Drive Change, Inc

At Drive Change, we're on a mission to transform lives and uplift communities. We focus on supporting formerly incarcerated young people by providing them with culinary training and quality employment pathways. Our goal is clear: to ensure their economic and emotional well-being, while investing in our community's future. Through the power of food, we break down barriers, create opportunities, and pave the way for a more inclusive and equitable society. Join us in driving change, one plate at a time, and together, we can invest in brighter futures of the young people we serve and our Brooklyn community.

Our programs include: 

• Fellowship - 4 month paid workforce development program for formerly incarcerated young adults that teaches culinary arts, leadership development, centers mental health/healing, incorporates youth led advocacy and prepares youth to enter full-time work.




• Hospitality for Social Justice: Education and training, targeting industry decision-makers, that builds foundational knowledge of mass incarceration and historical oppression in the food and hospitality industry and explores tools that challenge businesses towards building and reimagining systems that center the experience of intersectionally marginalized employees.




• Culinary Access & Relief Events: CARE is our food distribution program staffed by formerly incarcerated young adults (including Drive Change graduates) that feeds local Brooklyn community members with free, culturally respectful, filling and nutritious food.

Who We Are

At Drive Change, our mission is to equip young people with the tools to succeed in the food service industry and become leaders in their community. We run an 8-month paid-fellowship for 18-25 year olds, to train them in culinary arts, place them into living-wage jobs, and hold our hospitality partners accountable to providing a workplace experience that is fair, supportive and equitable.

While the hospitality sector has the potential to be an opportunity for our youth, Drive Change recognizes that the annual turnover rate for entry-level employees in the US hospitality sector is 73.8% (Bureau of Labor Statistics), with 6% of employees quitting every month. Therefore, Drive Change challenges the hospitality industry to hire, train, and retain qualified young people and provide workplaces that are equitable and supportive.

To support this demand for culture change, we provide training, coaching, and direction to the leaders of our Hospitality for Social Justice restaurant network, focusing on unconscious biases, identity, and privilege.