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Welcome to Giving Broadly!

Dana Cowin posing for the camera

I'm so happy to see you here! I hope you’re hungry!

I'm Dana Cowin, evangelist for good food and good people, coach for creatives, former longtime Editor-in-Chief of Food & Wine, host of podcast Speaking Broadly and now creator of Giving Broadly, a website to highlight products (aka good food) by women entrepreneurs (aka good people) that make our lives more delicious.

My hope is that this guide will inspire you to try something new, support exemplary businesses and gain inspiration from brilliant broads. We pushed to have the website up in time for holiday shopping and also for cooking at home, now and in the future.

The List

Giving Broadly Selects is quirky and non-exhaustive. I drew from products that I recently discovered and also asked industry friends for recommendations. I leaned toward newer businesses with less-told stories (a bunch of businesses actually launched during the pandemic), and I’ve also included some that have gotten press and grown in scale. Some of the business owners are friends; I've invested in one company and another has supported my podcast.

The Tasting

The tasting for Giving Broadly was held at my go-to spot near my house, The Lantern in Wassaic, NY, where my family has a standing order including 4 pizzas, chicken wings and an adult slushie. I’m grateful everyday for the hospitality of Erika DaSilva and Minh Le, and most especially when they jumped in to help prep, cook and serve at our tasting. And also all the tasters: Tina Ujlaki, Victoria Schmidt, Will Hutnick, Danny Hutnick, Munawar Ahmed, Matthew Schnepf, Ariel Yotive, Kassandra Gonzalez.

Nominate

Knowing that I left out many great people and products, I’m excited to ask for nominations for more good products made by good people! Send me your suggestions for women-owned businesses making amazing products, and I will continue to spotlight more fabulous individuals.

Nominate

Donate

In the spirit of giving, I am making a donation on behalf of each featured woman to Hot Bread Kitchen. Hot Bread Kitchen’s incubator helps talented food entrepreneurs jumpstart their journey toward scaling their business, gaining greater financial stability and creating jobs in their communities. I love their work so much that I joined the Board of Directors. If you have the ability, I encourage you to join me in supporting their work. 

Donate Learn More

The Team

A group of outstanding humans have helped bring this project into existence. I will never be able to express enough gratitude for their wisdom and support.

Creative Director Meagan Bennett developed the brand identity and is my dream collaborator bringing infinite imagination and vision. She takes a broken sentence of direction and translates it into an epic of beauty. 

Managing Editor Erika DaSilva has an incomparable sense of organization and storytelling. She also has taught me life-changing lessons about supporting and building community. 

PR duo Erika Gable and Alexis Halejian jumped in, adding this to their already full rosters, to make sure that as many people as possible could learn about these women and their products. 

A team of editors and advisors pitched in during the final stretch: Cynthia Hochswender, Munawar Ahmed, Tina Ujlaki, Joan Feeney, Cheryl Houser, Mary Ellen Ward and Barclay Palmer. 

Business Partner Jennifer Sommer persists in the face of all obstacles to find great partners for this fledgling brand.

When I was starting this project, my angel Camilla Marcus suggested I call founder of Bentobox Krystle Mobayeni to ask how to distribute this content. “She’s an amazing person and she knows everything.” Camilla is never wrong.

Krystle rescued this project by sponsoring it and having the amazing team at Bentobox create this website. It has been a pleasure to work with the divinely talented Beth Comatos, Maddie Nehlen, Stacy Krokha, Jaqueline Andre and Sierra Ponthier.

The Scouts

The scouts on this project were invaluable, bringing extraordinary people and products to my attention. Special thanks to Sarah Weiner, The Good Food Awards; Rachel Krupa, The Goods Mart; Zoe Feldman, Chobani; Margo Sivin, Hot Bread Kitchen; Jennifer Bushman; Randi Weinstein, FAB; Carmen Harris, Magnus on Water; Devita Davison, Detroit Food Lab; Taylor Lanzet; Erin Patinkin; V Spehar; Francis Lam, Clarkson Potter; Michael Harlan Turkell; Cheetie Kumar, Garland; Claudette Zepeda, VAGA; Kiki Aranita, Poi Dog; Kate Mulling, Thrive Market; Julia Turshen, EATT; Sana Javeri Kadri, Diaspora Co.; La Cocina; CommonWealth Kitchen; Emily Wilson; Jenny Dorsey, Studio ATAO; Jamila Robinson, The Philadelphia Inquirer; Deepti Sharma, Food to Eat.