Immigrant Heritage Week Awards 2018 Program

Panel Discussion: “How Immigrant Food Businesses
Leverage the Internet as the New Word of Mouth”
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Nina Roberts, Moderator
A contributing writer for Forbes, Nina Roberts is a freelance
journalist and photographer who has written about immigrant
entrepreneurship in The Guardian, Mashable, and Fortune. She
is particularly interested in how foreign-born business owners
make a lasting impact on local cultures and economies and is
currently working on a book about the immigrant entrepreneur
ecosystem in the U.S. In addition, she has covered cultural trends and international real
estate topics for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Boston Globe and
has been a contributing photographer at The New York Observer, Rolling Stone and The
Village Voice. (ninaroberts.net)
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Deepti Sharma Kapur (BCNA Board Member) — Deepti Sharma is the creator and owner
of FoodToEat.com, a food ordering, pick up, and delivery website with a socially responsible
business model. Launched in 2011, the site uses innovative technology to enable vendors
to better service and track online customers. (foodtoeat.com)
Godshelter Kwesi Oluwalogbon — Godshelter Oluwalogbon came to the U.S. in 2011,
worked his way up to sous-chef at Zabar’s, then began selling meals out of the back of his
car by the Nigerian embassy. In 2015, he upgraded to a food truck, and he and his wife
Bisola launched the Vendy Award-winning “DF (for Divine Flavored) Nigerian”. He is a
member of the Street Vendor Project. (divineflavoredcatering.com)
Nabin Sherchan (BCNA Client) — Nabin Sherchan came to the U.S. from Nepal in 1998
and, with his wife Sharmila, opened Mustang Thakali Kitchen in 2008. Nabin manages the
daily business operations, while Sharmila creates and cooks signature dishes from
the Mustang region of Nepal. (mustangthakalikitchennyc.com)
Denys Gorbatiuk (BCNA client) — Denys came to the U.S. in 1998 from Moldova, and
gave up practicing law to pursue his dream of creating a ready-to-eat, high-quality, gourmet
hot dog. In 2011, he founded Den’s Hot Dogs, launched his first product in 2014, and Den’s
Hot Dogs are now sold throughout 19 states. (denshotdogs.com)
Manal Kahi — Eat Offbeat CEO & cofounder Manal Kahi came to the U.S. from Lebanon in
2013 and began making and sharing her own hummus which was so popular, she and her
brother Wissam started a company. It has since grown to provide jobs for talented refugee
home cooks from all over the world. (eatoffbeat.com)