2025 Award Winners

The Inclusion Innovator Award was presented by the Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance to Kim Morrison co-founder of BeanZ & Co., a coffee café with a mission: to create meaningful employment opportunities for adults with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Since opening in 2018, BeanZ & Co. has provided jobs to more than 65 individuals, including 30 adults with IDD, while building a culture of collaboration, mentorship, and mutual respect. Under Morrison’s leadership, the café partners with schools and job training programs to provide internships and hands-on skill building, preparing students for future employment. Today, the team includes 19 employees (9 with IDD and 10 without) working side by side.

The Community Champion Award was presented by American Express to John E. Michel, Co-Founder of Soulcial Kitchen. A retired Air Force Brigadier General, John Michel is passionate about people and possibilities. Today, he serves as Founder of Soulcial Kitchen as well as President of the Food is Love Foundation. He has worked to create a hospitality innovation hub that trains aspiring entrepreneurs – including people with disabilities – through mentorship and hands-on experience. He also launched an innovative and groundbreaking Food Truck Apprenticeship, raised $2.5 million to support their mission, and created a “Currency of Caring” that turns compassion into meals.

The My Journey Award was presented by PepsiCo to Jamie McDonald, owner of Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ, a fast-growing restaurant group with 16 locations across Connecticut and North Carolina. As a Navy veteran, Jamie’s journey to entrepreneurship is rooted in resilience. After overcoming addiction, depression, and mental health struggles, he transformed $70,000 in competitive eating contest winnings into a thriving barbecue brand. McDonald believes that a restaurant can be more than a business; it can be a force for social change. Today, nearly 70 percent of Bear’s employees are returning citizens, reflecting his deep commitment to second-chance hiring and the belief that meaningful work can be a foundation for recovery and renewal.

The Thad and Alice Eure Ambassador of Hospitality Award was presented by Ecolab to Gregory J. Hamer, Sr., CEO of B&G Food Enterprises, LLC, which operates more than 215 Taco Bell restaurants, employing almost 5,000 employees, across Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. He created B&G Food Enterprises, LLC alongside his wife, Brenda, opening their first Taco Bell in Morgan City, Louisiana, in 1982. Hamer’s public service includes twelve years in elected office, along with service on numerous boards and commissions. He is an Emeritus Director of the National Restaurant Association and was the 2017 Chairman of the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation. His long tenure with the Louisiana Restaurant Association has seen him honored as President in 2000, a member of the LRA Hall of Fame, Active Member of the Year, and Chapter President of the Year.