NYSRA Women in Hospitality Conference

Attendees will receive a copy of Melissa’s book, Come Hungry: Salads, Meals and Sweets for People Who Live to Eat

NYSRA members, attend a Meet & Greet with Melissa, limited spots available! $50 registration add on available at check out, offered to NYSRA Members on a first come, first served basis. Not a member? Join now!

Conference Sessions:

Melissa Fleischut, President and CEO

Michelle Korsmo, CEO of the National Restaurant Association

Sarah Diehl is the Founder and Principal of Empowered Hospitality, an HR and Talent consultancy specializing in the hospitality industry. After beginning her career in restaurant operations with Hillstone Restaurant Group, Sarah pivoted to lead the people function for a chef-driven restaurant group in New York City. When her position was eliminated in 2016, Sarah realized that many small hospitality businesses desperately need HR guidance but lacked the resources or know-how to hire an HR Director. Sarah instinctively pivoted many of her initial interviews into HR strategy sessions, and Empowered Hospitality was born. Today, Empowered Hospitality has a team of 30 full-time HR and talent experts supporting hundreds of companies and thousands of employees across the US. Sarah earned her bachelor’s in political science with honors from Yale University. She was selected as a Tory Burch Foundation Fellow (2021), was recognized in the ’40 Under 40: Rising Stars in Food Policy’ through the NYC Food Policy Center (2023), and serves as a member of the James Beard Foundation’s Women’s Leadership Programs Advisory Committee. When her ‘HR hat’ is off, Sarah is mom to two beautiful babies under 2, an avid hiker and city walker, and explorer of the NYC restaurant scene.

Amanda M. Fugazy, a member of Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP, is head of the firm’s Labor & Employment Law Group and co-head of the firm’s Hospitality Practice Group.  As such, Ms. Fugazy represents businesses (both for-profit and not-for-profit) and executives in litigation, arbitration and mediation, and provides counseling and preventative education with regard to wage-hour compliance, discrimination, harassment, labor relations, leave laws, internal investigations, contracts, manuals, and severance agreements.

Chef Simone Byron is a culinary educator, entrepreneur, and founder of the Navigate Foundation, a national nonprofit with an ACF-approved curriculum that equips youth with skills in culinary arts, financial literacy, and professionalism. Inspired by her great-grandfather, a pioneering African American chef in The Bronx, and deeply influenced by her late mother, an award-winning educator, and her father, a leader in minority advancement in Ivy League spaces, Chef Byron’s work blends legacy with innovation.

A graduate of the Art Institute of Atlanta, she studied culinary arts in Italy and Switzerland and rose through the ranks at Disney and Compass Group, where she became Eurest Dining’s youngest Chef Manager of the Year. Today, Navigate operates in Atlanta, Charlotte, Union City (NJ), and Chicago, serving over 400 students.

She is also the founder of Byron Hospitality, a professional development consultancy, and Dishful Thinking, a boutique catering company. Through her ventures, Chef Byron is creating access, elevating underrepresented voices, and building the future of hospitality.

Sarah Obraitis is the co-owner of M. Wells, a hospitality group that has significantly shaped Long Island City’s cultural landscape. With a background in sustainable agriculture and international development, she also launched the wholesale division and communications arm of Heritage Foods USA, hosting “Eat to the Beat” on Heritage Radio Network. Obraitis’s diverse experience includes sourcing cacao, working on family-owned dairies, and co-founding the UN office of the World Citizen Foundation.

Blanca Perez was appointed Vice President of Human Resources and an Executive Partner at Chef Driven Group in 2023, bringing over three decades of diverse experience to her role, particularly within the hospitality sector. Beginning her career in 1993, Ms. Perez quickly developed expertise in crucial areas such as budgeting, food and beverage management, business planning, and retail operations, consistently optimizing financial allocation, operational efficiency, and strategic growth.

For the past two decades, Ms. Perez has focused on human resources, where her leadership has been instrumental in talent management, employee engagement, and organizational development. She is committed to fostering positive workplace cultures and ensuring human capital aligns with strategic objectives, continuing to drive success and innovation at Chef Driven Group through her extensive experience and strategic acumen.

Lyssa Leigh Jackson, founder of Be Brand You

Melissa McCart is the editor for Eater New York. She has also been a restaurant critic for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Newsday, and Broward New Times in South Florida. Her work has been in Wall Street Journal, Bon Appetit, Taste Cooking, Washington Post, and more. She is the coauthor with Rick Easton of Bread and How to Eat It from Knopf.

Lena Ciardullo is the Executive Chef of Union Square Cafe. Raised in Naperville, Illinois, Lena attended the University of Illinois where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Communications. During her undergraduate years, Lena studied abroad in Rome, where her love of food and hospitality was ignited. Upon her return, Lena found her first job in the kitchen and hasn’t looked back since.  

In 2009, Lena received her Associates Degree in Culinary Arts from The Culinary Institute of America and immediately joined the opening team of Maialino, USHG’s Roman-inspired trattoria. She later moved on to Gramercy Tavern where she worked as a tournant, before joining the Marta team in 2014. Throughout her time at Marta, Lena moved through the ranks, starting as a sous chef and ultimately assuming the role of Executive Chef of Marta, Caffe Marchio, and Vini e Fritti in 2018, before joining the Union Square Cafe team in 2019.

Mary Attea is the accomplished Executive Chef and Partner at Elizabeth Street Hospitality, where she oversees the Michelin-starred Musket Room, the French-Italian bakery and restaurant Raf’s, and the modern Levantine eatery Cafe Zaffri, all located in Manhattan. Her culinary talent has earned her recognition as a three-time James Beard Award semi-finalist and a spot among Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs of 2024. Attea’s leadership has been instrumental in garnering critical acclaim for her restaurants, including a glowing New York Times review and a place among the paper’s best restaurants in America for Musket Room, as well as a two-star review for Raf’s.

Joining Musket Room in 2020, Attea skillfully transitioned its cuisine to a globally-inspired menu and navigated the challenges of the pandemic alongside an all-female ownership and management team, maintaining its Michelin star. Her innovative menus blend Middle-Eastern, Mediterranean, Asian, and New American influences, drawing from her fine-dining background and family culinary heritage. Prior to her current role, she honed her skills at renowned establishments like High Street on Hudson and Annisa, where she earned three New York Times stars and upheld a Michelin star, establishing herself as a significant culinary force and an Eater Young Guns finalist.

and:

Chef Sohui Kim is a Seoul-born, Bronx-raised classically trained chef, restaurateur, and acclaimed cookbook author. After graduating from Barnard College, she pursued her passion for cooking, refining her skills under renowned chefs like Dan Barber, Michael Anthony, Peter Hoffman, and Anita Lo. Kim is the Chef/Partner of the revitalized historic oyster and chop house Gage & Tollner in Downtown Brooklyn, marking her third Brooklyn-based restaurant venture.

Prior to Gage & Tollner, Kim co-founded the Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant The Good Fork in Red Hook (now The Good Fork Pub) and the popular Korean BBQ and karaoke spot Insa in Gowanus, which received a two-star New York Times review and earned her two James Beard Foundation nominations for Best Chef: NYC. She is also a consulting chef for Virgin Voyages, creating the Gunbae Korean BBQ menus, and is currently writing a children’s cookbook. Kim resides in Brooklyn with her husband and business partner, Ben Schneider, and their two children.