Our History : From Inception to the Present

Bridging food, equity & social impact

From a mentoring circle of culinary-school graduates to a national voice for food sovereignty and health equity — the story of BCAGlobal, founded as the Black Culinarian Alliance.

30+ years of food systems work in community

1993

The Black Culinarian Alliance begins

Founder Alex Askew and fellow graduates of the Culinary Institute of America come together to confront the lack of education, exposure, and advancement for African Americans in the culinary and hospitality industries. What starts as a mentoring and advocacy group becomes the first Black Culinarian Alumni Chapter at the CIA — the first membership of its kind for minority graduates of a culinary institution.

1998

Incorporated as a nonprofit

The Black Culinarian Alliance is established as a 501(c)(3) organization. Its mission broadens from advancing careers within the industry to addressing disparities across the food system as a whole, with education as the cornerstone.

2000s

From alumni chapter to national voice

The organization grows into a recognized leader at the intersection of food, race, and social justice — earning early Food Network recognition and building a membership that spans every ethnic group and one of the industry’s largest shares of professional women.

2016

Mindful Eating for the Beloved Community

BCAGlobal creates MEBC — the organization’s flagship program and enduring core. A national platform for food literacy, MEBC expands access to quality, affordable nutrition and equitable health resources, reframing food as a source of wellness, identity, and power rather than disease and depletion.

Early 2020s

Sustainability projects & a new name

Programming expands into Puerto Rico (Food & Farm Innovation) and the US Virgin Islands Sustainability Project, linking regenerative farming to community health. The organization adopts the name BCAGlobal and earns the Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency.

2026

MEBC takes root in public housing

BCAGlobal develops a scalable model that carries Mindful Eating for the Beloved Community directly into public housing — meeting residents where they live with hands-on nutritional education, mindful cooking, and equitable access to fresh, affordable food. The result is a replicable blueprint for advancing health equity in the communities positioned to gain the most.