Emma's Torch

Emma's Torch speaks to the power of innovative nonprofit social enterprises to transform human lives. Emma's Torch began in 2016 as a pop-up café designed to offer refugees a professional development program. In 2018, it expanded into a permanent restaurant in Brooklyn. As part of the organization's 12-week, paid training program, refugees, asylees, and survivors of human trafficking undergo over 500 hours of culinary training. This hands-on program is supplemented with weekly English courses, job readiness workshops, mock interviews, and evaluations. Students also participate in catering activities for prominent New York institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Brooklyn Community Foundation Gala. At the program's conclusion, participants are placed in full-time culinary positions at some of New York City's most successful restaurants. Through this innovative and intensive curriculum, Emma's Torch has transformed the lives of countless students.