Board of Trustees

KEN RUBIN [CHAIR]

Ken Rubin, CCP, is a leader in culinary education, with twenty years of achievement as an education executive, food editor, food culture researcher, and consultant.  As a culinary anthropologist, he has gained an awareness of critical issues surrounding food and health, education and training, sustainability, and the role of food in society.  Ken is Vice President of Culinary Training at Rouxbe Cooking School, an online cooking school found in more than 170 countries.

KARIN ENDY [IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR]

Karin Endy brings to the board more than fifteen years of experience in the culinary field and a background in environmental law and policy to Edible Resources. is the Associate Director of Culinary and Pastry Education at the International Culinary Center in New York.  She is also the founder and principal for Edible Resources, providing consulting services for food companies and non-profits on education, sustainability and corporate social responsibility matters. Prior to that, she was Associate Dean of Students/General Counsel for The French Culinary Institute where she played an active role in the 2006 school expansion.

Karin is an active member of New York City’s Greenmarket Farmer and Citizens Advisory Committee. She has served on the James Beard Scholarship committee and led fundraising events for The Friends of The FCI. Karin was a panelist on school food at the Baum Forum, food labeling at the International Association of Culinary Professionals annual conference, and on heirloom seeds and heritage breeds for the Culinary Historians of New York honoring Betty Fussell. She has responded to Michelle Obamas call for chefs to adopt schools and has adopted P.S.230 in Kensington Brooklyn, a school with 78% of the students qualifying for free lunch. Karin has served on the Board of Trustees of The Culinary Trust since 2005.

ALEXA VAN DE WALLE  [SECRETARY]

Lexi is food advocate, writer/health coach/chef/marketer, focusing on critical issues in food, nutrition, policy and sustainability. Founder of Lighthearted Locavore, she has worked on dozens of projects including: UN Commission on Sustainable Development (Host Committee), the NYC Food Charter, Child Nutrition Reauthorization/Slow Food Eat-in, and Social Enterprise at Kellogg 2011 where she and her husband are underwriting a university-wide case competition on food access. Lexi writes about local and federal food policy and creates recipes using locally sourced produce. Her articles have appeared in Huffington Post and Mother Earth News and her blog LightheartedLocavore.com.

She is co-author of FoodNYC: A Blue Print for a Sustainable Food System. Lexi’s prior career as a marketing and advertising executive spanned 25 years at Citigroup, Pfizer, American Express and Ogilvy and Mather. She has a MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and attended the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and Peter Kump’s Cooking School where she received nutrition counseling and chef certifications.

LARA NIXON [TREASURER]

Lara’s lifelong love of culinary traditions turned into a passion for cocktails and bar craft after being introduced to historical cocktails through antique manuals, which led to her re-envisioning classic cocktail recipes to include locally sourced and sustainable organic products. After studying bar craft in Santa Rosa, California, she founded Boxcar Bar, an Austin-based bartending and consulting service.
She is co-founder of Bad Dog Bar Craft, an artisan bitters producer, and her original cocktail recipes have won awards, as has Tipsy Tech, a spirits education program she co-developed with David Alan. Lara served as treasurer of the U.S. Bartenders Guild, Austin Chapter, from 2009-2011.

JULIA USHER  [IACP Board Liaison, IACP PRESIDENT ELECT]

Julia Usher worked as a nuclear reactor systems engineer after graduating from Yale in 1984, but turned her passion for baking into her profession in 1994 when she enrolled in cooking school. She is an award-winning cookbook author, entertaining consultant, and prop stylist, as well as a contributing editor to Dessert Professional magazine.  Her latest book, Ultimate Cookies (Gibbs Smith), was published in 2011, and she has recently produced a video series entitled “Julia’s Ultimate Cookie Decorating Series.”

DAVID MCINTYRE

David McIntyre, a culinary and food systems consultant, draws upon 30 years of experience in culinary education, food policy, restaurants, and retail operations.  His projects include an Hispanic Public Market in Portland, a food-entrepreneur training program in Albuquerque, and a USDA Specialty Crops Grant promoting increased local purchases among institutional purchasers.  In addition to consulting, he recently joined Whole Foods as the Associate Regional Coordinator for Prepared Foods for the Pacific Northwest. David is co-chair of IACP’s Food Policy interest section.

ERIK MURNIGHAN, Scholarships Committee Chair

Erik Murnighan worked in business and technology prior to following his passion for food to The French Culinary Institute, where he graduated in 2001. After having worked as a chef de cuisine in Vermont and a food and beverage director in Santa Fe, Erik returned to New York to pursue a career in culinary education. Erik brought his diverse experience to The International Culinary Center where he is the School Director. He is a mentor to many aspiring food and wine professionals and believes that education begins with encouragement.

JESSICA BRIDE, Scholarships Committee Co-Chair

Jessica grew up in New Orleans and moved to New York in 1999 where she worked with The Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group serving as Special Projects Director, Marketing & Communications Director and Vice-President, Lifestyles. With the group she opened seven high-volume, white tablecloth steakhouses around the US over the next six years. While in New York, she also graduated from the French Culinary Institute.

In 2005 she moved to London where she worked as Director of Development for Longshot, PLC, another high-end restaurant company. While abroad she met her husband and soul mate, Nick Mayor, who shares her love of food, travel and current political events. Nick fell in love with New Orleans after one visit and a few years later they moved to New Orleans to raise their family and get involved in the rebuilding after Katrina.

Jessica hosts occasional cooking demonstrations for children in the Greater New Orleans area, is the Co-Founder and Director of Chefs Move! The John Besh and Bride Mayor Scholarship to The French Culinary Institute in New York City. She is also a Director of The John Besh Foundation, is active in the New Orleans Junior League and is a candidate for a diploma from the UK-based Wine & Spirits Education Trust out of London.