Budget
$1,000.00
Description
Community Farm Picnic and Fundraiser benefiting our Culinary Scholarship and Micro-Grant programs, highlighting a local woman-owned farm, seasonally-driven dishes created by local women-owned restaurants and catering companies.
Category
Food, Agriculture & Nutrition  - Fund Raising & Fund Distribution 
Beneficiaries
General Public
Families
Long-term Success
Our short term success emboldened us to offer this again, this time in the spring of 2024, at Bloomsbury Farm. Again, it was well-received and enjoyed, while being financially successful. We will continue this on an annual basis, rotating the picnic from different area farms.
Short-term Success
We initiated this in the fall of 2023 at Bloomsbury Farm, where 50 families came out to partake of fried chicken, assorted side dishes, biscuits and desserts, sweet tea, lemonade, and champagne. Folks toured the farm, enjoyed live bluegrass music and appreciated the fellowship. We raised over $5000 for our Scholarship and Grant programs, while promoting our area women entrepreneurs.
Program Areas Served
Middle Tennessee

Budget
$10,000.00
Description
This is our signature grant program, initiated in 2017. This cash micro-grant program is designed to assist women in furthering their careers in the fields of food, beverage, hospitality and farming. It can take form of a continuing education class, conference fee and associated travel expense, professional development consultation or training, or equipment needed to advance a business. Applicant must be a female actively pursuing her career, a resident of the area comprising the membership scope of Les Dames Nashville chapter, which broadly includes Middle Tennessee, and demonstrates a financial need.
Category
Community Improvement, Capacity Building  - Small Business Development 
Beneficiaries
Women and girls
Adults
Minorities
Long-term Success
Each year, we receive applications for micro-grants, which we give out in increments of $500, $1000, $1500 and $2000, from women at all stages of business development and operation. Our grants have funded fencing, hoophouses, and seed purchases for women farmers; monies to attend workshops (either on-line or in-person) in areas such as homesteading, artisanal baking, permaculture and biodynamic practices; funds have also gone women to attend conferences on cheesemaking, or sustainable agriculture.
The grants have funded the purchase of a laptop, the building of a new website, and upgrades in catering equipment.

Mainly, the grants, no matter how large or small, demonstrate a belief in the women who applied for them. The funds, even in small increments, have big impact.

Program Success Monitored By
We keep up with our grant recipients. We see it as a continuing relationship. They are the Dames of the future.
Program Areas Served
Nashville, Davidson County, Middle Tennessee

Budget
$12,000.00
Description
Keys to undoing segregation begin with openess: illuminating truths that have been pushed into the shadows; sharing perspectives and experiences; acknowledging our common humanity; committing to change.
This series of 3 in-person presentations with audience participation, (funded in part by a grant from The Women's Fund, )is created to address systemic racism in the hospitality industry, and help bring about positive change.
Topics: 1.Nashville Food History: How Race Played and Continues to Play a Role 2.Integrating Your Business: Bringing Inclusion to the Front and Back of the House 3. Practicing True Hospitality: Setting a Welcome Table for ALL.
Beneficiaries
Women and girls
Adults
Minorities
Short-term Success
2022 was the first year for this DEI Symposium. Our surveys indicated that the overwhelming majority of attendees (95%) want to continue the conversation. Studies indicate that education in Diversity-Equity-Inclusion is an ongoing process. It takes more than one, two , or even three conversations to educate and initiate lasting change.
Program Success Monitored By
Our surveys, which compiled both statistical information and anecdotal commentary from all three session, form the reporting foundation of our success.

Attendance, at all three showed a representation in almost equal division of BIPOC and White participants, in a broad age range.
Program Areas Served
Nashville, Davidson County, Middle Tennessee

Budget
$12,000.00
Description
The follow-up to our DEI Symposium launched in 2022, this 3-part series focused on Tools to Make our Hospitality Industry more diverse, equitable and inclusive. Workshop presenters included Brigette Janae Jones historian and director of Equitable Partnerships at Belle Meade Winery; DEI Specialist Kelly Martin; and Nina Singto and Jeran Williams of Thai Esane. Topics included:
BECOMING COMFORTABLE WITH DISCOMFORT; INCLUSIVITY MATTERS: ACCESSIBILITY AND BARRIERS IN HOSPITALITY; and
BUILDING A NEW CULTURE
Program Successes
Raised over $15,000 this year for our Scholarship and Career Advancement Grant programs.
Inspired 3 women to apply to become members of Les Dames d'Escoffier Nashville


Beneficiaries
Women and girls
Adults
Minorities
Long-term Success
1. Over 50% of the attendees had participated in the first symposium and saw the value of returning to experience the second one.

Short-term Success
1. Engaged 50 new attendees
2. Increased Sponsorship Reach by 30%
3.
Program Success Monitored By
Attendance, which was increased by 10% over the first year, and Evaluations, which overwhelmingly praised the content and format of the program.
Program Areas Served
Greater Nashville and Middle Tennessee

Budget
$8,000.00
Description
Created in the aftermath of the March 2020 tornadoes that devastated parts of Nashville and Middle Tennessee, the Disaster Relief Grant program is designed to assist women in the industry who were adversely impacted by the storms.

This micro-grant initiative is set up in similar fashion as our Career Advancement Grant program.
We continue to keep it active, as disaster relief continues to be much needed. This was certainly well-utilized during the COVID-19 pandemic. As extreme weather continues to take toll on communities, we foresee the importance of this program.
Category
Public Safety, Disaster Preparedness and Relief  - Disaster Relief/Recovery 
Beneficiaries
Women and girls
Victims
Adults
Long-term Success
We are still in the midst of disaster, so long-term success is hard to gauge. We know that disaster relief is felt both immediately and incrementally. Our micro-grants are meant to help assuage suffering and give a boost.
We have seen women regain their abilities to return to their businesses. We have seen women recreate their businesses. We have seen women pivot and pursue another business direction, tapping into their talents.
Short-term Success
The examples are so unique and personal.
A food photographer who lost valuable equipment in the tornado, was able to replace it with her grant.
A woman whose bubble tea business was damaged in the storm used her grant to make needed repairs.
A family dairy endured horrible losses. A cooler malfunctioned, ruining all the bottled milk. Despite that, and a feed bill of 50K, their cows must be fed. This grant helps pay the feed bill and keep the farm from failing.
A second-generation African-American woman-owned soul food restaurant was hit hard in the storm and the contractor bungled repairs. Then came the pandemic. Grant money went towards keeping the restaurant from permanently closing.
Program Success Monitored By
Personal Contact.
Program Areas Served
Nashville, Davidson County and Middle Tennessee

Budget
$500.00
Description
A small but impactful and ever-changing program that features our members and educates attendees on local food and beverages.
Taste and Learns include:
Dumplings with Les Dames--where guests learned from celebrity chef Maneet Chauhan how to make their own dumplings
Pairing Chocolate and Coffee --hosted by craft chocolate expert Trisha Boyer and Frothy Monkey co-owner Jenn Sheets
Pairing Wine and Cheese--hosted by wine expert Robin Dennis Burns and artisan cheesemonger Kathleen Cotter
Category
Food, Agriculture & Nutrition  - Food, Agriculture & Nutrition, General/Other 
Beneficiaries
Men and boys
Women and girls
Adults
Long-term Success
While this program does not generate large funding for our chapter, its educational component, its promotion of our members and their talents, and its community outreach align perfectly with our mission. It is yet another opportunity to bring awareness of our organization and its good work into the community.
Short-term Success
Each Taste and Learn is a custom-tailored event that is compelling to a specific audience. The success of one laid the groundwork for the success of others. They are inherently engaging and fun.
Program Areas Served
Nashville, Davidson County

Budget
$500.00
Description
This is an annual luncheon held in December at chef and member Margot McCormack's restaurant, Margot Cafe and Bar. It features a woman cookbook author, a member of LDEI, and her cookbook.
Chef McCormack prepares the luncheon using recipes from the cookbook. Attendees get to meet and interact with the author, hear her presentation and buy her book, all while enjoying a three-course meal.

Dame authors have included culinary luminaries Carla Hall, Nathalie Dupree, Joan Nathan, Lidia Bastianich and Toni Tipton-Martin.
Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities  - Celebratory Events 
Beneficiaries
Men and boys
Women and girls
Adults
Long-term Success
Tickets to this annual luncheon have been much sought-after, as there is limited seating at Margot Cafe and Bar. It has provided a unique intimate experience for guests with some of the big names of women in food.

Because of the community outreach and the support of women in the industry, it aligns well with our mission.
And, as it has always been financially successful, we are able to raise funds for our grants.
Program Areas Served
Nashville, Davidson County

Budget
$15,000.00
Description
An annual marquee fundraiser, Tour De Farm takes approximately 40 attendees on a daytour of three different Middle Tennessee farms, where, at each, one of our talented members gives a demonstration and tasting, using seasonal ingredients from that particular farm. This culminates in a Farm Dinner and Silent Auction, open to the public, serving approximately 150 guests.
Program Successes
We have given over $30,000 in micro-grants to women seeking to advance their businesses. We made a video, interviewing two of the recipients from 2018, which more fully describes the impact of this grant program. That 5-minute video can be seen on the Multimedia link of our profile and we welcome you give it a look.
Category
Food, Agriculture & Nutrition  - Sustainable Agriculture 
Beneficiaries
Men and boys
Women and girls
Adults
Long-term Success
For three successive years, Tour De Farm has exposed members of the community to the sustainable work done by our regional farmers, a set of three different farms each year. Educational and fun, attendees get to interact with the farmers and get an up-close look at workings of the farm, while also sampling delicious foods made by Les Dames Nashville.

The Farm Dinner and Silent Auction that follow expand the exposure to more in the community.

It has been a primary fundraiser, providing needed monies for our annual Career Advancement Grant program. And, the Tour put the face of our chapter into the community.
Short-term Success
The initial Tour De Farm (2017) was a financial success, netting over $20,000. It gave us the funds to build on. It gave our young chapter the financial shot in the arm it needed to grow the membership, make upgrades to Administration and ultimately initiate our Career Advancement Grant Program.
Program Success Monitored By
Subsequent Tours brought in $25,000-$33,000 annually. Some guests have gone on every tour, appreciating the wonderful array of farms that dot Middle Tennessee.
Program Areas Served
Nashville, Davidson Country and Middle Tennessee