FIRST C hef Kimberly Brock Brown, CEPC, CCA, AAC recently campaigned and won the election to be the 26th National President of the American Culinary Federation! In its 92-year history, KIMBERLY BROCK BROWN ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN CULINARY FEDERATION
Through the American Culinary Federation, Chef Kimberly has earned the following certifications: CEPC – Certified Executive Pastry Chef ; CCA Certified Culinary Administrator. Chef Kimberly is also a member of the AAC: American Academy of Chefs, the Honor Society of the ACF. With more than 900 Fellows, Chef Kimberly was the 1st African American female chef inducted in 2003 and is still the only African American female Certified Executive Pastry Chef in South Carolina. She was inducted into El Centro college’s Chefs Hall of Fame in 2015. During her career, Chef Kimberly
Chef Kimberly is the first African American, first Woman and first Pastry Chef to serve the 15,000 members as their President. Her 2-year term began in August 2021. First thoughts: How did this happen and how did she it?! The best answer is to know Chef Kimberly and her journey. Kimberly Brock was born in Chicago, Illinois as the 3rd of 4 children of Clifton and Ellen Brock. Having the leadership examples of her parents, (always working, having additional income sources, graduating college at 50 years young,) siblings (always reading, always active with extracurricular activities, one sister as Valedictorian, college graduates, Master ’s Degree) and her church leaders being all women of color, Kimberly’s road to success was paved with faith, hope, love and perseverance. Truly a product of her environment and lives by the church’s saying, “If it is to be, it is up to me”! accredited 3-year culinary apprenticeship program at Dallas’ El Centro College. It was at El Centro that Kimberly honed her passion of all things food, learned about being a Chef and developed the kitchen skills to take her on her culinary journey. The high school “Home Ec” major found her way into a professional kitchen and never looked back. “We are not makers of history. We are made by history.” — Martin Luther King III Chef Kimberly’s journey as a professional Chef began in 1981 where she enrolled in an ACF- More than a decade after graduating, did Chef Kimberly learn that she was the first African American female graduate from the Apprenticeship program when she was visited by her school’s Culinary Director.
has worked as an Executive Chef and Executive Pastry Chef in hospitality, healthcare, and corporate settings, and she has served as an adjunct professor at Trident Technical College and Johnson & Wales University, both in Charleston. The award-winning Chef has also participated in a variety of ACF-sanctioned competitions, years before there were tv shows doing the same. Chef Kimberly served on her local Charleston Chapter ’s Board in just about every role offered. Board member, Secretary, Vice President and President serving 2 terms. Committee Chair for helping to host an ACF Southeast Regional Conference. Voted the chapter ’s “Member of the Year”,
“Board Member of the Year” and “Chef of the Year” all within her first 10 years of being a Charleston Chapter member. She was appointed North American Continent Director for Women in WACS (World Association of Chefs Societies) with the directive of finding and helping women in the culinary industry to network with each other and to have more of a voice in our professional industry. Chef Kimberly decided to help on a national level, so she ran and won the ACF’s Southeast Region Ethics Committee position twice for a 2-year- term and was instrumental in the development of American Culinary Federation’s Certified Culinary Administrator certification (CCA).
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