Owner, Dōekï Dōekï, and Co-founder, Bakers Against Racism; Washington, DC

Paola Velez is an award-winning pastry chef who is the owner of Dōekï Dōekï, an Afro-Latin pop-up concept. Raised in New York City and the Dominican Republic, she is a fierce advocate for equitably sourced food and sustainability, and she focuses on using her resources to help uplift her communities and make impactful change. Paola started her culinary career under Jacques Torres and served as the executive pastry chef of Kith and Kin, Compass Rose, and Michelin-starred Maydan. Paola co-founded Doña Dona, a Latin American popup to benefit Ayuda DC, an organization that supports the restaurant industry’s undocumented workforce, and later co-founded Bakers Against Racism, a viral bake sale that has raised more than $2.5 million for social justices causes worldwide. Paola was named a finalist for the James Beard Foundation Rising Star Award (2020), one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs (2021), Time Out’s People of the Year (2021), and Cherry Bombe’s Person of the Year (2021). @smallorchids