Turning Tables
Touré Folkes, Executive Director
Economic Mobility
Turning Tables advocates for equity in the hospitality industry by providing mentorship, educational tools, and platforms for exposure in a system of support for the Black and Brown communities of New Orleans.
Year Founded: 2019
Turning Tables is changing the face of hospitality by cultivating leadership and creating a model for equitable access to career pathways.
Turning Tables seeks out partnerships with employers, brands, and like-minded individuals in the industry who recognize the pervasive inequity in the industry and want to join us in challenging it. Turning Tables supports them to identify the ways in which racism, discrimination, and implicit bias have permeated their establishments, and help them implement new policies and practices to eliminate it.
Turning Tables externs come from inside and outside hospitality and share a common goal to smash the current industry model that dictates their success and opportunities. Their 12-week intensive program connects externs with cocktail and wine knowledge curriculum, restaurant and bar management training, brand marketing, and hospitality leadership.
Turning Tables began in 2019 in partnership with New Orleans industry non-profit and youth career development organizations. our vision was to create a bar training program that reflected the city they serve. Turning Tables was built by industry mentors and introduced to New Orleans with its first graduating class of externs in 2019. What they found that year was a thirst for community within the hospitality industry among Black and Brown bartenders at all stages of their careers. Their roots are visibility and mentorship and they are the tastemakers and leaders in the industry.
Touré Folkes
Executive Director
