Meet our Fellows

Kerry Brodie: Emma’s Torch

Brooklyn, New York and Washington, DC

Cooking has always been a passion for Kerry Brodie. At the age of five, she started training under the watchful eye of her Jewish grandmother, a former caterer and event planner. In 2016, she founded Emma’s Torch as a way to use her privilege to lift others.

The mission of Emma's Torch is to empower refugees, asylees, and survivors of human trafficking through culinary education. Emma’s Torch cafes provide seasonal and local American food prepared by New American students.

A non-profit social enterprise, Emma's Torch provides refugees with in-depth culinary training as well as employability, equity, and empowerment training. Participants learn in both a classroom and apprentice setting in the program's cafes and catering businesses and are set up for successful employment in an industry in which their cultural heritage and cuisine can be celebrated. Emma’s Torch now has 2 cafes in Brooklyn and another now open in Washington, DC.

Brodie recognizes the difficulties inherent in the refugee experience. Students face multiple stressors in their new home country. Many live at or below the poverty level, struggle with stable housing, and often have limited English language skills. Lack of access to resources like medical and child care adds additional stress. Emma’s Torch provides job training; but also helps students gain confidence and navigate the confusing new world in which they find themselves.

Emma’s Torch collaborates with restaurant groups, chefs and industry leaders to help students find jobs after they graduate.

About Kerry Brodie:

Kerry is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education, where she won the Wusthof Award for Leadership and was named ACCSC Graduate of the Year. She holds a Masters in Government from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelors in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University. She was named one of City & State’s 40 Under 40 in 2018, and has been featured in CNN Heroes, The Forward 50, 36 Under 36, among others.

Prior to founding Emma’s Torch, Kerry worked as the Global Press Secretary for the Human Rights Campaign and the Director of Communications at the Israeli Embassy.