Shanita McAfee-Bryant founder, The Prospect
Fueled by a big win on Food Network’s Cutthroat Kitchen in 2014, chef Shanita McAfee-Bryant opened and closed her restaurant, Magnolia’s, twice before starting a food truck and catering business, Magnolia’s on the Move. When her father unexpectedly died in 2018, she took a year off to mourn his death, emerging from her grief with a plan to start a nonprofit in his honor. The Prospect is a 16-week culinary training program to help under-resourced but highly motivated community members acquire the soft and hard skills needed to break the poverty cycle and put them on the path to success. “In Kansas City, the word ‘prospect’ has a negative connotation based on Prospect Avenue, a street that has come to represent a blighted, low-income area known for crime and poverty,” explains McAfee-Bryant. “I want to take back the word and apply its literal definition, which means the probability or chance of future success.” Besides learning how to grow and cook their own food, students will have a hand in running The Prospect Urban Eatery, a café located on The Prospect’s campus that will soon be open to the public. The goal is to equip graduates with everything they need to land a job in any local restaurant kitchen or to eventually open their own place. “We plan to create literal prospects by giving all the students accepted into the program both work and life skills,” says McAfee-Bryant. “The way I see it, I am their prospect, and they are my prospect, and together we’re changing our prospects for the better.” Although the program has been put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, McAfee-Bryant and her board are currently fundraising with the aim to raise $250,000 and launch the program in 2021. During the pandemic, McAfee-Bryant also launched a new podcast, The Conversation, where BIPOC chefs come together to discuss their experiences and the challenges they’ve faced working in the food industry. –Jenny Vergara theprospectkc.org PHOTO BY pilsen photo co-op
36
feastmagazine.com / dec em ber 2 0 2 0