WORKSHOP C:
What’s the deal with data?

More and more foundations are placing a higher degree of importance on data collection and analytics. The future sustainability of your organization may lay in your data collection strategies.

In this workshop, Dr. Borchers will provide data collection tips and highlight the ideal grantors for Community Cafes deploying data-driven tactics.

FACILITATOR: Dr. Lori Borchers, TCU (Fort Worth, TX)

Dr. Lori Borchers is an Assistant Professor in Nursing at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, TX. She has been a nurse for over 30 years and has worked with a variety of patients. In addition to teaching, Lori works as a lactation consultant at a Dallas hospital. Starting in the fall, Lori will be teaching in the Public Health course for nursing students.

Lori’s interest in One World Everybody Eats stems from her work as a PhD student. She wondered how well an OWEE café could meet college students’ food security needs and provide a sense of community. Her study, which will be presented today showed that both food secure and insecure students felt a sense of community at the OWEE Café. In addition, part of what contributed to the sense of community was helping others with their food security needs.

Lori volunteers at Taste Community Restaurant in Fort Worth. In addition, Lori has served on the OWEE Board since 2020.

Lori hopes to continue to research and apply the OWEE model to university settings for the potential benefit of student communities. 

WORKSHOP F:
the partnership pendulum

There is a growing trend from funders to support collaborative partnerships between organizations.  Partnerships reduce risks for funders and promote community through a network of organizations.  But partnerships can be tricky.  Each organization as their own goals and objectives that may align on some levels and differ on others. 

Whether you are looking to partner with other organizations for program expansion or simply looking for partners for existing operations, this workshop will help you understand how the partnership pendulum swings to create a win-win scenario for you and the organizations you choose to partner with.

FACILITATOR: Jeff Williams, Taste Project (Fort Worth, TX)

Jeff Williams is founder and Executive Director of Taste Project. He has always had a passion for cooking, food, and feeding people. Being half Italian, Jeff’s heritage feeds his passion and discovery in the area of Italian Cuisine.

His vision for Taste Project is different than a growing, profit generating, Italian restaurant. His vision is not a homeless shelter or a soup kitchen; but a place where every day folks eat; and those who could not afford to eat there, could still enjoy a meal in the restaurant. In June 2012, Jeff launched Taste Project.

And in December 2017, Taste Project opened the doors to Taste Community Restaurant in Fort Worth Texas. In April, 2019 the organization expanded its lunch service to include brunch on weekends. And in October, 2019 the organization expanded to include weekday breakfast in addition to its lunch service. To date, Taste Community Restaurant has served nearly 250,000 people. The organization has plans to open a second location in Arlington, TX in 2024.