Christine Ha is the first-ever blind contestant and season 3 winner of the competitive amateur cooking television show “MasterChef” with Gordon Ramsay. She defeated over 30,000 home cooks across America to secure the coveted MasterChef title, a $250,000 cash prize, and a cookbook deal.

“The lady has an extraordinary palate, a palate of incredible finesse. She picks up hot ingredients, touches them, and she thinks about this image on the plate. She has the most disciplined execution on a plate that we’ve ever seen. But the palate is where it’s just extraordinary. And honestly, I know chefs with Michelin stars that don’t have palates like hers.” –Chef Gordon Ramsay, MasterChef judge

Ha holds a Master of Fine Arts from the nationally acclaimed Creative Writing Program at University of Houston, where she served as Fiction Editor for Gulf Coast literary journal, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin.

Ha’s first cookbook, Recipes From My Home Kitchen: Asian and American Comfort Food, was a New York Times best-seller. She has done several TEDx Talks, spoken about disability advocacy at the United Nations, and served as a culinary arts envoy overseas for the American Embassy as part of cultural diplomacy programs in Jordan, Serbia, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Croatia, and Vietnam.

Ha was a co-host on the Canadian cooking show “Four Senses” and a judge on “MasterChef” Vietnam. She also serves on the Board of Trustees for Helen Keller Int’l, a global non-profit that helps millions of people achieve clear vision, sound nutrition, and good health.

Ha received the 2014 Helen Keller Personal Achievement Award from the American Foundation for the Blind, a recognition formerly bestowed upon Ray Charles, Patty Duke, and Stevie Wonder among others. Ha’s first restaurant in Houston, The Blind Goat, was named a semi-finalist for 2020 Best New Restaurant in America by the James Beard Foundation. She was also named a James Beard finalist for Best Chef, Texas, in 2022 and a semi-finalist for Outstanding Chef in 2023 for her former restaurant, Xin Chào. Ha’s third concept, Stuffed Belly, opened in June 2023.

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A leading restaurateur, proponent of Indian cuisine with her unique global twists at Vermilion, and zealous champion of women – former World Bank economist and McKinsey & Co. management consultant – Rohini Dey straddles the worlds of business and women’s championship across the US and India.

Rohini’s career spans several phases:
--She taught in Academia, has a Master’s degree in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics and a Doctorate in Management Science from the University of Texas.
--She worked at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. leading development projects on foreign direct investment and coauthored a book on infrastructure privatization.
--At McKinsey & Co., she led management consulting projects for Fortune 100 firms with knowledge development.
--As an Entrepreneur, Dey combines her business credentials with her passion for food by establishing Vermilion restaurants in Chicago since 2003 and in NYC Manhattan for a decade (2008-2017).
--As a Writer and Speaker, Dey has written 30+ policy and business opinions for CNN, Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, Huffington Post, Thrive Global and Crain’s Business (#1 op-ed 2016). She has spoken and keynoted at Politico Women Rule, The Global Economic Summit (US State Dept.), TEDx and NATO Summit for Chicago. Her writing proceeds go to the non-profit by the Dey-Kohli family (MSEdG – Educate Girls Globally).
--As a Women’s Activist, Rohini founded Let’s Talk Womxn in 2020 and leads this action movement of women restaurateurs to build scale together. She has grown this to 900+ women restaurateurs and entrepreneurs across 15 cities with expansion afoot. In 2012, to redress the “gastro-ceiling,” she cofounded the James Beard Foundation Women’s Leadership Program. She led and chaired the JBF WLP for a decade launching WCL, WEL and Owning It. Rohini is a staunch supporter of women in business and education of girls globally.

As an active Chicago ambassador, Rohini is on the Advisory Council of the Illinois Restaurant Association. She is on the board of the PSA World Squash Championships held in Chicago. She was a James Beard Foundation trustee for a decade and helped bring the JBF Awards to Chicago. She stays connected to academia by engaging with the entrepreneurial departments of business schools (University of Chicago Booth, Kellogg, Columbia University).

Rohini went entrepreneurial in 2003 driven by her conviction that Indian cuisine in the United States was confined to stereotypes, fine dining is excessively Eurocentric, and most global cuisines are marginalized to an “ethnic” fringe. At inception, Vermilion was acclaimed “Best Restaurants” for its Indian-Latin melding by Chicago magazine, Travel & Leisure, Town & Country, USA Today, Bon Appetit, Wine Enthusiast, 3 stars Chicago Tribune, Esquire, 4 Stars NY Daily News. For its 20th year metamorphosis, Vermilion has introduced Indian-Chinese cuisine to Chicago, India’s most beloved comfort food, earning 3 stars Chicago Tribune again. Chefs launched by Vermilion have competed and judge on Chopped, Iron Chef, Top Chef, and opened restaurants of their own. Rohini frequently judges Food Network shows.

Rohini is profiled for entrepreneurship by CNBC in their Consumed docuseries, the Financial Times, Time, NYT, WSJ, O magazine and more. She has been lauded in the NRN Top 50 Power List in Food, NRN Top 25 Women of Influence, NAWBO Advocate of the Year, TimeOut Women of the Year, ATHENA International Leadership Award, Chicago Top 10 Power Women Better, Top 50 Power Players Chicago Social, AAPI Unsung Hero Award, Innovator of the Year MenuMasters. Rohini has also been awarded Woman of Distinction by Children’s Hope, Philanthropy Award by American India Foundation, Entrepreneur of the year – India by the City of Chicago, WCO Women’s Leadership Award by JP Morgan Chase, and the WE Women Empowerment Award. She is featured nationally on the TODAY Show, Good Morning America, Squawk Box, Food Network, WGN NewsNation, NBC News Daily and others. Rohini is an active member of The Chicago Network (TCN), International Women’s Forum (IWF), the Women’s Forum of New York (WFNY) and NAWBO. Rohini is known in the lifestyle space: Women of Influence – Michigan Avenue, 50 most beautiful Chicagoans – Chicago Magazine, Beautiful Homes – Chicago Social, Entertaining with Flair – Chicago Magazine.

In 2012, Lisa Gutierrez left her Cheesecake Factory manager position of 10 years to follow a
wild dream of starting a food truck business with her husband. They started with nothing but a
borrowed food truck, $2,000 in savings, and a whole lot of ambition. Through these hopes and
aspirations, they brought Dos Hermanos Taco Truck to life, bringing Vicente’s family’s authentic
Oaxacan-style recipes to their community. This authenticity is what would eventually lead long
lines and raving fans to their truck. Over a decade later, Dos Hermanos has 4 brick-and-mortar
locations, 3 mobile food trucks, a taco cart, a concession stand inside the Greater Columbus
Convention Center, and catering services. Through hard work and strategic connections, Lisa
has grown Dos Hermanos to a 7-figure business. Over the years, Lisa’s hard work did not go
unrecognized. In 2019, the SBA named Lisa as Minority Owned Small Business Person of the
Year. Also, Dos Hermanos was recognized by the ICIC as one of the fastest growing inner-city
companies in America in terms of revenue and job creation. Further, in 2022, Lisa was
personally invited to attend an event at Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in celebration
of Hispanic Heritage Month. As Lisa works to keep her business growing, create new job
opportunities for her community, and collaborate with other small businesses, she also finds
time to sit on the advisory board for the Women’s Center of Economic Opportunity. In addition,
she sits on the Executive Board of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce as President Elect, where
she helps moderate and create discussion about helping the community. Lisa’s most recent
accomplishments are launching both her public speaking company, Lisa G. Speaks, where she
enjoys teaching business owners how to gain momentum and run a profitable business, and
Food Truck Millionaire, a coaching platform where Lisa takes food truck owners from the
concession window to the CEO seat. Lisa, having no prior business education, knows the
struggles of starting from zero with no connections. This drives her desire to share all the
knowledge she has to lead other aspiring entrepreneurs to the path of success.

Born to a worldly family, Nicki Laborie’s passion for great dining experiences was cultivated at a young age with her mother’s impeccable cooking and hosting and her father’s love of wine and travel. Growing up in between the French Alps, Bordeaux and Montreal, Laborie was exposed to many cultures in her travels with her adventurous and entrepreneurial parents. Laborie’s adult life was spent everywhere from Montreal to New York to St. Maarten, before she finally ended up in Toronto and then back to New York in 2021.

In 1993, Laborie attended Montreal’s LaSalle College, where she studied Restaurant Management. Shortly after, she moved to New York City to continue her studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology where she graduated in Fashion Marketing & Communications. While in school, Laborie worked in promotions and organized events for various nightclubs including Life, Nell’s, Paladium, Tunnel and more. The education and hospitality experience ultimately set her up for a powerhouse PR career at Nike Communications working in fashion, luxury, and hospitality, where she worked for some of the world’s top fashion and luxury brands such as Bottega Veneta, Kenzo as well as renowned Chef Charlie Palmer.

Laborie truly began her culinary journey in 2004 in St. Maarten, where she worked as General Manager of the modern sushi restaurant, Bamboo Bernies. Hosting over 2000 guests on certain nights, the restaurant was 25,000 square feet of oceanfront dining and dancing. A few years later, Laborie ended up in Toronto running a 250-seat waterfront restaurant. In 2010, Laborie founded View the Vibe, where she combined her 360-degree expertise in PR, marketing, media, and hospitality industries to create a Canadian online publication offering news and insights into Toronto restaurants, trends, fashion, people, and culture. However, her dream of opening her very own restaurant and bar came to fruition with the opening of Bar Reyna in 2016, then Reyna at Assembly Chefs Hall in 2017 and then Reyna on King in 2019. The successful locations continue to thrive today with one location having closed during Covid, due to it being in the financial district. It was at that point that Laborie decided it was time to expand South of the border and in 2021, she found the perfect location for REYNA New York – a true dream come true. All the locations have successfully captured Laborie’s vision of creating an establishment that combines a unique casual elegance with a hip and eccentric vibe.

Today, View the Vibe and Reyna Hospitality Group are Laborie’s passions that keep her ear to the ground about hospitality trends and the latest in the culinary and cocktail world. Looking forward, the REYNA brand is growing with potential beach and hotel locations.

Adrienne Trimble is the Vice President and Chief Diversity and Culture Officer for Sysco Corporation. She is a known thought leader for advancing corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. She has led DEI and Social Impact initiatives for large, complex organizations nationally and globally. Additionally, she has served as the leader of a non-profit national organization, with global affiliates, providing certification and development for minority owned businesses.

Trimble began her diversity and inclusion work at Toyota Motor North America, where she worked closely with the company’s senior leadership team in developing advocacy and accountability measures to integrate DEI processes across the organization’s business operations. She oversaw Toyota’s Supplier Diversity initiative from 2005-2012. In this role, she grew the company’s diverse supplier base to reflect an increase in spend that exceeded 300 percent, topping nearly $3B in spend with diverse suppliers.

Ms. Trimble served as Executive on Loan as the President & CEO for the National Minority Supplier Development Council from August 2018 – February 2021. Under her leadership, the organization grew the number of corporate members, certified minority businesses and implemented a strategic plan for long term organizational sustainability. She has served on various boards and committee, including The Billion Dollar Roundtable, Lean Enterprise Institute and Unidos, the leading civil rights organization for Hispanic and Latino Americans. She is also a Trustee for her alma mater, Wilberforce University. Ms. Trimble has previous Human Resources leadership experience in financial services, healthcare and media broadcasting industries.