Cooking Up Real Change in Durham.
Kind Kitchen Group is a 501(c)(3) culinary education nonprofit founded by Black female chefs to build youth confidence, career pathways, and community power — one kitchen at a time.
"I didn't think cooking was for me. Now I cook dinner for my family three times a week. Kind Kitchen didn't just teach me a skill — they changed how I see myself."
— KKG Participant
By The Numbers
4,305 students reached annually 2,457 meals served 335+ hours of culinary education delivered 92% average program attendance rate
What Students Walk Away With
Kind Kitchen Group was founded by two classically trained Black female chefs and restaurateurs with deep roots in Durham and decades of food industry experience. Our programs are designed by people who have lived the barriers we work to dismantle — and that lived experience shapes every decision we make.
Our leadership pathway pays youth $11–12/hour to serve as program leaders, creating employment opportunities while building the next generation of culinary professionals. We partner with 35+ community organizations, serve zip codes across Durham County, and maintain a 92% attendance rate because trust, consistency, and care are baked into everything we do.
92 %
They Keep Coming Back Across every site, every session, every season — our attendance rate holds. That's not a number. That's trust, built one meal at a time.
ZERO.
Zero Safety Incidents. Across Every Program. Every Year. We put young people around fire, knives, and heat — and we take that responsibility seriously. Zero incidents isn't luck. It's care, structure, and a culture of keeping each other safe.
90%
They Discover They Can Cook Nine out of ten participants leave KKG with more confidence in the kitchen than when they arrived. Confidence that transfers — to school, to home, to how they see themselves.
100 %
Schools See It Too Every partner school reports satisfaction with KKG programming. They see the change in their students and they want more. So do we.
100%
Life Skills, Every Single Time Every participant walks away with something that goes beyond the recipe — time management, teamwork, focus, follow-through. The kitchen teaches everything.
83%
The Whole Household Changes When our young people learn to cook, they bring it home. More than eight in ten participants shifted their household's relationship with food, what they cook, what they eat, and what they know about both.
95%
Families Show Up Parents, caregivers, grandparents — they see what's happening here and they come toward it. A 95% family engagement rate means the work doesn't stop at the kitchen door.
Our Growth Over the Years
There’s still more work to be done, and we are growing!
The Flavor Lab
Our flagship in-school program (previously Young Cook Society) brings hands-on culinary education to Durham Public Schools — completely free. Weekly sessions weave together knife skills, food science, nutrition, and social-emotional learning, giving students the kind of grounding that goes far beyond the kitchen. In the 2024–2025 school year, we served 1,930 students at Rogers-Herr Middle School across 55 sessions.
Test Kitchen Summer
Every summer, Kind Kitchen Group runs seven themed culinary immersions across eight weeks for students in grades 5–12. Previously, the Sandwich Summer and Summer Institute. Campers cook real food, earn kitchen safety certifications, complete recipe milestones, and journal daily. Pay It Forward scholarships ensure cost is never a barrier. In summer 2025, 208 young people participated.
The Next Course
Our advanced leadership track at Hillside High School, J.D. Clement Early College, and Jordan High School is evolving. What began as Kitchen Assistants in Training — the KAIT program that put students in paid roles at $11–12/hour — is growing into The Next Course: a deeper, more expansive pathway where participants earn food handler certifications, develop original dishes, and pitch them to real industry professionals at partner restaurants, including Counting House and Monuts. Same foundation. Bigger future.
This program has helped me become more outgoing in how I meet and interact with others. Although I'm still shy, this program helped me stay connected to the people I knew in middle school and now go to high school with. It made my transition easier and it has helped me taste a few more things I would have never tried before.
— Hannah
Funding History
Since launching in 2023, Kind Kitchen Group has grown from a single classroom program to a multi-site organization with a dedicated space, a paid youth leadership pipeline, and partnerships across Durham County.
Grant funding has enabled us to establish and operate a food pantry, purchase essential kitchen equipment, cover revolving program costs, move into our own dedicated space in May 2025, and pay young people a living wage as program leaders.
2023 — Walmart Local Community Grant: $2,000
2024 — Walmart Foundation (multiple rounds): $3,500
2024 — Durham County Food Security Microgrant: $1,500
2024 — DPS Foundation: $15,000
2024–2025 academic year total:$23,000 raised
Current annual operating budget: $140,000 | $73,000 raised toward goal