James Beard Foundation
Moving the Food Industry Toward Equity
Challenge
Despite the vast number of people of color and women who have led America’s culinary evolution, very few are recognized. That absence of recognition has real and inequitable consequences, including making it more difficult for restaurants and institutions run by people of color and women to attract investors, diners, and other revenue sources that are a necessary part of being a high-profile chef. One such recognition is the James Beard Awards, the “Oscars” of the food world, which arguably set chefs up for stellar careers but rarely featured diverse nominees or winners.
Approach
After the 2021 awards, the James Beard Foundation hired RALLY to make the awards more inclusive. To do this, we rebuilt the entire program from the ground up. This evolution required a process of intense self-reflection, honesty, sometimes combative stakeholder conversations, and a willingness to reimagine the James Beard Awards as a force for equity.
Together we analyzed the application, selection, and judging process using our expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion to identify bias and built-in inequities in the awards program. Then we unraveled and rebuilt the program to be more inclusive, creating a way for the James Beard Foundation to better identify and support diverse applicants and a judging process that would ensure a diverse selection of winners. The resulting 2022 awards were the most diverse in the foundation’s history.
Related work
One of RALLY’s strengths is helping clients create, launch, and then sustain an authentic and credible advocacy agenda. For example, we partnered with OLLY to analyze its culture, brand reputation, and reach to determine how to best make a meaningful impact in the mental health space. We also worked with PolicyLink to frame and unveil a roadmap to help companies put equity at the center of their internal operations and external business strategies