JACQUES PEPIN FOUNDATION GRANT AWARDEE
Café Reconcile is one of 16 nationwide receiving a $10,000 grant to benefit their effortst.
The Jacques Pépin Foundation (JPF) proudly announces Reconcile New Orleans as one of their Winter 2025 Grant Awardees, awarded this month. One of 16 recipients this round, Reconcile New Orleans’ Workplace Development Program is designed as a youth development space that supports career exploration and job readiness opportunities of youth 16-24 years old. Their interns participate in a paid 14-week in-person training including on-the-job training at their restaurant, Café Reconcile. In addition to the $10,000 grant, Reconcile New Orleans will receive JPF-branded aprons for their students and a group membership to the Foundation.
Founded in 2016 by the Pépin family, the JPF strives to enrich lives and strengthen communities through the power of culinary education. The JPF empowers and inspires professional chefs, home cooks, and community kitchens nationwide by sharing Jacques' legacy of culinary education. In 2019, the JPF became a grant-making organization, and in the last five years the Foundation has given over $1.6M to over 70 different non-profit, community-based, culinary arts training programs that offer life skills and culinary training to individuals with barriers to employment. The JPF mission and vision are rooted firmly in the belief that culinary skills training leads to increased self-confidence, better health, and employment and career opportunities.
“The JPF’s mission is realized in part by supporting programs that create opportunities through culinary training, and giving grants to these important, impressive, local organizations,” says Rollie Wesen, Executive Director of the JPF. “Reconcile New Orleans focuses on empowering opportunity youth and operates a robust social enterprise in New Orleans, preparing young adults for careers in the city’s celebrated, vibrant hospitality industry and beyond. Their program combines social services, occupational training, and strong alumni support, having recently expanded its capacity to serve 130 participants annually. With a proven track record of success in post-program employment and education, we’re proud to support this remarkable program and provide tools they need to deepen their impact and expand opportunities for their participants.”
“We are grateful for the Jacques Pepin Foundation’s commitment to Reconcile New Orleans and New Orleans’ young people, ages 16-24,” said Kheri Billy, CEO of Reconcile New Orleans. “This investment will support career exploration and job readiness opportunities for young people as they work to earn industry credentials, explore career and educational pathways, and gain on-the-job training in our training restaurant, Café Reconcile.”
In addition to Reconcile New Orleans, Winter 2025 JPF Grants were awarded to Community Kitchen Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA), Community Action Southold Town (CAST) (Southold, NY), Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (Bronx, NY), PATHLIGHT Home (Orlando, FL), Services to Enhance Potential (STEP) (Dearborn, MI), Together We Bake (Arlington, VA), , FareStart (Seattle, WA), Farm Fresh RI (Providence, RI), Community Servings (Jamaica Plain, MA), Kitchens for Good (San Diego, CA), The Prospect KC Community Capital Fund (Kansas City, MO), Forge City Works (Hartford, CT), Hot Bread Kitchen (New York City), YWCA Evanston (Evanston, IL) and Central Texas Food Bank (Austin, TX).
Community-based culinary arts training programs are invited to apply to the Jacques Pépin Foundation Grant Program for Community-Based Culinary Arts Training Programs throughout the year and are awarded twice: one in summer and one in winter. Applications for the Summer Grant Programs open this month.
About the Jacques Pépin Foundation:
Founded in 2016, the Jacques Pépin Foundation (JPF) was created to honor Jacques’ generosity and passion for sharing his culinary knowledge. The JPF’s work is focused on teaching and inspiring all people to cook. Among our programs, we provide hundreds of hours of free instructional videos, available to all, through social media channels, YouTube and our website to teach and enhance cooking skills, and still more to JPF members with access to recipes and videos from renowned and inspiring chefs through our JPF members’ Video Recipe Book Cook with Jacques Pepin & Friends. Our existing Community Kitchens Support program provides grants, cookbook libraries, and other resources nationwide for workforce development, designed for individuals who are under-resourced, enabling them to achieve success through employment in the hospitality industry. The Foundation works with existing Community Kitchens to build their curricula, train aspiring hospitality professionals, and foster a supportive community, hope, and opportunity for a brighter future. The JPF is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. To support the JPF or learn more visit our website: https://jp.foundation and follow us on Instagram.
About Reconcile New Orleans
Reconcile New Orleans is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting Opportunity Youth, aged 16-24, from New Orleans through social service support, career exploration, and job readiness training. Our mission is to empower the next generation of local talent by providing the skills, support, and opportunities necessary for young people to achieve their full potential
and contribute to the vibrancy of our community. For more information about Reconcile New Orleans, Café Reconcile, or to donate, please visit www.cafereconcile.org.