Vanessa Silva, Culinary Artistas Founder and CEO, began cooking with her grandmother in Brazil as a child. In 2002, she started as a Culinary Program Assistant at Sur La Table, assisting cooking classes with local and traveling chefs. Vanessa was involved in all aspects of class preparation, including mise-en-place, setting up stations, greeting students, and cleaning up after classes. This experience had a pronounced impact on shaping her cooking and teaching skills.

Culinary Artistas was born out of a dream to share her passion for food with her community. For her, cooking is about connection, and it was how she learned to connect not only to her family & friends but to herself. When she started Culinary Artistas in 2016, she wanted kids to have a place where they could express themselves, their true selves. She believes with her whole heart that kids and adults alike can learn to cook in an empowering and fun way. From her childhood in Brazil to the life she has built in San Francisco, she knew that food brings people together in a creative language and likes to invite people to celebrate the joy of cooking and eating beautiful food together.

Today, Vanessa leads the way as a nationally certified Woman Business Enterprise and Minority Business Enterprise. She credits her ability to grow in business and as a chef to the lessons learned from her family, community, diverse international education, and mentorship opportunities. Vanessa looks forward to continuing to celebrate food and life with her ever-growing culinary community.