Kim Bryden

Kim Bryden is the Principal Investigator for the Cureate subaward on a NSF Phase II Convergence Accelerator grant (Track J: Food & Nutrition Security) with the University of Arkansas, as Cureate is the industry partner on the project.

Cureate Connect is the local procurement team for our Buyer partners. We purchase from local small businesses to enhance overall product offerings and meet changing consumer demand, all while saving Buyers and Vendors valuable time and money. WHO WE WORK WITH 🏨 institutional foodservice 🛎 hotels & tourism boards 🎉 event/wedding planners 🏙 property management/co-working facilities THE RESULTS OUR CUSTOMERS EXPERIENCE • Improved community relations by tracking purchasing dollars back into local economy • Increased customer loyalty by providing a localized experience • Seamless on-boarding process and execution with one prime supplier — us! • Countless number of hours saved due to a lifetime of relationship building with our community of small business owners HOW WE WORK TOGETHER • We vet and build relationships with each small business, saving you time and labor • Your team tells us what types of products you're looking to source with necessary constraints • We post a Request for Proposal to our community and receive competitive bids back • Once you decide from whom you'd like to source, Cureate acts as your prime supplier — eliminating the administrative headache ★ Interested in joining our community as a Buyer partner? Say hello: kim@cureate.co ★

Cureate is a woman-owned business building an empowered food & beverage supply to meet a changing consumer demand. We exist to build an interconnected and diverse supply system by shifting dollars back into local small business through procurement, entrepreneurship education, and consulting. Our focus is on the food & beverage industry, which deeply touches all of our lives, and where there is an immediate need to change how we do business. We provide strategic counsel to help both big and small businesses navigate shifting consumer tastes and interests, as well as work with city government partners in understanding the economic impacts of fundamentally reimagining the supply chain. WHO WE WORK WITH • Anchor Institutions • Foodservice Management Companies • Hospitality & Tourism • Economic Development Departments • Food Policy Councils • Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) • Small Businesses across the USA! HOW WE WORK WITH CLIENTS • Food Systems Consultancy • New City Launch Strategy and Execution • Comprehensive Merchandising and Marketing Strategy • Product Mix and Profitability Assessments • Brand Strategy and Market Research Consultation • Brand Book and Operations Manual Creation • Curriculum Development and Employee Training • Small Business Workshop Series • Content Production (video, photography, web design) • Economic Development Assessments & Impact Reports SAMPLE CLIENT LIST DC Food Policy Council • FORGE, Inc • University of Maryland Medical System • LifeBridge Health • Loudoun County • Frederick County • Cedar Hill, TX • Montgomery County Alcoholic Beverage Services • Department of Small and Local Business Development, DC • Latino Economic Development Center • Apple, Inc • District Bridges, Main Streets • Mid-Atlantic Farm Credit Council • Beefsteak, a José Andrés concept • Territory Foods • Tastemade • Baltimore Integration Partnership • American Communities Trust

Beginning in 2015, Cureate has collaborated with City Seeds, a Humanim social enterprise to develop and run School of Food, a year-long educational curriculum for food business owners. Since the inception of the program, we have worked with 140+ business owners. Read our School of Food: 2 Years in Review report below.

• Increase bookings in NYC by 80% from Q1 to Q2 through strategic partnerships, community marketing, and influencer targeting. • Generate 23% of Q2 gross revenue in NYC through strategic partnerships and events, with a hard cost marketing spend under $3,000. • Develop high-exposure brand partnerships with Food.com, Thrillist, Edible Magazine, Food Book Fair, Magnises, Sustainable Seafood Week NYC. • Single-handedly organize and execute 6 high-profile dinners, 1 brunch, and 1 300-person Vegan BBQ for Samsung Galaxy, Venture Capitalists, MIT Media Labs, and true[x] media for South by Southwest Festival. • Develop digital and analog strategic marketing plan, increasing Chicago market total bookings by 50% from Q3 to Q4. • Host targeted influencer dinners (media, blogger, tech verticals), increasing bookings, media hits, site traffic, and partnership opportunities in New York City, Chicago, Austin, and Seattle markets. • Launch Seattle market by organizing and executing 17 dinners in 10 days — overseeing localized influencer marketing efforts, partnership opportunities, blogger outreach, email marketing strategy, and collateral art direction.

• Develop comprehensive influencer strategy to engage fans & increase viewership through online & offline engagement. • Identify over 300 top YouTube influencers & Twitter personalities for YouTube’s first ever Comedy Week. • Organize VIP events for identified influencers at YouTube Comedy Week Gala, as well as facilitate online engagement. Events included: flying 14 fans cross-country, hotel and transportation arrangements, networking dinner, group brunch, red carpet walk, and front row seats at Comedy Week Gala. • Design all influencer/super-fan promotional items.

Marketing • Craft Treater’s public voice, from network outreach to in-app error messages • Grow online community to 6,000 fans & followers in 6 months through content creation & management • Plan, design and execute promotions including contests and targeted offers • Identify and enable partnership opportunities with nationally recognized brands • Manage creative and copy for biweekly emails, along with A/B testing • Segment audience and write copy for digital advertising (Facebook, Twitter, Affiliates) Customer Experience • Set-up infrastructure for handling all inbound customer service inquiries with Desk • Draft weekly customer service reports based on SQL queries on user transaction/redemption history • Direct visual merchandising for 500+ item catalog, including images and copy • Construct wireframes for social network implementation on giver and recipient user flows

Leadership • Join as Team Leader for a Fortune 500 company managing a team of 5 in variety of positions • Hand-picked to open & develop marketing strategy and community relations for a new Whole Foods Market in a vibrant, urban location • Drive in-store sales with a comprehensive knowledge of financial reporting; including blended-margin merchandising, basket size and customer count, store mix, comps, and promotional push items • Lead strategic holiday decisions, liaison between all departments to ensure flawless operations Marketing • Develop, manage and organically doubled the growth of online communities for Whole Foods Market stores • Organize and executed 200+ food demonstrations and events focused on local, value and seasonal promotions • First manager to implement Internet Customer Advisory Panels via Twitter into Mid-Atlantic Region, making Twitter a viable outlet for customer service on a store level. Customer Relations • Administer all charitable, monthly community in-kind donations • Develop partnerships with community leaders, hospitals, universities, non-profits and local food movements • Orchestrate Healthy Eating initiatives with prominent health care industry leaders • Field all media inquires. Media relations training certified