The Culinary Institute of America's Leadership Programs, spearheaded by the CIA Strategic Initiatives Group, help foodservice professionals learn more about the next wave of change crucial to the industry. Our conferences, invitational retreats, collaboratives, annual reports and white papers, and digital media focus on topics and trends crucial to the foodservice industry including flavor development, health and wellness, nutrition science, volume foodservice menu R&D, and sustainability.
See the links below for more information on our conferences and retreats, and view the documents to the right for information on how you can engage with and support our work.
The CIA Healthy Menus R&D Collaborative is a dynamic membership-based initiative focused on crafting highly targeted, sector-specific, practical solutions that significantly contribute towards expanding healthy menu food and beverage choices within the foodservice industry.
Menus of Change: The Business of Healthy, Sustainable, Delicious Food Choices returns to our Hyde Park, NY campus in June 2022. Menus of Change works to create a long-term, practical vision for the integration of optimal nutrition and public health, environmental stewardship and restoration, and social responsibility within the foodservice sector and beyond.
Immerse yourself in the traditions and flavors of Latin American cooking as guest chefs and culinary experts showcase the ingredients and techniques of various Latin American countries.
The Menus of Change University Research Collaborative (MCURC) was founded by the CIA and Stanford University to create a culture of sharing and innovation within and among colleges and universities that use the Menus of Change principles in their campus dining operations.
The Worlds of Flavor conference welcomes more than 60 guest chefs and culinary experts from around the world to explore the best of world cuisines that are reshaping American palates and our industry. The conference is widely acknowledged as our country’s most influential professional forum on world cuisines, food cultures, and flavor trends.
The CIA Healthy Kids Collaborative is an invitational initiative designed to accelerate innovation and deepen technical and professional expertise in K-12 school food. It is a unique and focused multi-year collaboration between school nutrition professionals, school chefs, suppliers, and other stakeholders to create and advance culinary driven, healthier foods for kids.
Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives is a collaboration between the CIA and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. During this annual CME conference, health professionals participate in nutrition and health research seminars led by some of Harvard’s most influential scientists and other leading nutrition experts, as well as hands-on cooking workshops.
This ground-breaking strategic leadership summit encompasses wall-to-wall cooking, tastings, and culinary strategy discussion—all based on the evidence-based framework of optimal innovation embodied in the 24 Principles of Healthy, Sustainable Menus of the CIA Harvard T.H. Chan School Menus of Change Initiative.
Resources for Sponsors
Explore more engagement opportunities here!
Download the 2023 Industry Leadership and Advancement Calendar here.
1-800-123-2468
707-967-2439
845-451-1457
Learn how to infuse your menu with on-trend, craveable plant-forward choices at the Global Plant-Forward Culinary Summit!
The Culinary Institute of America’s Digital Media team offers a wide range of digital services, from website development to webcasting and online marketing to online education. Learn more here!
Watch The Culinary Institute of America’s newest documentary, A Passion for Pizza
Watch the live webcast of The Culinary Institute of America’s Menus of Change conference.