TANYA STEEL IS A GLOBAL LEADER IN THE FOOD WORLD. SHE’S THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CAREERS THROUGH CULINARY ARTS PROGRAM & THE AWARD DIRECTOR FOR THE JULIA CHILD AWARD. 

The author of three books, the newest of which is Food Fight: A Mouthwatering History of Who Ate What & Why Through the Ages, an Amazon Best Children’s Book of the Year, she conceived and helped produce both Canada’s three-year initiative Kid Food Nation, and the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge & Kids’ “State Dinner” with First Lady Michelle Obama. This annual White House competition and event occurred for five years (2012-2016) and Steel was honored to speak four times at the White House podium in the East Room, alongside Ms. Obama.

She was the Executive Director of the International Association of Culinary Professionals; an Adjunct Professor at New York University; the former Editorial Director of Clean Plates, Epicurious, Gourmet Live, and Gourmet.com; was an editor at Bon Appetit and Food & Wine, and wrote for The New York Times for four years. She co-wrote the award-winning Real Food for Healthy Kids, and The Epicurious Cookbook, which debuted on The New York Times’ bestselling list. She’s a member of the National Museum of American History’s Kitchen Cabinet.

Inducted into the Digital Hall of Fame, she won a James Beard Award for Journalism for an article she wrote about 9/11, and with a talented team, won dozens of awards including Webbys, American Society of Magazine Editors, James Beards, and an Emmy. In 2023 she was named a Social Impact leader by the New York Observer and in 2024 has been featured on Fox, Telemundo, and ABC for her work with asylum seekers.

She has appeared on dozens of network television shows, including dozens of appearances on the Today Show, CBS The Early Show, Hell’s Kitchen, Iron Chef, The View, Master Chef, Chef’s Table, and dozens of others.

Born in London and raised in New York City, she is the proud mother of two sons. She is involved with the Brain Health Initiative, was a support group volunteer for the Association of Frontal Temporal Degeneration, is a founding member of Cure MAPT FTD, and is working on a book for caregivers of dementia patients.