MARCH 9TH | 4:00 PM
THE HOTEL UMD, 7777 BALTIMORE AVENUE, COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND
EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION (ends midnight February 15th)
- Members $45.00
- Non-Members $65.00
AFTER FEBRUAR Y 15TH:
- Members $55.00
- Non-Members $75.00
PROOF OF “FULL” VACCINATION (2-DOSES) OR NEGATIVE COVID TEST 72-HRS PRIOR TO EVENT IS REQUIRED.
NSBWEP invites you to attend an evening of authentic connections and education at The Hotel UMD! Guest Speaker, Andra “AJ” Johnson, will provide a forward-thinking presentation on “The History of Black Culture in the Hospitality Industry”. History learned through a chronological timeline through the reconstruction era, to the appearance of Black rising in juke joints, to the Cotton Club and beyond. Come and listen to history revived through AJ’s voice of how Black Professionals shaped the hospitality industry.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER:
Andra “AJ” Johnson has been working in the eclectic DMV restaurant scene for over 18-eighteen years. From back waiter and curbside to-go server to assistant general manager and beverage director, AJ has been through it all, eventually earning her Cicerone Certified Beer Server certification, as well as a Level I in the Court of Master Sommeliers. She currently serves as a partner and bar director at Serenata, a full-service Latin American themed craft cocktail bar which opened in October 2019 inside La Cosecha in Washington DC’s Union Market.
AJ is a trailblazer in the industry and is about creating spaces for Blacks in the hospitality. AJ along with her co-founders created DMV Black Restaurant Week through education, good food, and culture—focuses on enriching the city by including diverse restaurants, highlighting black-owned restaurants and businesses, and creating a platform where people of color felt comfortable coming to ask questions and having access to funds and resources.
AJ is also author of forthcoming book White Plates, Black Faces. The book addresses the African-American experience in local restaurants and the lack of pipelines to help service industry workers graduate from employee to employer.
