“Funding from Amplify Her Foundation will greatly expand Hot Bread Kitchen’s support for women and gender-expansive entrepreneurs as they seed, start, and scale their small food businesses in NYC. This meaningful investment in underserved entrepreneurs will have an incredible impact on their ability to thrive and generate wealth for their families and communities. We congratulate Amplify Her on their launch and investment in economic mobility for women in New York City, and we look forward to seeing more entrepreneurs thrive with Amplify Her Foundation’s support!”
— Leslie Abbey, CEO, Hot Bread Kitchen
MISSION
Hot Bread Kitchen’s mission is to create pathways to economic opportunity and power through career training, entrepreneurship and development in New York City’s food industry. Hot Bread Kitchen’s strength is in its uniqueness - there is currently no other women-serving organization in New York City providing both culinary workforce development and entrepreneurship support, while also providing in-depth wraparound services.
GRANT PURPOSE & IMPACT
Amplify Her Foundation is funding HBK Incubates, a food entrepreneurship program that supports the leadership development of women of color in New York City by advancing their small businesses.
The HBK Incubates program provides technical assistance, mentorship, access to markets, and access to capital to aspiring and successful women of color entrepreneurs to transform their small food businesses into sustainable sources of income.
HBK Incubates stands on three pillars: Seed, Start, and Scale. Seed is designed to help aspiring entrepreneurs to explore small business ownership and develop a business plan framework. Women enrolled in SEED are given access to tools and templates to develop their business plan, join a community of entrepreneurial peers, and are connected with a mentor to provide feedback on their product and business model. Topics covered during the SEED program include: market analysis, brand & marketing, and sales and financial planning.
Those graduating from Seed with a market-ready product and business plan can then enter Start, which provides access to commercial kitchen space, markets, capital, and mentorship to incubate their business. Start members who fully mature their business are ready for Scale, during which Hot Bread Kitchen will provide resources that position their businesses for long-term sustainability.
In 2024, Hot Bread Kitchen anticipates that it will provide small business programming through HBK Incubates to at least 95 aspiring, early-stage, and successful women of color small food business owners. These 95 members will be reached across Seed, Start, and Scale, providing a continuum of services for these food entrepreneurs at any stage in their business’ lifespan.
