BOARD OF DIRECTORS

ADVISORS

  • CHRISTINE ATKINS

    CHRISTINE ATKINS

    Advisor and Member, Education Committee

    more about me

FOUNDER EMERITUS

Ted Smith

Kids Cooking for Life was founded in 2009 by successful entrepreneur and restaurant owner Ted Smith who was dismayed by kids’ growing reliance on convenience and fast food options and the corresponding increase in obesity across the country.

Ted's extensive background in the restaurant business - combined with his early experience growing up on a fruit and vegetable farm in Michigan - serve as a solid foundation for his commitment to teaching kids to create healthy meals in an era of fast-food, childhood obesity and poor physical conditioning.

At age 94, Ted was awarded the prestigious 2019 Jefferson Award for this dedication and impact through Kids Cooking For Life in the community. He is recognized for many years for Excellence in Leadership by Annual Heart of Marin by Center for Volunteer & Non-profit Leadership. His other personal achievements, entrepreneurial skills, business leadership, mentoring and educational ventures have marked each step of his career and community contributions. Ted was on the boards of the Chicago and Illinois Restaurant Association (10 years as Chairman, Governmental Affairs Committee), Illinois Employers Association, Chicago and San Francisco chapters of the Young Presidents Organization and the World's Presidents Organization.

Ted has retired from Kids Cooking for Life, but still remains one of it’s biggest supporters. It’s thanks to him that Kids Cooking for Life is the rapidly expanding non-profit it is today.