Katie Mosher received the 2026 Entrepreneurship Award from Kendall College at National Louis University and the Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education. The award was open to culinary instructors nationwide and recognized ideas and initiatives that positively impacted the school and community.

“A core component of our success is the strategic cultivation of innovative industry partnerships, ensuring our curriculum design has immediate, practical applicability,” Chef Mosher said. 

Under Chef Mosher’s leadership, her program’s revenue increased 33% last year by adding special event collaborations with two community businesses, expanding the program’s catering events, and opening an every-other-week lunch service to the community. 

She partnered with The Mine Tavern to serve two hamburgers created by students during an evening service, with the proceeds going to the program. The Pizza Stop shop was so impressed with the hamburger collaboration that the owner contacted Chef Mosher, and her students were soon curating two special pizzas for the second event at the local pizza business. 

In previous years, the culinary program offered an every-other-week coffee counter service for staff and students as well as buffet lunch. Chef Mosher expanded the lunch service to include community members. These standing services are in addition to the catering events the students already serve to both in-house and off-campus clients. 

The 2026 Entrepreneurship Award provided Chef Mosher with a $1,000 prize, commemorative plaque and complimentary registration to attend CAFÉ’s 2026 Leadership Conference held this summer in Chicago. 

Click here to go back to the 2026 CAFÉ award recipients list.