José Andrés

José Andrés is an internationally recognized culinary innovator, New York Times bestselling author, educator and humanitarian. He was named one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” in both 2012 and 2018 and awarded the 2015 National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama.

As the chef/owner of the award-winning ThinkFoodGroup restaurant collective, Andrés has been a pioneer of Spanish tapas in the United States and is also known for his groundbreaking avant-garde cuisine. As a naturalized citizen originally from Spain, Andrés has also been a tireless advocate for immigration reform. 

In 2010, Andrés formed World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit which uses the power of food to nourish communities and strengthen economies in times of crisis. His team served over 3.6 million meals to the people of Puerto Rico following Hurricane María. Since then, WCK has activated on six continents, serving fresh meals in the aftermath of both natural and human-made disasters.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization partnered with thousands of restaurants, farmers and community leaders around the country to combat food and nutrition insecurity, laying the groundwork for smarter national food policy—one which builds longer tables in the U.S. and around the world. Most recently, Andrés and World Central Kitchen have been working in Ukraine and seven neighboring countries, feeding hundreds of millions of meals to refugees who have fled their homes.