ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — The American Culinary Federation (ACF) named chef Kimberly Brock Brown president for a two-year term. In August, chef Brock Brown will take office at the 2021 ACF National Convention in Orlando. She is the first woman and woman of colour to be elected president in the organization’s 90-year plus history.
“I’m honoured to take the helm of this prestigious organization,” says chef Brock Brown. “We’ll be a diverse, 21st-century federation. My work will focus on member engagement and ways to train and mentor students, recent graduates and up-and-coming professionals. We should be grooming the younger generation as well as women and minority chefs to make sure their voices are heard.”
“Chef Brock Brown brings an impressive body of work to the ACF president role, and I look forward to working closely with her to continue the federation’s important mission to advancing the culinary profession,” says Heidi Cramb, executive director, ACF. “Under Chef Brock Brown’s leadership, the ACF is well-positioned to continue providing members with the professional-development resources and opportunities they expect from a world-class organization.”
Currently, Brock Brown is serving her second two-year term as vice-president, representing eight Southeastern states as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and Jamaica. In 2017, she became the first woman and woman of colour elected to the ACF board.
Brock Brown is also the founder of Culinary Concepts, LLC, which offers catering, corporate-chef, personal-chef and consulting services. Her ACF membership began in 1981 while completing an apprenticeship program at Dallas College El Centro Campus, where she was admitted into the chefs hall of fame in 2015. She has participated in many ACF competitions,and was influential in the development of ACF’s Certified Culinary Administrator program.
