OUR MISSION
L+P Foundation promotes diverse, healthy, and conscious food cultures across communities.
Who is L+P?
Lisa Katayama is an author and co-founder of L+P. Lisa is an expert at creative strategy, people-connecting, nonprofit management and leadership. She has extensive experience producing community events and activations at the intersection of Japan and the US, including through her own 501(c)3 nonprofit The Tofu Project, which she co-founded with USJLP FAC chair, Daisuke Kan. After a freelance journalism career writing about Japan and technology for publications like Wired, Popular Science, The New York Times magazine, she built a fellowship program at the MIT Media Lab, worked as a management consultant for Hakuhodo-owned, New York-based transformation consultancy SYPartners, and is now Chief Transformation Officer at Japanese IT company Digital Garage Group.
Chef Pierre Thiam is a Senegal-born, New York-bred, California-based chef, author, restaurateur, social entrepreneur and culinary ambassador. He believes eating and sharing food is an act of love—for yourself, your community, and for the environment. The core ideas for this project are informed by the wisdom gleaned from his work as executive chef of multiple international, award-winning restaurants—including his latest, Teranga in New York City—and from his work at Yolele Foods, a consumer packaged goods company that popularized fonio, an ancient grain from Africa that is now available at Whole Foods stores across the United States.
Photo credit: Evan SungWe believe…
Everyone who cooks is a cultural storyteller.
When we share food, we are sharing the source ingredients of life.
Food is a universal expression of love and communion.
When we diversify the foods we eat, it improves our personal health—and the health of our planet.
What we do…
L+P is a private nonprofit foundation created by Lisa Katayama and Pierre Thiam. We’re kicking off our Foundation’s efforts with 3 key initiatives:
Our first cookbook collaboration, Simply West African: Easy, Joyful Recipes for Every Kitchen, which was published by Clarkson Potter in September 2023.
The Lost Crops Festival, a gathering of critical food system stakeholders to promote and celebrate the underutilized ingredients from Africa. As highlighted at COP28, food is a key solution for the challenges of global food security and climate change. The Festival brings this idea home through a joyous, informative, collective conversation. The Festival will take place in Dakar, Senegal in the summer of 2024.
A series of high-end fundraising and awareness-raising Simply West African dinners for our strongest allies and advocates.
GET INVOLVED
As our journey of culinary advocacy and environmental justice unfolds, we know we need the active participation of the community for the movement to really take hold.
We are currently accepting donations toward the L+P Foundation here. Your donation will pay for operational costs, future initiatives, and time that is currently being spent by our team on a volunteer basis.
