Chef José Andrés to Be Keynote Speaker at Talent Connect 2022 — Register Today to Watch the Virtual Broadcast

We’re excited to announce that chef José Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen, is joining us as a speaker on the main stage at Talent Connect this fall. Talent Connect, LinkedIn’s premier event for global leaders and talent professionals, will be back for the first time since 2019, live in Los Angeles, October 25 to 27.

The event is an exclusive in-person event for senior industry leaders, but highlights — including José’s talk — will be open via virtual broadcast to everyone. You can register for the virtual experience here.

Talent Connect will feature three days of engaging speakers, trendsetting insights, and industry best practices. On the second day of the event, José will take the stage as a keynote speaker, to reflect on his remarkable journey as chef, business owner, and founder of World Central Kitchen, which provides meals on the front lines of disasters. 

José has been described by The Wall Street Journal as “a force of nature, the Energizer Bunny, the Tasmanian Devil, and Luke Skywalker.” A native of Spain, he’s an award-winning chef and the owner of ThinkFoodGroup, a collection of more than 30 international restaurants. An activist and humanitarian, he founded World Central Kitchen in 2010 to provide chef-prepared meals to people in Haiti after that country’s devastating earthquake. Since then, WCK has provided meals on the front lines of many disasters: in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria; in the U.S. and Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic; and, most recently, in Ukraine.

In all his roles, José has been passionate about putting together teams to serve the greater good. “We don’t just deliver raw ingredients and expect people to fend for themselves,” José says. “And we don’t just dump free food into a disaster zone: We source and hire locally whenever we can, to jump-start economic recovery through food.” 

WCK arrived in Ukraine just hours after the Russian invasion and quickly assembled a team of about 6,000 to prepare meals.The largest food relief operation in Ukraine, WCK has now served more than 100 million meals. 

Because he works in constantly changing and chaotic conditions, José has learned to adapt. “That’s why I sincerely believe that the best way forward for business, small, big, NGOs, and governments is to become experts in adaptation,” he told The New York Times. “Adaptation will always win the day.” 

José will speak with our LinkedIn audience about leading with empathy during challenging times, mobilizing people to do great things, and creating positive change in the world. “Sometimes very big problems,” he says, “they have very simple solutions.” 

Join us virtually or in Los Angeles for José’s keynote address, to learn more about how he went from being a chef to a visionary and humanitarian — and what he’s learned along the way.

His speech will be a highlight of the 2022 Talent Connect at L.A. Live from October 25 to 27. We hope you’ll join us virtually. Registration is now open and you can learn more details about the virtual broadcast here.

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