The mission of the James Beard Awards® is to recognize exceptional talent and achievement in the culinary arts, hospitality, media, and broader food system, as well as a demonstrated commitment to equity, community, sustainability, and a culture where all can thrive.

Awards Committee: Together and in consultation with the Foundation and its staff, the Awards Committee has oversight of and administers the James Beard Awards.

The Awards Committee reviews and approves all prospective subcommittee members and judge; votes on the Lifetime Achievement and Humanitarian of the Year Award; and reviews and approves all policy, eligibility, and criteria changes put forth by the Subcommittees. Members include chairpersons of each Awards program, Board of Trustees members and at-large food, beverage, media and related industries.

Awards Subcommittees and Judges: Each Awards program is administered by an independent volunteer subcommittee, together and in consultation with the Foundation and its representatives. Each subcommittee administers their respective programs; they recommend and select new subcommittee members and judges.

Subcommittee members' names are published on this website. Judges are invited to apply annually. Judges’ names are published on the website at the end of each cycle. Assigned categories are not revealed.

The James Beard Foundation and its Board of Trustees has jurisdiction over all Awards programs. Members of the Board of Trustees do not vote, except where indicated. Foundation staff do not vote. As appropriate and based on strategy alignment, the Board may direct the Awards Committee and the subcommittees to include or exclude any Awards category, or to modify, amend or replace the criteria applicable to any Awards category.

The mission of the James Beard Awards is to recognize exceptional talent and achievement in the culinary arts, hospitality, media, and broader food system, as well as a demonstrated commitment to equity, community, sustainability, and a culture where all can thrive.

The James Beard Foundation takes our mission and our position as an industry leader very seriously, and we strive to ensure that Award recipients demonstrate excellence and align with our values. As part of these efforts, we have established a Code of Ethics, a vetting process that occurs prior to any announcements of semifinalists or nominees, and an independent ethics process. This process was designed to protect the integrity of the Awards, while being fair to those the Awards seeks to celebrate.

It reflects our values and the overall mission of the Foundation—to lead chefs and the broader culinary industry towards a new standard of excellence. This is what we call Good Food for Good®. The Code of Ethics and a summary of the ethics process can be found below.

Code of Ethics

As a condition of eligibility for a James Beard Foundation Award, all entrants, semifinalists, nominees, and winners agree that they have acted and will continue to act in a manner that is consistent with the Code of Ethics of the James Beard Foundation and its Awards Program. The Code of Ethics also applies to all members of the Awards voting body.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of behaviors and practices that are antithetical to the values of the James Beard Foundation and its Awards program:

• Inhumane, exploitative, or unlawful workplace practices, including but not limited to:

  • Stealing of wages or tips

  • Retaliation against workers who raise legitimate concerns

• Sexism, racism, or other discriminatory behavior, including but not limited to:

  • Harassment

  • Discriminatory or racist jokes and language

  • Sharing of sexually explicit or violent material

• Violent or abusive behavior, including but not limited to:

  • Threats of violence or violent behavior

• Bullying through conduct, often recurring, that exploits power imbalances in relationships to cause harm

• Improper use of social media to target persons or groups of people

• Misrepresentation of material facts, including fabrication, plagiarism, or false claims of ownership

In addition, entrants, semifinalists, nominees, and winners must comply with all applicable federal and local laws, including those regarding fraud, bribery, corruption, assault, and child labor. A credible allegation of violating the Code of Ethics may disqualify an entrant, semifinalist, or nominee from consideration for a James Beard Award or result in a semifinalist, nominee, or winner being prohibited from using the seal, logo, or image of the James Beard Awards and from claiming any recognition from the Foundation in connection with the Awards.

Our Vetting Process

Before any announcements are made, we engage an external firm that conducts initial vetting of potential award nominees, flagging anything inconsistent with the Foundation’s values. The steps are outlined below:

• This process involves conducting public records searches for clear and obvious existing violations of the Code of Ethics.

• This is conducted by an outside firm engaged by the Foundation.

• The firm reviews the lists of potential semifinalists, nominees, and winners before they are published.

• The results are reported to the Governance Committee of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees for review.

Independent Ethics Committee

In 2020, the Foundation took a year off of the Awards to consider how to do things better. We worked with outside experts and key stakeholders—including members of the Foundation’s Awards committees, which are made up of volunteers from within the broader food, restaurant, and media industries—to overhaul our policies and procedures.

In 2021, JBF conducted an audit of its Awards program, which resulted in many enhancements, including the implementation of a Code of Ethics and the creation of an independent Ethics Committee, established by the Board of Trustees, to independently review allegations of a breach of the Code of Ethics by an Award candidate. JBF prioritized fairness, thoroughness, and empathy in this process, understanding that everyone deserves a chance to be heard.

The ethics process allows for the subcommittees and judges—the voting body—to focus on the Awards process, including voting for nominees and winners. Alleged breaches of the Foundation’s Code of Ethics are reviewed by the Ethics Committee, an independent group of experts that reports and makes recommendations to the Governance Committee of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees. The Ethics Committee operates independently from the Awards Committee, subcommittee members, and the Foundation’s staff, including its Awards team.

Given the Awards Program’s timing, the Ethics Committee is able to act on information related to a 2025 James Beard Award entrant, semifinalist, or nominee only if received by the following dates:

For the Restaurant and Chef Awards: May 12

For the Media Awards: May 26

For further context, the Ethics Committee’s review process focuses primarily on compliance with the Code of Ethics during the current Awards cycle (that is, the year preceding the Awards through the present). However, behavior from earlier in time may warrant consideration, depending on its seriousness and the extent to which a candidate has remedied it. Note that the Foundation may disqualify or take other action against an entrant, semifinalist, nominee, or winner without publicly announcing the Foundation’s decision or making changes to any previously announced list of semifinalists, nominees, or winners to reflect disqualification.

Ethics Committee

Members of the Ethics Committee have a range of experiences in and knowledge of ethics, law, internal investigation best practices, perspectives from a whistleblower point of view, work force rights, and civil rights.

• Chair, Aaron Tidman, Director, Compliance & Investigations, Pinterest

• Vice Chair, Michael McCray, Attorney; Founder, Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival

• Vice Chair, Susan Ringler, Former Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer, International Rescue Committee

• Katherine Choo, Former Group VP and Chief Counsel, Global Investigations, GE

• Luna Droubi, Partner, Beldock, Levine & Hoffman

• Ruth Faden, Founder and Wagley Professor of Biomedical Ethics, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University

• Nkechi Ihuegbu, Global Anti-Bribery Lead and Sr. Counsel, Google

• Jim Mintz, Founder, Mintz Group

• Jonathan Nelms, Owner, Supra LLC

Review by Ethics Committee

Alleged breaches of the Foundation’s Code of Ethics are reviewed in the first instance by the Ethics Committee. When the Ethics Committee receives a report alleging that a candidate has violated the Code of Ethics, the Committee directs outside counsel in gathering information.

Although individuals may submit such a report to the Ethics Committee anonymously, the Committee does not make decisions based solely on reports, whether a reporter is anonymous or has self-identified. All allegations must be corroborated, whether through witness interviews, public records, or other documents. Allegations may be made anonymously; however, in some cases, fully anonymous reporting may limit the Ethics Committee’s ability to proceed with a review due to a lack of sufficient information and the inability to follow up as needed.

If after reviewing all of the information gathered by their team, the Ethics Committee determines that an allegation is not substantiated, the matter is closed with no further action. In any matter in which the Ethics Committee considers recommending that the Foundation take action, the Committee will direct outside counsel to contact the subject in order to provide the subject an opportunity to respond to the allegations against them.

Unless the Ethics Committee, in its initial review, finds an allegation to be unsubstantiated, the subject of the allegations is always provided with the opportunity to be interviewed, as well as to provide the names of witnesses and any documentation or other information for the Committee to consider before reaching its recommendation. 

Confidentiality of the Ethics Process Concerning Specific Cases

Our primary goal is protecting the integrity of the Awards program while being fair to those it seeks to celebrate. In fairness to all participants, we generally do not comment on particular cases, including why individuals do or do not move forward in the awards process.

The Ethics Committee may disqualify or take other action against a candidate without publicly announcing the decision or making changes to any previously announced list. At this time, the Foundation does not intend to rescind Awards that have been issued but reserves the right to do so in extraordinary circumstances.

Please note that any allegation that a member of the voting body violated the Code of Ethics is addressed by the Governance Committee of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

How to Submit a Report

As stated above, the Awards Code of Ethics applies to all entrants, semifinalists, nominees, and winners, and its voting body. To report allegations involving a potential breach of the Code of Ethics by a 2025 James Beard Award entrant, semifinalist, nominee, or winner, please click here.

To report a concern or allegations involving a potential breach of the Code of Ethics by a voting body member (committee member or judge), please click here. Please note that your report is for the Governance Committee, which reviews allegations against members of the voting body.

James Beard Foundation staff, Awards committee and subcommittee members, and judges are not involved in the Governance and Ethics Committee’s decision-making process. We will continue to monitor and assess our current processes and to identify and implement additional enhancements.

• Chair, Elizabeth Falkner, Chef/Creative/Maker, Trustee

• Vice-Chair, Duskie Estes, black pig meat co., Farm to Pantry Bay Area Ranchers Cooperative

• Jeff Cherry, Founder, CEO, and Executive Director, Conscious Venture Lab; Managing General Partner, Conscious Venture Partners, LLC; Founder, CEO, and Managing Partner, The Porter Group, LLC, Trustee

• Cynthia Graubart, Broadcast Media Awards Committee Chair; Cookbook Author; Former Culinary Television Producer

• Tahiirah Habibi, The Hue Society

• Richard Hull, CEO, Miso Robotics

• Bill Kim, Urban Belly Restaurants

• André Natera, Chef; Author, Podcast Host; Chef’s PSA

• Rochelle Oliver, Journalism Awards Committee Chair; Founder/Managing Editor, islandandspice.com

• Lauren Saria, Restaurant & Chef Committee Co-Chair; Deputy Food Editor, The San Francisco Standard

• Genevieve Villamora, Book Awards Committee Chair, Restaurateur and Writer

The James Beard Awards Emeritus Committee program was created to recognize Awards committee and subcommittee members whose terms have ended, for their contributions to the Awards program.

Emeritus committee members represent a wealth of industry experience across diverse sectors and remain deeply committed to the work we are doing. Members are invited and agree to serve in an advisory capacity and are officially active for two 2-year terms. The Emeritus program, one of the Awards 2021 audit recommendations, is effective as of the 2022 Awards cycle.

2025 Emeritus Committee Members

• Scott Alves Barton, Food Studio Professor/Chef, New York University (Book Awards Committee)

• Gustavo Arellano, Feature Reporter, Los Angeles Times (Journalism Awards Committee)

• Patricia Calhoun, Editor, Westword (Journalism Awards Committee)

• Hsiao-Ching Chou, Communications Consultant and Author of Chinese Soul Food (Book Awards Committee, Emeritus Chair)

• Amanda Faison, Freelance food writer and cookbook editor (Restaurant and Chef Awards Committee)

• Jenn Harris, Food Columnist, Video Host, and Producer, Los Angeles Times (Restaurant and Chef Awards Committee)

• Ren LaForme, Managing Editor, The Poynter Institute (Journalism Awards Committee)

• Mackensy Lunsford, Editor, Southern Kitchen; Food and Culture Storyteller (Restaurant and Chef Awards Committee)

• Adrian Miller, The Soul Food Scholar (Restaurant and Chef Awards Committee, Emeritus Chair)

• Nikki Miller-Ka, Senior Food Editor, Gulfshore Life Magazine (Restaurant and Chef Awards Committee)

• José Ralat, Taco Editor, Texas Monthly (Restaurant and Chef Awards Committee)

• Jamila Robinson, Editor in Chief, Bon Appétit Magazine (Journalism Awards Committee, Emeritus Chair)

• Ken Rubin, Chief Culinary Officer, Rouxbe (Broadcast Media Awards Committee, Emeritus Chair)

• Marc Schermerhorn, President’s Circle, Culinary Arts, Art Institute of Seattle (Book Awards Committee, Emeritus Vice-Chair)

• Jamie Tiampo, President, SeeFood Media (Broadcast Media Awards Committee)

• Diane Worthington, Author, James Beard Award Winner, Broadcaster, Tribune Content Agency (Broadcast Media Awards Committee)

• Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez, Common Era, Managing Director; Hot Bread Kitchen, Founder, and Author