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Nadine Nelson 

Interdisciplinary Food Artist 

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Sacred eating and cooking spaces are that are distinguished from the ordinary; they connect us to the transcendent, and also to the sacredness of the earth and all of life. We enter a sacred kitchen with the intention to engage in activities with the understanding that there is something larger than ourselves than our physical appetites; it is a space that we regard and relate to with reverence and awe; a place where we can engage in meaningful rituals that inspire us to treat our bodies and hearts as worthy of special care; it an area where that inspires mindfulness so we can appreciate the interdependence of life, “the garbage and the flowers,” as singer, songwriter Leonard Cohen tells us. A sacred kitchen is a nourishing space, not only physically, but also emotionally; it is a sanctuary, which represents gratitude, forgiveness, beauty, and blessings. - Ronna Kabatznick, PhD

CV

Nadine Nelson is a career educator, chef,  artist, and activist.  As an expert in interactive culinary education and experiential event production, she uses food as a catalyst and platform to build community, revitalize the neighborhood, preserve our cultural heritage, promote economic development, and empower people to lead healthier, happier, connected, and more prosperous lives.

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Educator / Chef / Artist/ Owner, Global Local Gourmet  Hamden, CT

2005 - Present | Drawing from more than 20 years in the food, hospitality, training, and education industries:

• Operate multifaceted interactive culinary event company that specializes in experiential learning and integrated marketing intertwining food and culture to curate culinary learning experiences

• Support, promote, and collaborate with regional farmers, food businesses, cultural institutions, small businesses, and other entrepreneurial enterprises to create and promote creative hands-on food-centric cultural endeavors including cooking classes, culinary tours, team building events, tastings, wellness workshops, branding content, integrated marketing and customized events based on the client's needs and expectations

• Responsible for the overall planning, marketing,  sales, promoting and budget for cooking classes and events

• Provide leadership, training, direction, and general administration of staff including customer service and chef-instructors

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Founder and Principal, Sankofa Consulting Boston, MA 

1995 - 2012 | Consult in areas of curriculum development, program development and evaluation, professional development and training, fundraising, and event planning for a variety of for-profit and non-profit organizations.

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Dean of Community Relations  / English Teacher, Beaver Country Day School, Chestnut Hill,  MA

1995 - 2005 | Member of the Administrative Team, Academic Program Team, Wellness Team, Tenth Grade Teaching Team, leading a diverse range of community projects related to a commitment to community relations, inclusion, and being a valued neighbor in Greater Boston. Report to Head of School. 

• Department- and organization-wide strategic planning around conceptualized comprehensive Diversity Competency/Training Model, including designing and leading professional development, process facilitation, curriculum writing, and implementation to align staff, parents, and students around strategic priorities in regard to equity, inclusion, and community through events, credit, and non-credit courses.

• Program development, budget, and operations oversight, and evaluation

• Staff management, including hiring, supervision, mentoring of staff. Increased faculty and students populations of color to 25% - 33% in less than 5 years which has been maintained after my tenure

• Served as consultant and liaison doing partnership development and relationship management with other independent schools, community-based organizations, public agencies, individual consultants, and volunteers to develop new programming and refine existing programming

• A public representative for the school at local, regional, and national meetings and conferences often presenting Community Relations and Diversity Competency/Training Model

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Teacher / Administrator, Cambridge Rindge & Latin, Cambridge, MA 

1992- 1995| Organized multicultural curriculum institute for high school; designed and delivered orientation training for all participants; supervised work teams consisting of high school and college students, teachers, and administrators; developed project’s initiatives and implemented project’s goals; edited and aided in the development of standards-based multicultural and integrated curriculum units about violence, the old west, South Africa, India, race, and civilization. 

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SELECTED ART SHOWS, FELLOWSHIPS, RESIDENCIES, CURATION & COMMISSIONS

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2020 |Channeling Oshun, Installation, Social Engagement, and Curation, Sky Garden Gallery, Jersey City, NJ

2019 | Give you a Read, Social Engagement, Sky Garden Gallery, Jersey City, NJ

2019 |No Passport Required—Wanderlust, Spices, Culture and the Fate of Cuisine Transcending Borders, Installation and Multidisciplinary piece, Institute Library, New Haven, CT

2019 | Rice, Beans, and Neighbors Unforeseen, Creative Arts Center, New Haven, CT

2019 | Channeling Oshun, Installation, Social Engagement, Hygienic Art, New London, CT

2019 | Yale Social Innovation Lab, Project: Master Cooks Corps and Mobile Teaching Kitchen, New Haven, CT

2019 | Sea and Soil//Water Access, Social Engagement, Ely Center for Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT

2019 | Kitchen Sanctum, Installation, and Social Engagement, Ely Center for Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT

2018 | Laundromat Project Create Change Fellow, NYC

2018 | Stir the Pot, Social Engagement, Various Food Spaces around New Haven, CT

2017 | Daughters of the Dust Table, Franklin Park, Boston, MA

2016 | Harvest Mandalas, Solo Commission, ArtSpace,  New Haven, CT

2015| | T- Stop Meal, Solo Commission, Design Studio 4 Social Intervention, Boston, MA 

2015| | Chef Residency, New Haven Public Library, New Haven, CT

2014| Vagaries of the Common, Special Artist Commission, ArtSpace, New Haven, CT 

2014 | Living with Soul Pop Up, Curating and Production Commission, International Festival Arts and Ideas, New Haven, CT 

2013 | Greens on the Green, Curating and Production Commission, International Festival Arts and Ideas, New Haven, CT 

2012 | CitySeed Farmers Market Residency

2012 | Public Kitchen, Lead Artist  Commission, Design Studio for Social Intervention Boston, MA

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SELECTED PRESENTATIONS 

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  • Value Added Products from Inception until Production - Working with Bronx Tamarind Sauce

  • Black Urban Gardeners and Farmers Chef's Panel with Therese Nelson, Omar Tate, Benjamin Dennis, and Harold Conyers, 2019

  • Tale of the Cocktail: Hive to Highball - Honey Cocktails and Saving the Bees through your Bar and Kitchen Program, 2019

  • Yale: Stir the Pot - Creating a Healthy and Robust Food System through Citizen Involvement and Activism, Gumbo - From Africa to America, Building Resistance, Community, and Sharing Stories of Migration Through the Communal Pot, 2019

  • New York Nutrition Education Network: An Exploration of African Heritage Cuisine, An Experiential Presentation with Nicole Taylor and Omar Tate, 2019

  • Newark Conservancy Winter Seminar 2019 Keynote: Stir the Pot - Creating a Healthy and Robust Food System through Citizen Involvement, Activism, and Sustainability

  • Just Food 2018: Stir the Pot: Creating a Healthy and Robust Food System through Citizen Involvement and Activism

  • Green Thumb Grow Together 2017: Beyond the Passive Cooking Demo - Interactive Culinary Education as  a Nutrition and Food Justice Intervention 

  • Just Food 2017: A Call to Collaboration, "Equity and Nutrition Education"

  • City Growers Education Conference 2017: Cooking as a Revolutionary Act 

  • Black Urban Gardeners Conference 2016: Cooking and Garden Education as a Place-making & Art Intervention 

  • Yale University, Nourish New Haven 2015: Interactive Culinary Education as a Means for Food Justice Resistance 

  • Yale University, Nourish New Haven 2014: New Haven’s Next Generation 

  • Yale 2013, Nourish New Haven: Community Assets Solving Community Issues 

  • Just Food 2013: Culinary Tourism as a means to create Economic Development and Revitalize Agricultural Regions

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EDUCATION 

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Vermont’s Table Program 

Sterling College, Craftsbury Common, VT

 

Certificate in Fundraising and Philanthropy

New York University, New York, NY 

 

 

 

Certificate in Food Styling

New School, New York, NY

 

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Personal Chef Certificate from Culinary Business Academy

US Personal Chef Association

 

 

Masters coursework in Curriculum and Program Development and Evaluation

Tufts University, Medford, MA 

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B.A. in English, Teaching Certification in English 9-12

Tufts University, Medford, MA

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Selected Professional Development & Training 

  • Understanding by Design with Grant Wiggins 

  • Rubrics and Students Centered Evaluation 

  • Teaching to Multiple Intelligences 

  • Art and Social Change in the Curriculum 

  • Community, Landscape, Place, and Interdisciplinary Learning

  • Teaching for Long Blocks 

  • Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity, Creating Communities that Drive Change 

  • Facing History in Ourselves 

  • Racial Identity Theory in Schools with Beverly Tatum 

  • Outward Bound 

  • Project Adventure

  • MUG - Master in Urban Gardening Certificate  

  • Soul Fire Farm - Black and Latinx Farmers Immersion

  • Edible Schoolyard Across the Curriculum 

  • Empathic Facilitation

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SKILLS

Cooking, Community Building and Relations, Community-based Planning, Community Asset Mapping, Co-Creation, Creating a Positive Learning Environment, Creativity and Innovation, Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, Cross-Cultural Facilitation, Curriculum Development, and Lesson Planning, Delegating and Empowering Leadership, Diversity and Equity Facilitation, Economic Development, Experiential Culinary Tourism, Fundraising, and External Relations, Integrated Marketing and Events, Non - Profit Consulting, Project Management, Program Design, Public Relations, Social Media Strategy, Teaching, Team Building, Translator of Culture

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EXPERTISE

Canva, DSLR Photography, Food Styling, Interactive Media, Multi-Platform Content Creation, Non - Traditional Fundraising, Tumblr, Wordpress, Wix,

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