Chef Juan Sebastian Gomez Amaya has a rather atypical background. After graduating in catering in Bogota (Colombia) in 2013, he went on to earn a Master’s degree in Social Intervention and Development at the Université Lumière Lyon 2. Armed with this dual experience and his commitment to tackling social inequalities and fighting discrimination, he joined the “Des Saveurs et des Ailes” team, launched by the NGO Entrepreneurs du Monde, as a chef-trainer. This training program aims to integrate people who are far from employment into the world of work, by offering them a complete career path in the catering sector. Juan Sebastian shares not only his culinary expertise, but also his vision of inclusive gastronomy, developing educational programs that enable people to become self-sufficient through gastronomy.
Association
Des Saveurs et des Aîles (Flavors and Wings)
Launched in 2021 by the NGO Entrepreneurs du Monde, the association Des Saveurs et des Ailes (DSDA) is concerned with the professional integration of vulnerable people (recipients of social welfare benefits, single parents, and refugees) through facilitated access to entrepreneurial experience in the catering sector. Based on the observation that the majority of business start-up support structures rely on standardized, theoretical support, DSDA offers support courses in the culinary field for people who are far from employment, by “integrating a practical part in line with the principle of learning by doing”, as Ludovic Picot, its director, explains.
A 3-month creative course (based on structuring the project) includes 7 weeks of theoretical training and 4 weeks of work experience in the kitchen laboratory, run by chef Juan Sebastian Gomez Amaya, and in the association’s foodtruck. Once this collective program is completed, the association offers the “entrepreneur” program, an individualized 3 to 6 month program (based on business testing) within the incubator to provide a secure framework for project leaders to test their business. It’s a great way to give wings to those who need them…
