Hot Bread Kitchen’s mission is to create economic opportunity through careers in food.
At Hot Bread Kitchen, we aim to create economic mobility for individuals impacted by gender, racial, social, and/or economic inequality in New York City, historically using the vibrant potential of the food industry as a pathway forward. We seek to expand skills, connections, and life-changing opportunities for talented women and small businesses.
Hot Bread Kitchen’s work builds on our 10-year history of providing social services, skills coaching, job placement and entrepreneurship programming as well as our vast connections and employer relationships that put workers and small businesses on a path to economic security and mobility.
We Create Breadwinners.
Our “Investing in Breadwinners” programming provides immediate stability and customized career pathways for our entire Hot Bread Kitchen community of women previously or currently employed in the NYC food industry as well as many of the small food enterprises we’ve helped incubate and launch.
We create equity for entrepreneurs of color.
Through our small business programming, we believe that new partnerships, open conversations, and novel approaches are essential to catalyzing the long-term changes required to create a more equitable food industry and stronger pathways to economic mobility for entrepreneurs of color.
How it All Began
Our founder Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez saw careers in food as an accessible way for women to start careers and create more equity in the food industry. Hot Bread Kitchen set out to empower women, create a more equitable food system and celebrate culinary tradition from around the world.


Get to Know Us
Learn more about the committed team that shows up every day to create jobs, help women achieve economic mobility and create a more equitable food system. From our staff to our Board of Directors and committees, each individual brings unique value to our recipe for success.