+ Leticia Landa, Executive Director

contact: leticia@lacocinasf.org

trilingual: Spanish + French

pronouns: she/her

Leticia learned about La Cocina by reading a newspaper article about El Huarache Loco (a graduate) when she was in college, studying Anthropology at Harvard. She joined La Cocina in early 2008 as the third staff member. Throughout her career at La Cocina, Leticia has relied on her experience being the daughter of Mexican immigrants who moved to the US and started a business, to fuel her strong belief that business ownership can be transformative, particularly for women, immigrants and people of color. She is passionate about food and cooking, particularly the way sharing food transmits memory. Fluent in Spanish and French, Leticia has loved learning from the 100+ entrepreneurs she's worked with about food traditions from all over the world. Now Executive Director of La Cocina, Leticia has worn almost every hat at the organization over the last decade: writing grants, developing the incubator program, working directly with business owners, managing volunteers, and consulting with other incubators. Leticia has provided vision and strategy for the organization's tremendous growth, which has led to the organization's international recognition. One of her favorite recent projects has been co-authoring We Are La Cocina, a cookbook published by Chronicle Books in 2019.

Favorite Foods: chilaquiles, quiche and the perfect brownie

+ Aniela Valtierra, Deputy Director of Impact

contact: aniela@lacocinasf.org

bilingual: Spanish

pronouns: she/her

At the age of fifteen and with much reluctance, Aniela had her first taste of the food and beverage industry while working after school and in the summers at her parents’ newly opened restaurant in Mexico. Over the years, she grew to enjoy the f&b operation, and it has, since, become a part of her life and career. Aniela values food for being the center of her fondest family memories, and she looks up to her family’s entrepreneurial spirit to share their love of food.

Aniela studied Hospitality Industry Management with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship at the University of San Francisco, gaining professional event planning and f&b management experience in hotels, private clubs, and restaurants, with continued wine education from the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. When Aniela learned about La Cocina and its mission, it felt much like home; she was inspired by the passion that the women-run businesses of La Cocina have for their native foods and their entrepreneurial drive to launch their food business, do what they love and share it with their communities.

Aniela joined La Cocina’s team in 2013 and brings her passion of food entrepreneurship and support of small business communities in her operations and events role. Committed to the success of La Cocina’s women entrepreneurs, Aniela facilitates the use of the facility’s program offerings and launches events that promote growth and community recognition for their businesses.

Favorite foods: tacos de papa, arrachera, french toast, and chocolate mousse pie

+ Emiliana Puyana, Director of Incubator Program

contact: emiliana@lacocinasf.org

bilingual: Spanish

pronouns: she/her

Emiliana has always been in love with food and cooking. Early experiences in her family’s kitchen in Venezuela taught her that food has the extraordinary ability to bring and keep people together. She landed her first restaurant job at the age of fifteen in Caracas and has continued cooking ever since.

After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in 2002 she decided to make the move from New York to San Francisco. Her time in the Bay Area has seen her hold most positions in food industry from prep cook to chef de cuisine. She’s gained her battle scars behind the stoves of places like La Folie, Salt House and Marla Bakery. In 2011 she joined La Cocina’s incubator program and started her own pickling business, Jarred SF Brine. After three years of running her own food business she made the tough decision to pack it in and move on to the next food adventure.

She now finds herself back at La Cocina but at the other side of the table. She couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to give back to an organization and community that has given so much to her. She loves that a walk through La Cocina is like a mini UN general assembly where the only language spoken is food.

Favorite foods: arepas, platanos fritos, tequeños, kimchi, all things pickled, capers, capers, and more capers

+ Blake Kutner, Director of Entrepreneur Business Development

contact: blake@lacocinasf.org

pronouns: he/him

Blake Kutner has been cooking and working in professional kitchens since the Bill Clinton days (one of his heroes, Blake’s not Bill’s. Although they do share a birthday). He’s done pretty much everything in the back of the house world from dishwashing to fry station, kitchen managing to grade manger, Mexico to Spain, New Orleans to San Francisco.

After graduating from Dartmouth in 1994, Blake thought he would go to medical school like most of his family had. While applying, he started working at the Copeland’s restaurant (a New Orleans based mid level chain) below his apartment, first as a waiter (think cheap fake tuxedo shirts and polyester bow ties) and then eventually as a fry cook in the all Nigerian kitchen. The swashbuckling life of the rowdy kitchen crew combined with the hand’s on gratification of taking a slimy raw product (like chicken or oysters) to glistening deep fried glory started his journey. The intellectual stimulation that cooking provided utilizing biology, physics, chemistry, history and culture has kept him doing it.

Blake is excited to be starting as our new kitchen manager at La Cocina. He believes that street food is secretly every chef’s favorite and makes up the fabric of any great city. He thinks he may have the greatest job in the world getting to learn from the true masters of cuisine and work with a bunch of bad-ass women.

If he had to pick some food favorites they’d be: boiled crawfish, oysters, barbecue and fermented things, but it feels wrong to not include South East Asian curries, fried chicken, tacos and pizza.

+ Arielle Helffrich, Program Coordinator

contact: arielle@lacocinasf.org

bilingual: Spanish

pronouns: she/they

Originally from Washington, D.C., Arielle grew up in a family of phenomenal home cooks with really big opinions - mostly about food, travels, art and music. They studied Community and International Development and Spanish at the University of Vermont, with a semester spent in Argentina. After graduating they moved directly to San Francisco, having always known it was the only (US) city for them. With a background in volunteer and event management she spent the next 10+ years working for different SF based non-profits, learning about her new city through the social services that exist and of course the delicious meals right around the corner from each of them. With an interest in education and the idea to live once again abroad she moved to Madrid to work as a teaching assistant in a bilingual elementary school and to eat all the tapas possible. As the pandemic halted most in-person events they shifted their professional focus to new roles in the restaurant industry. Immediately loving the energy, the people and absolutely everything about this, new to her world, she looked to bridge her experience in non-profits and events with her love for this new found community. La Cocina would be the perfect place and she is so excited to partner with such many amazing BIPOC entrepreneurs to enhance their program experience!

Favorite Foods: Anchovies point blank - since they were a kid. Put them on pizza, make pasta sauce out of them, eat them straight out of the can. You can’t go wrong. Really really good sourdough bread (the opinions come in strong here). The ever constant quest for the best dumplings in town, be it soup or not. Empanadas from any nationality - give her a meat pocket wrapped in dough and she is down. Tamales. They could and have lived off tamales as their main source of nutrition for a year and would do it again.

+ Sandro Zamora Dominguez, Maintenance Associate

pronouns: he/him

+ Michelle Magat, Director of Communications & Innovation

contact: magat@lacocinasf.org

pronouns: she/her

At the age of eight, Michelle took to her sister’s manual typewriter to churn out weekly newspapers and cooking magazines, which she’d sell to her parents for a nickel a piece. This penchant for writing eventually earned her a master's in journalism from Indiana University, and her entrepreneurial spirit ultimately shaped a 20-year career in communications and marketing.

Michelle co-founded Current, a now global communications firm, ran her own consulting business, and co-founded a school communications software startup called HEARD. She has worked with two of the world’s leading communications agencies — Weber Shandwick and Edelman, and has advised brand teams at The Clorox Company, Burt's Bees, Samsung, Kraft, Nestle, and more.

Community service has always been a personal passion. She has served as a museum guide for students at SFMOMA, created curriculum and taught kindergarten computer lab at a local public school, and — for a decade before joining — volunteered with La Cocina — from serving food at events to serving on its board.

Michelle is proud to share her work experience, entrepreneurial spirit, and passion for service to support La Cocina entrepreneurs.

Favorite foods: Anything in pie form — from chocolate cream to chicken pot. Her mom’s Leche Flan, her husband’s wood-fired pizza, and her daughter’s ginger snap cookies.

+ Consuelo Reyes Lopez, Communications Manager

contact: consuelo@lacocinasf.org

bilingual: Spanish

pronouns: she/her

Consuelo’s relationship with food blossomed where her relationship with her mother and other women in her life blossomed as well- in the kitchen of family homes helping flip tortillas on a comal (yes, with your hands) and adding the finishing touches to Mexican dishes to host family, friends and strangers. Wanting to remain close to her family in Mountain View, Consuelo chose to attend the University of San Francisco where she pursued a Communication Studies Degree and minors in Public Relations and Chicanx/Latinx Studies.

A daughter of Mexican immigrants, Consuelo has been able to witness some of the challenges that come with language barrier, legal status, and overall lack of opportunity; she has also proudly witnessed a lot of her family’s successes. Seeing the highs and low of her parents experience as immigrants, combined with her academic background is what pushed Consuelo to pursue a full-time position at The Women’s Building after interning for 6 months. There, she worked as a Program Assistant wearing many hats (à la nonprofit) but focused on developing programs to combat food insecurity, increase tech literacy, and provide employment opportunities in the local mission community.

For Consuelo, working at La Cocina as a Communications Associate is the perfect marriage between her communication skills and passion for building community to create social change. She’s excited to connect with female entrepreneurs, listen to their stories, and find new ways to tell La Cocina’s story.

Favorite foods: Her mothers gordita’s de papa (especially as leftovers for breakfast…it really hits different), artichoke pizza on garlic herb crust, mac and cheese, and unfortunately, hot cheetos!

+ Naomi Maisel, Partnerships & Impact Manager

contact: naomi@lacocinasf.org

pronouns: she/her

Raised on an eclectic mix of California burritos and her Bubbie’s Matzah Ball Soup, Naomi has always been excited to try new foods.

Moving from California to Georgia to study Anthropology at Emory University exposed Naomi to new foods, people, and cultures. Naomi scoured Atlanta for coffeeshop and restaurant gems, her greatest triumph achieving “regular” status at the best tofu house on Buford Highway (sorry, still a secret). Jarred by the juxtaposition of Atlanta’s burgeoning Fortune 500 scene with many historically black neighborhoods ignored and underserved, Naomi became passionate about food security and justice, and founded Food Chains, a food recovery group that collects, repurposes, and donates meals to local shelters.

After graduating, Naomi worked for a social enterprise that connected individuals experiencing homelessness and those with criminal backgrounds to employment. This experience deepened Naomi’s understanding of inequality within systems, as well as the complex challenges faced by those with barriers to employment and social mobility.

Hoping to move back into the food space with a greater understanding of global food systems, Naomi moved to Pollenzo, Italy and earned her Masters in Gastronomy at the University of Gastronomic Sciences. Inspired by the resilience and strength constructed via food by communities throughout history’s most shameful moments, Naomi focused her Masters thesis on Tijuana, Mexico where she lived and studied how asylum seekers navigate their foodscapes to construct community and identity while waiting at the border.

Naomi is new to the Bay Area since returning from abroad and is proud to join the La Cocina team to support entrepreneurs and build connections with the Tenderloin community.

Favorite Foods: Anything savory and vegetarian, with a special fondness for all things cheese and potato. Extra veggies please.

+ Wanvisa “Boom” Wattanadumrong, Sales & Marketing Coordinator

contact: boom@lacocinasf.org

pronouns: she/her

Boom was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand. Her fond memories with food began when she was little. As early as 7 years old, Boom was assigned to grocery shop for produce and herbs at a local market near her home and help her mom cook for the family. Boom was taught how to make chili paste from scratch, fry fish, and press fresh coconut milk from shredded coconut meat which she continues to use as survival skills later on in life.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree in Communication Arts in Thailand, she worked for advertising agency McCann Erickson for one year. Some of her clients include Coca-Cola and Nestlé. Then she decided to come to San Francisco for further study in 2001. Her first year in the US started by waiting tables at 4 Thai restaurants concurrently. Later on, she attended San Francisco State University and earned her master's degree in Teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages in 2006. Her additional educational backgrounds include travel and tourism, green and sustainable business, and massage and bodywork.

Boom has been in the restaurant industry for over 20 years wearing many hats including server, general manager, and managing director in multiple casual to upscale Thai and Japanese restaurants including Thep Phanom, Ozumo, Osha Thai, and Farmhouse Kitchen. She has experience in training teams regarding food, wine, service, and safety. Other areas include communications, marketing, and events. She joined La Cocina in December 2022 as an acting general manager to oversee the Municipal Marketplace operations, and in helping to find the next GM before transition into focusing on strategic planning of sales and operations for La Cocina. As an active learner, Boom believes that knowledge can be acquired from everywhere and at any age. She hopes to share her knowledge and experiences to help people in the community achieve their goals.

Her favorite foods: gluten-free Thai street food, spicy papaya salad, sushi, and Vietnamese.

+ Stephanie Goss, Operations Manager

contact: stephanie@lacocinasf.org

trilingual: Spanish & French

pronouns: she/ella/elle

+ Dani Gabriel, Development Manager

contact: dani@lacocinasf.org

pronouns: they/them