From Our CEO & President
“AS A COMMUNITY CORNERSTONE AND AN ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE, restaurants are often a first or early job, equipping people with skills that they use throughout their lives. But more importantly, restaurants are a catalyst for careers – a place for people from every background to stay and build a future that meets their individual goals and aspirations. In partnership with our industry that employs more than 15.7 million people, the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation spent 2025 investing in people at every stage of their career journey through its work entry, training and education, and workforce development programs.”
Michelle L. Korsmo
Michele L. Korsmo
President & CEO
National Restaurant Association
CEO
National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation
OPPORTUNITY THRIVES IN RESTAURANTS.
The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation invests in individuals throughout their career journeys, equipping them to grab ahold of the opportunity to create a better future, while building communities that foster their growth and development. With a people-first focus, we empower our industry to maximize its human potential as America’s second-largest private-sector employer.
2025 IN REVIEW
222.5K
High-school students are
learning industry fundamentals
200
Post-secondary students
received Foundation scholarship
funds to support their
career goals
116
New Prostart high schools
2508
individuals received
first-job skills training
837
justice-impacted people
have secured training and
job placement
500
Restaurant workers advanced
their careers through
apprenticeship training
200
Active-duty military personnel
received professional
foodservice training
51
state restaurant
association partners
32
New Restaurant Ready sites
teaching first-job skills to
people of all backgrounds
6
New states implementing the HOPES community-collaborative model to equip justice-impacted people with industry skills and job placement
2
New Department of Labor
grants to support
HOPES expansion
$17.5M
Total Foundation revenue
$3M
Raised at the 2025
Ted J. Balestreri
Leadership classic
314
Companies, organizations,
and individuals supporting
Foundation programs
72
Restaurant employers using
apprenticeship to level up their
teams for advanced roles
The foundation invests in people, equipping them through work entry programming, training and education, and workforce development initiatives that build their futures. In 2025, we expanded our network of community partners and strengthened our commitment to building an industry with opportunity for all.
Our work entry programs utilize a community-collaborative model to empower people to take on first jobs in the restaurant industry and build a future that meets their goals. In 2025, we partnered with 35 state restaurant associations to engage people with training, skill development, and ongoing support through Restaurant Ready and HOPES.
RESTAURANT READY
Restaurant Ready equips people with first-job skills and training to prepare for restaurant industry employment. In 2025, the program added 32 new community-based organizations to its list of partners and expanded across five new states to reach more than 1,300 new people.
HOSPITALITY OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE (RE)ENTERING SOCIETY (HOPES)
HOPES uses the Restaurant Ready curriculum to reach justice-impacted people with skills, training, job placement, and wrap-around services through a network of 23 sites in 13 states. HOPES welcomed 487 people to the program in 2025 and received two Department of Labor grants totaling more than $9 million to fuel its expansion in 2026 and beyond.
With training and education, there’s no limit to what people can achieve. Our goal is to ensure that the next generation of industry leaders and employees have the knowledge and skills needed to advance their careers going forward.
PROSTART®
ProStart is instilling passion and knowledge for the restaurant industry in more than 222,000 students nationwide. Located at more than 2,200 high schools across the U.S., Washington, D.C., and the territories of Guam and Puerto Rico, ProStart teaches the fundamentals of culinary arts and restaurant management.
We build skills and fuel leadership growth in restaurant industry professionals, minimizing the cost of education and training, building a skilled workforce through apprenticeship, and ensuring military members have the tools to succeed in the restaurant and foodservice industry.
APPRENTICESHIP
MILITARY
The Foundation empowers U.S. military members with training that builds top tier skills and certifications for their time in service and transition to a civilian foodservice career when ready. This year, 203 active-duty military service members participated in our military training programs.
- Advanced Military Professional Educational Development (AMPED), offering hands-on learning and integration of cutting-edge technologies
- Advanced Culinary Training Program (ACTP), in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America, exposes service members to the schools’ Pro Chef level one requirements
- Advanced Military Management Training program allows attendees to earn certifications from the Foundation’s ServSuccess certification program
- Department of Defense Skillbridge pre-apprenticeship program for military members interested in industry careers
SCHOLARSHIPS & GRANTS
Since 1987, the Foundation has awarded more than $27 million in scholarships and grants to over 6,000 students and foodservice educators pursuing restaurant-related degrees and professional training through its scholarships and grants programs.
In 2025:
- Undergraduate and Graduate students received $662,500
- National ProStart Invitational Competition participants received $190,500
- Sixty-two educators received grants totaling $132,000
In 2025, the Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance (MFHA) elevated the role of cultural intelligence in building successful industry organizations. Led by Erika Cospy Carr, MFHA hosted three Roundtable events that were attended by over 200 decisionmakers from more than 50 companies.
As an industry resource, MFHA also hosted several webinars covering the role of cultural intelligence in second-chance initiatives, like HOPES, in building industry organizations that meet the needs of today’s employees. Its leadership participated in 10+ speaking engagements: at the National Restaurant Association Show, Hospitality Pathways Conference, The Table, Hospitality Hued, Black Women in Food and the Family Reunion, as well as such companies as General Mills and Korn Ferry.
The Ted J. Balestreri Leadership Classic (TJB), the Foundation’s premier executive experience and annual fundraiser, saw top industry leaders hitting the links to support our work and play golf at some of the world’s most magnificent courses. This year, TJB raised $3M on behalf of the Foundation’s programs and initiatives.
The Foundation held its 2025 Military Foodservice Awards in Chicago in May, recognizing the top foodservice teams from the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Military Sealift Command. Veteran and keynote speaker Derrick Green, founder of Waffles and Whatnot, delivered remarks during the event.
The ceremony kicked off a weekend of programming in conjunction with Armed Forces Day on May 17, which included participation in the Foundation’s Advanced Management Training Program, where service members learned about industry career pathways, fundamentals of restaurant management and leadership, plus developing their own restaurant concepts.
