The Female Baking Collective is a new initiative of Emma's Torch, an organization that provides culinary training to refugees including culinary and language training. While their main program aims to prepare its participants for work in restaurants, The Baking Collective is envisioned as a female-only program that addresses the need of women with children for greater flexibility in their working lives. It seeks to address this need by preparing its students for roles as small-scale artisanal goods producers, creating products like granola bars, beverages, and snacks that they can sell to a larger market. The artisanal goods market is a rapidly growing sector of the New York food scene, and many producers make their own hours, work from home, and collaborate with a tight-knit group of like-minded individuals. These start-ups offer female refugees more financial independence, while also fitting sustainably into their lives.

Our grant will be used to develop the curriculum for this program and help support the initial class of participants.

You can support Emma's Torch by visiting their pop-up cafe on Saturdays and Sundays at Home/Made, 293 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231.