Chef Jazmin Johnson is a native New Yorker, educator and community organizer who dedicates her time to empowering residents through food access and education. Jaz attended the School of Culinary Arts at the Institute of Culinary Education in 2018 after spending a decade in the fashion, agency and social impact creative spaces. Post graduation, she worked at Michelin-starred Bouley at Home, Melba’s in Harlem and developed curriculum for various culinary based educational organizations while refining her cuisine that celebrates Central American ingredients.

In 2020, she founded a community fridge that rescues and distributes farm fresh produce, breads and prepared meals throughout Upper Manhattan and the Bronx. For this work, she was nominated for the NYC Food Policy 40 under 40 Rising Stars Class of 2021 and awarded a certificate of recognition for outstanding contributions to the community from the New York City Comptroller.

She currently runs the Teaching Kitchen at The Dalton School and is working to develop it into the first culinary department in a K-12 independent school in the country. Jaz built the curriculum to teach students core culinary skills through the lens of global cuisine and provides a welcoming space for students to learn free from the gatekeeping culture commonly found in food education programs. Chef Jaz’s culinary ethos is that food should not only provide fuel, but heal our bodies. She cultivates and teaches this philosophy at every level of her work while working to instill a culture of inclusion, authenticity, sustainability and holistic well-being in the culinary sector and food system.