Joanne Canady-Brown, the baker-in-chief and owner of the Gingered Peach on Gordon Avenue in the village of Lawrenceville, has been chosen to attend the James Beard Foundation’s Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership program.
The one-week program, which will be held Sept. 23-28 at Babson College, Wellesley, Mass., seeks to help women food industry entrepreneurs and restaurant owners as they grow in their careers and businesses.
The 20 members of the 2018 program come from across the country.
Canady-Brown opened the Gingered Peach in 2014. The bakery focuses on hand-crafted baked goods that are made from scratch. The Gingered Peach grew out of a bakery she operated with a partner in Ewing Township, until her partner left to get married.
Canady-Brown is a self-taught baker. She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Rutgers University and then worked in restaurant management and corporate management for several years.
The Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership program focuses on mentoring established female chefs and restaurateurs, said Clare Reichenbach, the chief executive officer of the James Beard Foundation.
The program deals with advanced business and finance concerns related to entrepreneurship and expansion. It also provides gender-specific training and leadership development.
The Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership program arranges for mentors to help the participants on an ongoing basis through events, meetings and webinars after they leave the one-week program.
James Beard was a chef, food writer, cookbook author and television personality. The James Beard Foundation was created in his honor after his death in 1985.
The foundation hosts guest-chef dinners at Beard’s former home in New York City, grants scholarships to culinary students, and creates educational programs for chefs and food lovers alike.
