Level 3: Become a Community Culinary Educator Bringing food, culture, and connection into the wider community
The third level of Nonnas Empowerment is for Nonnas who are ready to step into a more
public teaching role.
Community Culinary Educators represent the highest level of the program. These women
are able to bring the Nonnas of the World Community mission into schools, community
programs, and corporate settings.
They teach children and young people about food, culture, healthy eating, and the joy of
cooking together. They help students understand where food comes from, how meals
connect families, and why traditional cooking is a form of cultural knowledge.
They also lead food-based team-building activities for companies and organizations. In
these settings, cooking becomes more than an activity. It becomes a way to build trust,
cooperation, conversation, and shared experience.
Around a table, people who might not normally speak to each other begin to work together.
They chop, stir, taste, laugh, ask questions, and discover one another through food.
What this level offers
At this level, a Nonna may:
• teach school groups about cooking, culture, and healthy food;
• lead hands-on culinary workshops for children and young people;
• support educational programs connected to food heritage and nutrition;
• guide corporate teams through shared cooking experiences;
• use food as a tool for communication, belonging, and teamwork;
• serve as a cultural ambassador for the Nonnas of the World Community mission.
Why it matters
This level allows a Nonna to move from private knowledge to public leadership.
She is not only cooking.
She is teaching.
She is representing her culture.
She is helping others connect.
She is shaping the way younger generations think about food, family, and community.
For some women, this is a remarkable journey: from being hesitant to cook for strangers,
to standing in front of a classroom or a corporate group as a respected educator.
That journey is empowerment.
Would you like to bring a Nonna-led cooking and cultural experience to your school,
organization, or company?
[Explore NOTWC School Programs]
[Explore NOTWC Corporate Programs]
What empowerment means to us
Nonnas Empowerment is not about changing who these women are.
It is about creating the conditions for them to be seen.
We believe that older women are not finished contributing. They are not invisible. They are
not merely keepers of the past. They are teachers, culture bearers, mentors, healers, and
community builders.
Their knowledge has value.
Their stories have value.
Their presence has value.
When a Nonna shares her food, she gives more than a meal. She offers a way of
remembering, belonging, and connecting across generations and cultures.
And in the process, she often receives something back: confidence, recognition,
friendship, purpose, and joy.
The impact
Through the Nonnas Empowerment Program, women can:
• regain confidence after loss, isolation, or major life changes;
• share cultural knowledge that might otherwise disappear;
• form meaningful relationships with other women and community members;
• experience public appreciation for skills often taken for granted;
• become mentors to younger generations;
• grow into teaching and leadership roles at their own pace.
The program honors the quiet expertise of women whose work has nourished families for
decades.
Now, that work nourishes a wider community.
Help us grow Nonnas Empowerment
Nonnas Empowerment is possible because a community chooses to invest in older
women.
Your support helps us create the conditions that allow a Nonna to step into the kitchen,
gain confidence, teach others, and become visible as a keeper of culture, memory, and
skill.
A donation to Nonnas Empowerment helps us support women at every stage of this
journey:
• helping a new Nonna share her food, story, and cultural tradition with the
community;
• preparing experienced Nonnas to teach through the Nonna in Training program;
• supporting Nonnas who are ready to become Community Culinary Educators in
schools, organizations, and corporate programs;
• preserving recipes, techniques, and food memories that might otherwise disappear;
• creating moments of connection that reduce isolation and restore confidence,
purpose, and joy.
When you support this program, you are not simply funding a cooking activity.
You are helping an older woman be seen.
You are helping her knowledge be valued.
You are helping her story continue.
You are helping her become a teacher, a mentor, and a leader in her community.
For many Nonnas, this journey begins with one meal.
With your help, it can become so much more.
Support Nonnas Empowerment today and help more women share their food, their
culture, and their wisdom with the world.
[Donate to Nonnas Empowerment]