and Interfaith Council

Chad Houser, executive director and chef of Café Momentum, will share the benefits of expressing gratitude in our lives. Gratitude is at the core of Café Momentum's intern program,  teaching critical skills that allow juvenile offenders to apply the culinary skills they've learned  in  post-release internships in a safe, real-world environment.   The curriculum includes rotating at-risk youth through every aspect of the restaurant from waiting tables to washing dishes while working side-by-side with established chefs.

After 17 years as a chef, Chad sold his partnership in Parigi Restaurant to devote his full attention the role of executive director of Café Momentum in 2012. Chad has received multiple nominations from D Magazine for "Best Up-And-Coming Chef" (2010) and "Best Chef" (2011 and 2012). In 2011, he received the Edible Dallas/Fort Worth "Local Hero - Chef" award. Most recently, Chad was named to the "Top 50 Under 40" by the Social Enterprise Alliance, an "Urban Innovator to Watch" by the New Cities Foundation, as one of "30 Most Interesting People in the Metro Area" by the Dallas Observer, and one of Good Magazine's "Good 100," individuals at the cutting edge of creative impact across the globe.