A celebratory event was held Monday, September 9, 2024 at the Central Library of downtown Rochester, where friends, family, community members, and Foodlink staff gathered to honor the achievements of the seven graduates of the Foodlink Career Fellowship.
The intensive year-long program provides comprehensive culinary training to prepare graduates for successful careers in the regional food industry. The Fellowship includes classroom learning, hands-on experience in Foodlink’s state-of-the-art commercial kitchen, soft-skill and job readiness training, valuable time working at the Foodlink Community Café, and an externship with a local employer.
This year’s graduating class – Foodlink’s eighth since launching the program in 2018 – includes: Davina Francis, Elizabeth Freeman, Monica Hizine, Kadijah Jones, Sonya Jordan Van Alstyne, Dakota Stanley, and Joshua Wilson.
The graduation was held in the Central Library’s Kate Gleason Auditorium – directly across from the Foodlink Community Café, where the graduates honed their culinary and customer-service skills this past year.
“For many this program is a leap of faith – for some, it is a lifeline,” said Jes Scannell, Foodlink’s VP of Career Empowerment Initiatives. “My hope today is that after many struggles and successes, you experience it as a blessing. For me it is a privilege and an honor to be a part of each Fellow’s path – to support and bear witness to transformative moments and experiences that bring a Fellow more fully and wholly into themselves, their gifts and their possibility.”
Other speakers at the graduation included other Foodlink leaders, and alumni from the Foodlink Career Fellowship, including keynote speaker Charnel Walters, a 2021 graduate from the program and the current chef manager at Episcopal SeniorLife Communities.
“My passion for cooking helped me to remain focused on increasing my skills, becoming a better version of myself,” Walters said.
As Foodlink celebrates its newest alumni, it will soon welcome a 9th class to the Fellowship – and continue recruitment for the 10th class later this fall. Class 9’s first day at Foodlink is scheduled for Sept. 23, while recruitment is still underway for Class 10, which will begin its culinary journey in November. Interested candidates can learn more and apply by visiting FoodlinkNY.org/FCF.
