Scholarships Create a More Inclusive Industry

From tackling food insecurity to sustainability to providing more professional opportunities for BIPOC women, the recipients of the Les Dames d’Escoffier New York (LDNY) scholarships, both past and present, are actively shaping a hospitality industry where women are more than employees: they are leaders.

“This is an opportunity for women to lift each other up,” says Karen Goodlad, a member (also known as a Dame) of LDNY who is also an associate professor specializing in food and beverage management at City Tech, CUNY’s New York City College of Technology. “College or certificate students are the future; if we can help them start with a  little less debt, then it might help them reach higher goals faster and make a bigger impact in the industry more quickly.”

Since 1977, LDNY has awarded more than $2 million in scholarships to over 1000 women, allowing those students to not only pursue careers in the food and beverage industry but also pave the way for more women to follow in their footsteps. This year’s goal is to raise $45,000 by December 31st in honor of the fund’s 45th anniversary. But while the money is key to helping these scholarship recipients lower their personal financial debt, it’s also mentoring from the Dames themselves that provides necessary support and guidance while they build their careers.

Indeed, for Peggy Zhang, who was awarded an LDNY scholarship in 2014, the money was essential to completing her Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management at City Tech. The connection with Dames in New York was equally essential.

“I was introduced to Dame Rosa Ross and we met in SoHo’s Harney & Sons tea house for the first time,” says Zhang. “It was lovely and she made me very comfortable when I told her that, honestly, I still wasn’t sure what path I truly wanted to enter in the Hospitality Management world.” Learning from Ross about the twists and turns of her own storied career, which included catering, teaching culinary classes, writing cookbooks, and running a successful restaurant, helped Zhang recognize that a successful career does not always follow a straight path.

“I had worked since I was 14 years old, always in customer service atmospheres,” Zhang says, “so I knew working with people was my passion.” The Brooklyn native, now 29, is currently the Conference Services Manager at The Pierre, a Taj Hotel, where she has worked in a variety of roles since 2016.

At LDNY, the drive to keep making those connections for women pursuing hospitality-focused careers has become even stronger after nearly half a century, and particularly as the industry has struggled to hire and retain employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. “With the cost of college often cited as the most significant reason students drop out,” says LDNY president Jennifer O’Flanagan, “we’re recommitted in this 45th milestone year to building a more robust scholarship program that ensures access to education for women pursuing degrees in the food, beverage, and hospitality fields.”

Women in particular have been impacted by employment insecurity during the global pandemic, making it even more critical to provide opportunities for them to not just have a job, but to build lasting careers. “Whether these scholarship recipients are getting college degrees or seeking a certification that takes them to the next level at work,” says Goodlad, “the combination of financial assistance with mentoring is something that can actually lift many of them out of poverty.”

A 2022 study by the National Restaurant Association shows that while women hold 55% of all restaurant industry jobs, the vast majority of them are entry- or mid-level workers — and just 38% hold executive positions. The same study, which was conducted in collaboration with the Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance also identified a clear lack of diversity in the industry, another issue that the LDNY scholarship committee has actively focused on in its work, by supporting candidates who bring important and wide-ranging perspectives to the table.

Certified sommelier Lia Jones, recipient of the 2020 LDNY Founder’s Scholarship, is on a mission to promote diverse viewpoints within the food and beverage industry, completing her certification in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University while also studying to become a master sommelier in a field where there are few women of color working at that level. “Hospitality has always been my life,” says Jones. “As I grow and time passes, I realize there are certain paradigms that need to be addressed. My goal is to create a more inclusive community for those that advocate for equity and equality in the hospitality industry.”

Les Dames d’Escoffier was founded in New York City in 1976, by a group of 50 female food professionals led by the late food writer Carol Brock, with the purpose of providing gender equity in an industry dominated by men in leadership. The volunteer organization now boasts 2400 members among 38 individual chapters in the United States and 5 international chapters in British Columbia, France, London, Mexico, and Ontario. The LDNY scholarship program was established just a year after the organization was founded.

Amanda Hesser, co-founder of Food52, was an early LDNY scholarship recipient, saying now, “My scholarship from Les Dames d’Escoffier allowed me to take risks, pursue my dreams, and embrace curiosity early in my career. This set a foundation that I can now see guided my professional life.”

“These scholarships are about women helping women,” says Goodlad, “and creating a legacy for the organization that has a substantial impact on the future of women in our industry. It’s actually life-changing.”