KJ Kearney
KJ Kearney is the founder of Black Food Fridays, James Beard Award nominated social media advocacy initiative which encourages everyone to purchase food and drinks from Black owned restaurants each and every Friday. Since starting in April of 2020, Black Food Fridays has organically grown from to over 124K+ followers on Instagram and over 150K+ followers on TikTok. Through this initiative, he has been able to work with organizations like Target, Pepsi, the Charleston Visitors Bureau, and the Charleston Wine and Food Festival.
Mashama Bailey
Mashama Bailey is the James Beard award-winning executive chef of the critically acclaimed The Grey, set in a former Greyhound bus terminal in Savannah, GA, as well as all-day counterpart The Grey Market.
Todd Richards
Chef Todd Richards is an award-winning chef known for his contemporary cooking style rooted in Soul & Southern cuisines. A native of Chicago, and based in Atlanta since the early 1990s, Richards is a self-taught chef and two-time semifinalist for James Beard Foundation Awards - Best Chef: Southeast.
Lolis Eric Elie
Lolis Eric Elie is a native New Orleanian and former Times-Picayune columnist. He has written about food for the Oxford American, Gourmet and the Art of Eating.