FIRST I n August 2021, Chef Kimberly Brock Brown, CEPC, CCA, AAC, began her two-year term as the 26th national president of the American Culinary Federation! In the ACF’s 92-year history, Chef Kimberly is the first African American, woman and pastry chef to serve the organization’s 15,000 members as president. she was the apprenticeship program’s first African American female graduate. KIMBERLY BROCK BROWN ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN CULINARY FEDERATION
Chef Kimberly earned the following certifications through the ACF: Certified Executive Pastry Chef (CEPC) and Certified Culinary Administrator (CCA). Chef Kimberly is also a member of the American Academy of Chefs (AAC), the honor society of the AFC. In 2003, she was inducted into the AAC as the first African American female chef out of the more than 900 fellows. She is still the only African American female CEPC in South Carolina, and in 2015, she was inducted into El Centro’s Chefs Hall of Fame.
Howdid she achieve this incredible accomplishment? The best answer is to know Chef Kimberly and her journey. Kimberly Brock was born in Chicago, Il., as the third of four children of Clifton and Ellen Brock. The abundance of community leadership
examples helped Kimberly pave her road to success with faith, hope, love, and perseverance. Her parents were always working and seeking additional income sources and graduated college at 50 years young. Her siblings were always reading and active in extracurricular activities; among them are a valedictorian, college graduates, and a master’s degree. All of her church leaders are also women of color. Kimberly is truly a product of her environment and lives by the church’s saying: “If it is to be, it is up to me!” Kimberly’s journey as a professional chef began in 1981, when she enrolled in an ACF- accredited three-year culinary apprenticeship program at
Throughout her career, Chef Kimberlyhasworkedasexecutive chef and executive pastry chef in hospitality, healthcare, and corporate settings. She has also served as an adjunct professor at Trident Technical College and Johnson &Wales University, both in Charleston, S.C.. The award- winning chef has participated in a variety of ACF-sanctioned competitions, years before TV shows were doing the same. Chef Kimberly served on her local Charleston ACF Chapter’s board in just about every role offered: board member, secretary, vice president, and two terms as president. She served as committee chair for an ACF Southeast Regional Conference.
The Charleston Chapter awarded her “Member of the Year,” “Board Member of the Year,” and “Chef of the Year,” all within her first ten years of membership. She was appointed North American Continent Director for Women in the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS), in order to help women in the culinary industry network and have more of a voice. Chef Kimberly decided to help on a national level, so she ranfor the ACF’s Southeast Region Ethics Committee and was elected twice for the two-year term position. She was instrumental in developing the ACF’s Certified Culinary Administrator certification (CCA).
Dallas College El Centro Campus. It was there that Kimberly honed her passion for all things food, learned about being a chef and developed the kitchen skills necessary for her culinary journey. The high school “Home Ec” major then 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 Over a decade after graduation, Chef Kimberly was visited by her school’s culinary director and learned
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