Advisory Board Spotlight: Meet Andrew Kaplan

The Urban School Food Alliance is pleased to have the support of an advisory board– a diverse group of leaders and professionals to bring their unique knowledge, skill sets and experiences to the Alliance and its mission.  Members of the advisory board volunteer their time to provide valuable input and technical expertise to help the Alliance champion important initiatives to serve the health and wellness of students.

In this week’s “Advisory Board Spotlight” series, we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Kaplan.

Andrew Kaplan, VP Culinary Operations, Rachael Ray and Co-Founder/Director of Rachael Ray’s Yum-o! Organization

Andrew “Kappy” Kaplan currently serves as the Vice President of Culinary Operations for the Rachael Ray brand. He is the Co-Founder and Director of Rachael Ray’s cooking and kids charity, Yum-o! He is also the Founder and CEO of Culinary Advisors LLC, a strategic culinary advisory service. Kappy is a partner of Beyond the Plate by Flavour Gallery, a food-inspired apparel line.

Kappy is the Host and Executive Producer of Beyond the Plate podcast- a podcast where he sits down with the world’s culinary elite to explore their journey into the industry and the social impact they have made in their community.

Prior to working with Ray, Kappy served as a project manager for the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, overseeing the headline events including Kidz Kitchen and Burger Bash, while also producing the celebrity chef cooking demonstrations. Kappy also provided freelance support in production for additional Food and Wine events, such as the annual Food and Wine Classic in Aspen, Colorado and the Chicago Entertaining Showcase.

Kappy is a professionally trained chef earning a culinary degree from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA); and a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management from Florida International University (FIU).  He has deepened his background in nonprofit management as an attendee of the Stanford Nonprofit Management Institute.

Aside from working with the Alliance, Kappy serves on the Leadership Council for Share Our Strength. He is a member of Chicago Public Schools School Food Advisory Group and also spends his time as a founding external advisory board member for the Institute for Hospitality and Tourism Education and Research through his alma mater, FIU. Kappy is a Culinary Industry Expert for the Global Philanthropy Group and an ambassador to the Social Innovation Summit. He has lectured at the CIA/Harvard Healthy Kitchens Healthy Lives conference in Napa, Calif., and FIU’s Tianjin University of Commerce in China.