PITTSBURGH: Chatham University’s Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship and the Falk School of Sustainability & Environment are hosting on Monday, November 13, 2017 a Business & Food Forum that will explore the intersection of our food system and the business world with demonstrations, tastings, and a keynote presentation by chef and restaurateur, Vimala Rajendran.
The event is being held at the Barazzone Center on Chatham’s Eden Hall Campus in Richland, PA on Monday, November 13th from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. The cost of attendance is $50 per person, $25 for non-Chatham students with a valid student ID, and $10 for Center members. Visit www.chatham.edu/cwe/networking/thinkbig/ for additional information and to register.
About Vimala Rajendran
Vimala Rajendran grew up in Bombay, India where she learned to cook from family, street vendors & friends. In 1994, a single mother of three, Vimala started cooking donation-based community dinners in her Chapel Hill, NC home. Sixteen years later, in 2010, thanks to the support of her beloved community, Vimala’s Curryblossom Cafe was born. Despite being an “unexpected chef,” her restaurant has won the INDY Week’s 2015 and 2017 Best Indian Restaurant in the Triangle (beating out all Indian restaurants in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary). She is an immigrant, survivor of domestic abuse, community activist, social entrepreneur, mother of three, grandmother, and mentor to countless people who deeply believes that “we grow our community by engaging intentionally in the farm-to-fork process and living our vision of creative resiliency.” She proudly states that food is a human right and her business motto is “Vimala cooks, everyone eats.” No one is ever turned away at her restaurant – yet she still makes a profit.
About the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship
The Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship at Chatham University (Center) creates economic opportunities for women through entrepreneurial education and training, mentoring, and networking. Building on Chatham University’s tradition of educating women for 145 years, the Center has provided quality education and training for women entrepreneurs for over ten years. Current funding for The Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship at Chatham University has been provided by the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, Google.org, and the PNC Foundation.
The Center is also the host of Chatham’s Women’s Business Center (CWBC), established on April 1, 2016, and funded in part by a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration to provide services geared specifically to women and underserved populations, minority entrepreneurs, and veterans throughout Western PA. CWBC offers aspiring and existing business owners free business counseling, training programs, technical support, and mentoring focused on business planning and financing, access to capital, federal contracting, and business expansion through international markets and exporting.
About the Falk School of Sustainability & Environment
The Falk School of Sustainability & Environment is dedicated to producing professional sustainability leaders that can apply principles of sustainability in a variety of areas. In the Falk School, students, faculty, and staff engage in activities and experiential learning that promote the professionalization of the fields and afford students experiences that evidence real-world progress. Programs include undergraduate and graduate programs in sustainability, food studies and dual MBA programs. The Falk School of Sustainability is housed at Chatham’s new, Eden Hall Campus. Learn more at http://falk.chatham.edu and www.chatham.edu/edenhall.
