app where customers can track mobile food vendors in real-time and vendors can increase their customer-base regardless of resources. The platform also provides support for vendors including data, connections, and resources for managing their small business.

Douglas Ely, MBA/MS
Rebekah Williamson, MSI
Candance Samuel, MBA
Kelly Liu, MSI

An open-source restaurant that fosters increased employee equity & ownership in its business model by pursuing radical transparency and co-creation activities via an Open Book Management process. By publishing its performance and goal progress on a monthly/quarterly basis, and inviting engagement from the local community, TTP is empowering its employees and community members to take active part in the operational & financial decision-making process.

Mya Gibson, MSI
Yash Kamat, MSI
Claire McLeland, MBA
Yuqiao Xu, MSI

An online learning management platform to learn skills for career progression, increased responsibility, and enhanced benefits and pay. leading to overall improved work satisfaction. Workers will gain the skills required to move up the career ladder and restaurant owners and managers will benefit from increased employee retention.

Emilee Kutyla, MSI
Andrew Darvin, MBA/MURP
Isabel Randolph, MBA
Kosi Browne, MSI

A community-driven restaurant and deli that empowers its staff with employment education opportunities while providing delicious, locally-informed food and gathering space for the larger community. COOK seeks to support women in the workforce and provide family-friendly offerings, including an onsite childcare cooperative for employees and community members.

Keshav Vanam, MBA
Gwenevere McKee, MSI
Edith Zhang, MSI
Alyssa Downs, MSI

A digital menu tool that provides information about restaurants ingredients, supply chain, treatment of workers, and other key information. Restaurant owners will be able to gain insights into customer behaviors by monitoring the activity of the digital menu (click through rate, conversion, etc.) as well as advertise items that meet ethical standards. Customers can utilize an app to screen for food allergens, understand how ingredients are sourced, and learn about the creation of the food to make more informed decisions about where and what they eat.

Orville Mo-He, MSI
Allison Winstel, MBA/MPP
Zhihui Zhu, MSI

A cooperative food hub where farmers, chefs, entrepreneurs, workers, diners, and all food enthusiasts come together to create and contribute to a regenerative food system: from farm to table and back into the earth. This food hub will create an onsite circular economy featuring indoor vertical farming, a farmer’s market, chef-driven restaurants, and waste management, creating opportunities for hands-on education, meaningful careers, and food-based entrepreneurship.

Amanda Hsu, MSI
Savannah Major, JD
Tyrese Jackson, MBA
Sadhana Ramaseshadri, MSI
Elana Lambert, MSW

An equity-focused subscription service offering exclusive menus, early tastings, and minimum wait time. The company is structured so that the profits from this VIP service enable restaurant owners to augment the compensation of restaurant employees and help make restaurant work more sustainable for employees.

Cynthia Ding, MSI
Terrence Liu, MSI
Jenan Makki, MSI
Hayley Sakwa, MBA/MPP

A POS integrated software that provides restaurant customers with a detailed cost breakdown of their meal on their receipt – including food, labor, operations, and restaurant profits – so customers know exactly where their money is going. This service supports restaurants in demonstrating their value to customers, supports customers in making empowered purchasing decisions, and sparks a trusting and transparent relationship between restaurant owners and customers.

Andrew Johnston, MBA
Lavanya Pandit, MS
Dana Reik, MSI
Margaret Walthall, MPP

A community of customer-members that democratically elect a chef to run a pop-up restaurant where new chefs will bring their unique food creations to Chef’s Friend dining spaces. In advance, member-customers will vote on which chef they would like to see and can purchase tickets for the event. Emerging chefs will be able to test their concept and access space, employees, and marketing support for their restaurant concept.