Careers, Chef and Activist

Let’s explore what it looks like to be a Chef and Activist!

Chef Cat is at the crux of food and activism as the founder of the organization Just Call Me Chef (JCMC), a professional networking organization focused on supporting Black female chefs through mentorship, events, and education.

Chef Cat has always had a passion for food and knew early on that she wanted to go to culinary school. Since culinary school, Chef Cat has hosted private events and catering gigs, organized public showcases and cooking competitions, taught cooking classes, and worked in small cafes and boutique hotels. Through the variety of experiences Cat has had in the food industry, she has seen first hand the lack of equal opportunity in kitchens. Cat has overcome these challenges by shifting her focus entirely to advocating for equality in every kitchen by founding JCMC. One of the first initiatives in bringing awareness to the JCMC network was by creating a calendar that would spotlight the Black female Chefs making a difference in the local food industry and the JCMC network. “It got me [Cat] thinking that this could be so much bigger [than a calendar]. I thought it was important to build a network for us to help each other out, so I went deeper and said, we need mentorship, scholarships, and internships for chefs of color so that we can get into these fine-dining restaurants that we normally aren’t.”

To hear more from Chef Cat about her inspiration and efforts with JCMC check out this article from Baltimore Magazine that features her.

Below you can look through some highlights from the 2020 JCMC Calendar. Each month highlights a different Chef and their favorite recipe. In August, instead of exploring a recipe the calendar highlights the Equal Pay Day for Black Women, which is August 22nd.