David Ivey-Soto, MBA, CEC, CCA
Candidate for National President
Candidate’s Statement
The American Culinary Federation is at a crossroads. We’re stagnant in our growth—for more than two decades. We’ve seen the number of Professional Members drop while we’ve seen the growth in Student Members and Senior Members.
Why are we not growing the Professional Members?
Our industry has exploded. We have more foodservice operations than ever. We have more schools training our future leaders.
How do we attract and retain more members?
As National President, I will endeavor to find responsible answers to questions and run our organization as a business with a strong sense of fellowship.
David Ivey-Soto, MBA, CEC, CCA
Bio
David Ivey-Soto, MBA, CEC, CCA has diverse industry experience of over twenty-five years in fourteen countries on five continents has provided him with insights into the foodservice industry and the experience to share his expertise. He is a former National Secretary of the American Culinary Federation serving on its Board of Directors.
Chef David has been featured in The National Culinary Review, ESPN The Magazine, Freekick, The Daily News of the Virgin Islands, Newsweek, The Washington Post, among other publications and has been featured on WRC-TV NBC 4, Washington, D.C.
Before starting his companies, Chef David was the Training Development Manager at UniPro Foodservice, Inc. There his responsibilities included instructing menu management programs, designed to assist both the operator and the distributor sales representative in understanding the importance of the menu and how it relates to profitability. He was also charged with helping to develop and implement a series of training programs for the foodservice industry.
Chef David was the Corporate Chef for Dome Capital, an umbrella investment company in the Internet industry. Additionally, he has been the Program Coordinator for the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) in Washington, D.C., working with inner city public school students and introducing them to careers in the foodservice industry. He has been responsible for coordinating the program that has provided more than $1 million in scholarships to students of the District of Columbia.
Chef David’s experience included teaching at the Culinary Institute of America, Fairfax County Public Schools Adult Education, and ATI Career Institute (now Stratford University) where he developed and refined the curricula for most of the classes offered. He also was a part of the catering industry in Washington, DC working with the top caterers and leading many of the highest profile or politically sensitive events.
David Ivey-Soto earned his AOS from the Culinary Institute of America where he was on the Dean’s List, was the Student Council President, and was Sommelier de Vin. He was honored to be selected as a Fellow of the Culinary Institute of America where he worked with chefs Clark and Canner in the Fish Kitchen and with Mr. Schmitter in the American Bounty Dining Room. (Fewer than 2% of all graduates of the CIA are selected to serve as a Fellow.) He has been a candidate for Master of Wine and Master Sommelier, which he pasted two of the three sections. He earned his Certified Executive Chef from the American Culinary Federation in 2000 and has earned his Certified Culinary Administrator. In 2005 he earned his MBA from the College of William & Mary. He has competed in many culinary competitions.
David lives in Alexandria, Va., with his wife Lisa Ivey.
To contact Chef David, click here.
Candidate’s Messages
