Black women innovators take center stage at annual D.C. food summit

The second annual Black Women in Food Summit occurs April 26-27 in Washington. The event celebrates the talent, resilience and innovation of Black women in the food and beverage industry. It’s the result of Dine Diaspora founders Maame Boakye and Nina Oduro’s work to support and champion Black women across the global food system.

The event begins with a marketplace showcasing food businesses and organizations owned by Black women. It will also feature products and services to support the growth of this valuable ecosystem, plus a pitch competition in which the grand prize is $10,000.

“Through the summit, Black women can connect across sectors in food to find the answers to the issues they face and build relationships that they need to grow,” Oduro explained. “Our goal is to see a future of food that is diverse and equitable.”

Leading up to the summit, the seventh annual Black Women in Food awards panel met to evaluate nominees in each of nine categories. Honorees are selected through a public nomination process, then evaluated by a panel of experts. Past category winners include mixologists, authors, farmers and CPG founders. Here are the awardees.

Food & Beverage Insider Content Director Audarshia Townsend served as a judge for the event. “I was a first-time judge for the Black Women in Food awards this year,” Townsend said. “I found the nominees to be thoughtful, community-minded and innovative with their concepts. This is a great forum Dine Diaspora has developed to spotlight excellent F&B products that might otherwise get lost in larger contests that are similar in scope.”

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If you’d like to learn more about Dine Diaspora and Black Women in Food, visit the web site.