04/06/2026
We are so excited to announce the panel for our Foodways Symposium kick off evening on Friday, April 10, from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum.
We will also have a livestream option here: https://youtube.com/live/RtHFKrKLJfw
Chef Abang Brian, Ph.D.
From an auditor to a man in an apron, Abang (“Elder Brother”) Brian of MasterChef Malaysia fame has grown into a celebrated chef, educator and serial entrepreneur. With nearly two decades of experience in food, media and education, he is the author of seven cookbooks, including titles that have won at the Gourmand International Cookbook Awards. A passionate advocate for early childhood development through food, Brian co-owned the Malaysian franchise of Young Chefs Academy, where he pioneered creative learning for children through cooking. Beyond the classroom, Brian has hosted numerous of his own TV and radio shows on national platforms and was a best-selling host for the QVC-style home-shopping network WowShop. Today, Brian teaches as faculty with the largest culinary institute brand in the United States, Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, having previously served as an instructor at Le Cordon Bleu. He also host ”The Hungry Immigrant” podcast, where he celebrates immigrant food culture and heritage through powerful storytelling.
Peecoon Allen is the founder of Umami Ramen and a Thai-born entrepreneur whose journey reflects the pursuit of the American dream. After 40 years in the guest services industry, she left her career to follow her passion for food. What began as a small table at the farmers market grew into a beloved neighborhood restaurant seating only 16 guests and later expanded into a 3,000-
square-foot dining space. Peecoon believes food is a bridge between cultures and finds joy in creating spaces where people from many backgrounds gather, share stories, and connect through flavor.
Shane Bernardo is the co-founder of Food as Healing, a cultural and community organizer, facilitator and healing practitioner. He grew up working in his family's grocery store on the west side of Detroit, Michigan. For over 13 years, Shane's family helped cultivate a nourishing environment for the South East Asian, West African and African Caribbean cultures through culturally relevant foods, recipes, stories and traditions. Through these shared food staples and customs, Shane developed a heightened awareness of shared social, economic, political and historical conditions that his family had in common with others within a geographically, racially, ethnically and culturally stratified community. Shane, is also a long-life Detroit resident active within the grassroots food justice movement in Detroit. He has been a facilitator for Uprooting Racism Planting Justice and Detroit Equity Action Lab, outreach coordinator for Earthworks Urban Farm, racial equity committee member for the Michigan Farmers Market Association, and the Local Food Systems Coordinator for the Allied Media Conference in Detroit. Shane has also been awarded fellowships with the Center for Whole Communities, Environmental Leadership Program, Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, the Detroit Equity Action Lab, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture and the Castanea Fellowship. Shane is a food justice organizer, anti-oppression facilitator and healer that focuses on issues that lie at the intersections of food, health, healing and spirituality.
