Nicole Ponseca
Nicole Ponseca is a respected thought leader and a noteworthy trailblazer in the Asian/Pacific American (APA) and Filipino space, as well as the hospitality industry. She has leveraged her advertising background to wake up a dormant conversation about identity and Filipino food in the United States, as well as the global foodie community and Filipino diaspora.
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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in the workplace & society, through the lens of the universal language of food
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The Asian/Pacific American experience through the eyes of a Filipino
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Entrepreneurial journey from corporate America to the restaurant industry as a female person of color
See Nicole Ponseca in action.
CHEF AUTHOR RESTAURATEUR
Nicole Ponseca is a respected thought leader and a noteworthy trailblazer in the Asian/Pacific American (APA) and Filipino space, as well as the hospitality industry. She has leveraged her advertising background to wake up a dormant conversation about identity and Filipino food in the United States, as well as the global foodie community and Filipino diaspora. In her past life, she was an advertising executive working with Fortune 500 clients by day. At night, she was moonlighting as a restaurant hostess/bartender/server/manager, determined to learn as much as she could about the restaurant business. The popularity of her two restaurants, Maharlika and Jeepney, translated into a best-selling debut cookbook, “I Am a Filipino”, which received a James Beard Award nomination for Best International Cookbook in 2019. She has dedicated close to 20 years exploring the 7,100+ Philippine islands looking for ancestral recipes, tools and clues to a culture that had little documentation. The result is a seminal work in Filipino history and the culinary world.
Currently, she splits her time between Manhattan and Miami, as she pivots her business and personal life post-COVID. Her journey has opened her up as a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) speaker, food journalist, and experienced restaurateur. She is an outspoken advocate for the APA, Black and LGBTQIA communities and is known for her uncanny perseverance, having survived childhood abuse and domestic violence.
By combining her personal story with a willingness to have hard conversations, she is a highly sought after speaker for corporate roundtables, Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and any organization looking to enrich their DEI content. Her talks are vibrant, encouraging, and provide added value for teams looking to create more empathy and inspiration to their work and lives.
Our speakers get attention.
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Chef Nicole Ponseca Shares Her Experience as an AAPI Business Owner in the Restaurant IndustryWe sat down with restaurateur, best-selling cookbook author, and James Beard finalist, Chef Nicole Ponseca, to discuss her experience as an AAPI business owner and the impact she wants to…
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Nicole Ponseca Is Bringing Filipino Food To Miami This DecemberNicole herself has continuously been flying the Philippine flag high. In 2018, she published a cookbook, I Am A Filipino: And This Is How We Cook, a compendium of her…
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Nicole Ponseca Won’t Stop Until Everyone Cares About Filipino FoodThe Jeepney chef flies from Miami to NYC and back every week because she wants diners to know and love Filipino cuisine as much as she does.
