Organization: Kitchens for Good, San Diego, CA
Title: Chef Instructor
Nominated by: Joanna Larson, Director of Programs
Heather joined Kitchens for Good three years ago, and she has worn many hats! Heather is currently a Chef Instructor for the Culinary Program. She started with Kitchens for Good as a Baking Instructor. While KFG was standing up a new meal contract with the County of San Diego, she was the Interim Director of Food Service.
Kitchens for Good is honored to nominate Chef Heather Lang! Heather has been an extraordinary force on our team for the past three years. She is always willing to step into a gap to move the organization forward and better serve our clients. Her first role was as a Baking Instructor. She helped build an entirely new curriculum from scratch and set up a brand-new training space in a boutique bakery. She co-taught the Baking Program and then expanded to also assist with the Culinary Program. In July 2024, KFG was awarded a contract with the County of San Diego to provide meals at two juvenile detention facilities. We thought we would have 6 months to prepare, but the County asked if we could do it in three months. KFG and Chef Heather rose to the challenge! Heather was asked to take a leadership role in creating a start-up plan for service and getting it launched. She jumped right in and worked incredibly hard to get the program started in a very short time frame. She worked 12-hour shifts for 14 days straight during the first 2 weeks of service! Once we staffed the Meal Contract team, Heather was able to return to her role as Chef Instructor. Then, in July 2025, Heather rolled with yet another shift. KFG made the tough decision to close our Baking Program due to budget cuts. Heather transitioned to lead Chef Instructor for the Culinary Program and has been instrumental in enhancing the curriculum to better balance our key priorities of industry-informed, trauma-informed, and learner-centered. Most recently, Chef Heather revamped our culinary curriculum based on fantastic insights and ideas from a 2-day training with Catalyst Kitchens at KFG and the 2025 Catalyst Kitchens National Summit.
KFG has been working hard to blend culinary training with soft skills training, and Heather has been a champion of this effort. This means that Heather wears many different hats throughout the day. Heather will normally begin the day in the kitchen with other members of the culinary team, making sure that everything is ready for class. Then she joins the daily check-in with Apprentices in our training center classroom. After morning check-in, the Career Services team facilitates a workshop in soft skills such as Emotional Intelligence and Mental Mis-en-Place. Chef Heather is often part of those lessons. By co-teaching these trainings, Chef Heather is better able to carry those concepts into the culinary class and help Apprentices hone those skills. When the Career Readiness workshop ends, Chef Heather starts the culinary lesson with a demo and then works with each Apprentice as they build their skills and get their reps in!
During our recruitment process, Chef Heather leads the Kitchen Activity for our in-person Tryouts. At the end of their year-long Apprenticeship, Chef Heather oversees the final 3-hour practical exam. So Chef Heather is literally with apprentices from start to finish!
Throughout all this work, Heather always puts apprentices first. She works hard to hone her own teaching skills and is always open to new ideas and new processes. She consistently strives to improve the training curriculum, to build a rapport with each apprentice, and to grow the skills of each apprentice. She seeks out input from Active Apprentices, other staff, and employers to ensure that trainings are industry-informed.
When problems arise, Heather keeps calm and is able to promote a positive team dynamic (for apprentices and staff). She approaches problem-solving with grace and humor and gets input from others. This not only results in a better solution but also helps with team morale. The positivity that she brings every day is felt and recognized by the apprentices.
Kitchens for Good was privileged to host a trauma-informed training onsite with Catalyst Kitchens in July 2025. Heather was a big contributor to this training. Then, in August, Heather attended the 2025 Catalyst Kitchens National Summit. She incorporated so many great insights from these sessions into an enhanced version of our curriculum that we rolled out in September.
In her own words, Heather shared: “The Catalyst Kitchens trauma-informed trainings, as well as the Catalyst Kitchens Summit, have been invaluable to me. The trainings and new ways of thinking about our curriculum are going to move us in a very positive direction, and I am eager to see the results.”
SPECIAL ALERT!
Thanks to a generous donation from a founding Catalyst Kitchens board member and friend of David Carleton, the Catalyst Kitchen’s Founder’s Fund has an opportunity to raise matching funds up to $5,000 during this year’s Catalyst for Change Award Season!
This is a time-limited opportunity to get your gift matched! Donate now by clicking the button below, before the window closes, to double your generosity and impact!
Here are the 2025 Catalyst for Change. As you read their stories, consider supporting the work of Catalyst Kitchens and our members, enabling the amazing impact of frontline staff like our nominees.
