About
US

Kitchens for Good San Diego Apprentice Roselia

OUR MISSION

Transforming lives through culinary arts.

OUR VISION

A San Diego where everyone has access to a quality job.

WHO WE ARE

Kitchens for Good is a San Diego-based organization founded in 2014 with a simple yet powerful idea: food has the power to change lives.

In 2016, Kitchens for Good launched our Culinary Apprenticeship program, the first of its kind certified by the State of California to serve individuals with barriers to employment.

Since then, we have expanded our programs to include other State-Certified apprenticeships and a group of social enterprises supporting sustainable employment. All our efforts aim to break the cycle of poverty and create equitable communities where all job seekers thrive.

OUR IMPACT

Barriers to employment can take many forms: justice system involvement, a history of foster care, mental health or substance use challenges, or unsheltered living. But at Kitchens for Good, we believe all people have the potential to succeed in a rewarding career.

Our programs have equipped over 1,000 individuals with culinary, baking, and hospitality training, as well as the skills and support they need to secure meaningful employment. Their successful careers build a better future for themselves and their families, creating a more equitable and just society for all.

OUR PROGRAMS

Our apprenticeship programs are designed to support the whole individual, providing tuition-free training and a range of support services that remove barriers to success. Whether participants are pursuing careers in the culinary industry or launching their own food businesses, our programs combine hands-on learning with individualized support to create lasting economic opportunity.

Support services include:

Stipends to help cover living expenses during training
Daily meals to ensure students have access to healthy food
Transportation support to help students get to and from training
Job placement services to help participants secure meaningful employment
Business coaching and technical assistance for aspiring food entrepreneurs
Access to licensed commercial kitchen space and industry equipment
HR and workplace support to help participants navigate challenges and succeed
…and more.

Our Culinary Apprenticeship Program prepares individuals for careers in the foodservice industry through hands-on training, paid work experience, and industry-recognized credentials. In addition, our Microenterprise Apprenticeship Program equips aspiring food entrepreneurs with the business knowledge, mentorship, and commercial kitchen access needed to launch and grow successful food businesses. Together, these apprenticeship pathways create multiple avenues to economic mobility, whether participants pursue employment or entrepreneurship.

Kitchens for Good also operates mission-driven social enterprises that create both community impact and sustainable revenue. We manage the meal service contract for San Diego County’s youth detention facilities, preparing thousands of nutritious meals each week while creating paid employment opportunities for apprentices to gain valuable, real-world experience in a high-volume production kitchen. This earned revenue helps sustain our programs while investing directly in the workforce of tomorrow.

Our commitment to social entrepreneurship also includes SHOP, our pre-loved cookware and décor store. SHOP helps families of all income levels stock their kitchens while reducing waste by giving gently used kitchenware a second life. The store also features products from local food entrepreneurs and Kitchens for Good program participants, helping small businesses reach new customers.

By combining workforce development, entrepreneurship, mission-driven business operations, and social enterprise, Kitchens for Good creates innovative solutions that break down barriers to employment, strengthen local businesses, and build a more resilient regional economy.

OUR
VALUES

EQUITY

We are committed to being non-judgmental, fair, and inclusive.

APPRENTICE-CENTERED

We make sure our decisions aid in the success of our Apprentices.

GROWTH MINDSET

We always look for ways to improve, develop, and grow.

OUR HISTORY

In just eight years, Kitchens for Good has become one of San Diego’s most innovative and successful examples of an organization focused on developing sustainable solutions that positively impact our economy, our society, and our environment.

2026

Kitchens for Good purchased its permanent home in Bankers Hill, establishing the future Culinary Impact Center. This space will unite workforce training, entrepreneurship, and meal production under one roof to expand impact across San Diego.

2025

Kitchens for Good launched its Microenterprise Apprenticeship Program, supporting aspiring food entrepreneurs with business coaching, training, and access to commercial kitchen space. The organization also celebrated continued growth of its apprenticeship programs and earned-revenue social enterprises.

2024

Kitchens for Good expanded its impact through the San Diego County youth detention meal contract, creating sustainable earned revenue while providing paid, hands-on training for apprentices. The organization also deepened its focus on food entrepreneurship and began planning for a permanent home.

2023

Kitchens for Good launched its Dual Instruction Program, allowing apprentices to begin working sooner while continuing classroom instruction. This flexible model helps individuals facing barriers to employment gain experience and income faster while building long-term career skills.

2022

Kitchens for Good SHOP had its grand opening in Pacific Beach which sells donated kitchenware, diverting them from landfills, and reinvests any profits to support core programs. Kitchens for Good also successfully launched WORKS its temp-to-hire staffing agency and employment social enterprise.

2021

Kitchens for Good moved onto the Salvation Army Door of Hope campus fully operationalizing the baking and hospitality apprenticeship programs to attract more enrollees and meet the labor demand caused by the pandemic. The organization enhanced many Project Launch offerings including its food service operations at The Rady Shell to help apprentices gain customer service skills.

2020

Kitchens for Good’s Project Launch was approved to add a Hospitality apprenticeship program to train customer-facing roles complimenting the back-of-house focused culinary occupations. When the pandemic hit in March, Kitchens for Good quickly pivoted to meet the growing need for food assistance and scaled its existing hunger relief production from 2,000 meals pre-pandemic to over 15,000 meals a week by May.

2019

In 2019, Kitchens for Good expanded its reach to North County San Diego by assuming operations of the kitchen and restaurant at the Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista.

2018

Kitchens for Good was awarded a California Apprenticeship Initiative grant to launch a certified Baking apprenticeship program using its Project Launch culinary model to meet San Diego’s Accommodations and Food Service industry’s growing employment needs for bakers.

2017

In March 2017, Kitchens for Good’s Project Launch program became California’s first certified culinary apprenticeship program and one of the only models specifically designed for individuals with barriers to employment.

2016

By January 2016, Kitchens for Good was operating an award-winning catering enterprise alongside a culinary job training, food rescue, and healthy meal production programs from the Jacob Center in the heart of the San Diego Promise Zone.

2015

In September Kitchens for Good launched its first social enterprise training kitchen at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation in Southeast San Diego taking over operations of a robust catering company, acquiring its 36 staff, hundreds of catering clients and 25,000 square foot kitchen and venue space.

2014

Kitchens for Good (formerly known as Phoenix Foods, USA, Inc.) was founded by forward-thinking individuals dedicated to resolving food insecurity by ending food waste and developing a workforce training program that would lead to living-wage jobs for people negatively impacted by the justice system, housing inequities, or substance and mental health challenges.

GET INVOLVED

We invite you to join us in our mission of transforming lives through culinary arts. Whether you are interested in becoming an apprentice, referring a client, donating funds or kitchenware, or hiring an apprentice, we have opportunities for you to get involved.

Get Involved