Ground- Breaking Social Enterprise
Meet Chef Shanita McAfee-Bryant
Award Winning Chef |Executive Director & Founder
Chef Shanita is a Kansas City native and a civic-minded chef eager to transform the lives of community members on the Eastside neighborhoods through food-based solutions: nutrition education, kitchen culinary training and culinary entrepreneurship.
She fell in love with cooking as a teen and went on to receive her professional culinary training at Johnson County Community College. She created and owned a restaurant and competed on The Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen.”
In 2019, Shanita founded The Prospect KC, a social enterprise designed to address systemic inequities, caused by food apartheid, including food insecurity, unemployment and housing instability by providing workforce development, including case management, skill management, financial and nutrition education, childcare and job training.
Shanita is a board member with Harvesters, the Greater KC Food Policy Coalition and Lazarus Ministries KC. She has attended a James Beard Foundation’s Chef Bootcamp for Policy and Change and the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, the first such gathering in more than half a century, at the invitation of U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver.
The Prospect KC
The Prospect KC: Empowering Communities Through Food, Education, and Opportunity
Founded in 2019 by award-winning chef, Kansas City native, and community activist Shanita McAfee-Bryant, The Prospect KC provides high-impact solutions to food insecurity, economic inequality, and workforce development. Based in Kansas City’s Third District, we serve as a vital resource for residents, businesses, and organizations dedicated to building a stronger, more equitable future. Through culinary training, community engagement, and accessible meals, we create sustainable opportunities for individuals and families to thrive.
Our Mission
We are dedicated to empowering individuals through the innovative use of food as a tool for social change, increasing access to healthy and nutritious food, and addressing food insecurity within our communities. We commit to providing educational resources to foster healthy eating habits, rescuing fresh local food, and preparing nutritious meals. Through our workforce development initiative, we integrate comprehensive support services with education, job training, apprenticeships, and opportunities in employment and entrepreneurship.
Our mission is to equip men, women, and youth with transferable skills that enhance their lives, families, and communities, tackling the root causes of generational poverty and hunger head-on.
Our Programs
Food Access – Nourish KC Community Kitchen & The Daily Pantry
Our community kitchen prepares fresh, nutritious meals daily using rescued food from partners like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. The Daily Pantry offers essential items—dry goods, canned foods, and fresh produce—empowering families to prepare healthy meals at home. Through our Food Redistribution Network, we collaborate with local pantries to extend access to nutritious ingredients across the community.
Nutritional Literacy – "Nourish U" Online Education Platform
The Nourish U platform offers cooking classes, live demonstrations, and instructional videos to teach individuals how to prepare healthy meals using commonly available ingredients. In partnership with pantry networks, we provide recipes and nutrition guides that empower families to make informed food choices and build lifelong healthy habits.
Workforce Development – Culinary Futures Program
The 16-week Culinary Futures program combines hands-on training with coursework accredited through MCC, providing participants with culinary skills and college credits. Trainees gain real-world experience preparing meals for the community while honing essential kitchen management skills. Our program integrates support services—including job placement, financial literacy workshops, and mental health resources—to promote long-term success and stability.
Employment-Focused Social Enterprises
Graduates of our training programs can continue their career journeys through our employment-focused social enterprises. The Prospect KC Catering provides hands-on event management experience while generating revenue to sustain our mission. Additionally, The Nook Coffee Shop and The Benton Bed and Breakfast offer on-the-job training and employment opportunities, promoting career growth and entrepreneurship.
The Mission
We empower individuals by using food as a tool for social change, increasing access to healthy, nutritious food, and addressing food insecurity. Our commitment includes providing education on healthy eating, rescuing fresh local food, and preparing balanced meals.
Through our workforce development programs, we combine job training, apprenticeships, and support services to equip men, women, and youth with skills that strengthen their lives and communities, tackling the root causes of poverty and hunger.
The Vision
The Prospect KC serves as an umbrella to support Prospects through food-based solutions: nutrition education, culinary training and culinary entrepreneurship.
Core Values
Generosity
We believe in being open, patient, accepting, respectful, and giving without expectation.
Accountability
We drive impact, work in collaboration, and deliver meaningful outcomes with honesty, fairness, and transparency.
Access
Getting the individual and family access. Socioeconomic state should not determine access to food.
Empower
Safe and affirming environment to foster security, innovation, and growth.
Community
We nurture connections that lead to sustainable and impactful change.
Creating Lasting Change
Our Initiatives
The Prospect KC plans to serve 150 women, 215 youth, 80 unhoused and 150 housed but impoverished students and serve at least a million meals by 2025.
Our Funding/ Partners
Our efforts are designed to support members of disenfranchised communities at or below the federal poverty line in the Kansas City metro area.
We receive generous funding from individual donors, foundations, corporations, and the government. The Prospect KC’s major funders include grants from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Hall Family Foundation, and the Community Capital Fund.
We also work with a network of social service agencies to provide wraparound services to help our Prospects succeed.
The Ripple Effect
Our Prospects are capable, competent, and eager to overcome. With new abilities and the chance to change their life story, the Prospects become part of the solution — together with The Prospect KC’s community partners and donors.
While a Prospect’s growth is a lifelong transformation, success begins the first day they prepare a meal for the most vulnerable and hungry in our community. Each day on the job builds more confidence, self-reliance and hope for graduates who possess the skills to keep a job.
Become A Supporter
Individual Giving: Join Our Coffee For A Cause Community!
Meet Our Team
Corporate Giving: Culinary Collaborators Alliance
Connect with the passionate individuals driving our mission forward. Our dedicated team brings diverse expertise and unwavering commitment to every thing we do.
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Shanita McAfee-Bryant
Founder & Executive Director (she,her)Contact: operations@theprospectkc.org
Chef Shanita is a Kansas City native and a civic-minded chef eager to transform the lives of those suffering from food apartheid in Eastside neighborhoods by creating food-based solutions addressing food insecurity, nutrition education and culinary job training. She fell in love with cooking as a teen and went on to receive her professional culinary training at Johnson County Community College. She created and owned a restaurant and competed on The Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen.”
In 2019, Chef Shanita founded The Prospect KC, a social enterprise designed to address food apartheid, a racist and oppressive system that creates inequitable food systems by addressing food insecurity, nutrition education and culinary job training.
Chef Shanita is a board member for Harvesters, Kansas City’s food bank, serving 26 counties and more than 800 agencies, and a board member of the Greater KC Food Policy Coalition, NourishKC and Lazarus Ministries KC.
She was selected to attend the James Beard Foundation’s Chef Bootcamp for Policy and Change, a unique opportunity for civically and politically minded chefs to mobilize the support for policy decisions that impact our food system. In October 2022, Chef Shanita attended the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, the first such gathering in more than half a century, at the invitation of U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver.
Additionally, she was selected for the new Launch KC Social Venture Studio, which offers professional support, grant awards, and network connections designed to strengthen individual business concepts.
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Astin McAfee
Resource Coordinator (she/her)
Contact: resources@theprospectkc.org
Gabby is a Kansas City native who has a passion for proactive social support and spreading kindness. After earning a Master of Social Work, Gabby spent 11 years in the field gaining a wealth of experience in various social service systems across the metro area. Her roles included child abuse/neglect investigator, adult mental health therapist, nursing home director of social services, elementary school special education group facilitator, and oncology care social worker in both inpatient discharge planning and outpatient clinic resource coordination. “When I’m not at work, I can be found exploring Kansas City, and enjoying sunny days and good music on my patio,” she says.
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Gabrielle “Gabby” Lowe
Resource Coordinator (she/her)
Contact: resources@theprospectkc.org
Gabby is a Kansas City native who has a passion for proactive social support and spreading kindness. After earning a Master of Social Work, Gabby spent 11 years in the field gaining a wealth of experience in various social service systems across the metro area. Her roles included child abuse/neglect investigator, adult mental health therapist, nursing home director of social services, elementary school special education group facilitator, and oncology care social worker in both inpatient discharge planning and outpatient clinic resource coordination. “When I’m not at work, I can be found exploring Kansas City, and enjoying sunny days and good music on my patio,” she says.
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Pat Flucas
Kitchen Program Manager (she,her)
Contact: thekitchen@theprospectkc.org
Culinary students who train at The Spot are affectionately known as “Prospects.” As part of their training, they work with a former field operator for the U.S. Marine Corps, affectionately referred to as “Ms. Pat.” Her favorite post during her tour in the military was Okinawa, Japan, but when her tour was over, Pat returned to Kansas City to be near family, which includes her adult daughter. She worked at Quik Trip and KC Daiquiri Shop before landing at The Prospect KC. Pat learned baking from her great-grandmother, and the hobby has always been her go-to when she’s in need of relaxation. The Spot’s bakeshop includes a wide variety of cookies, breads, and pastries, but Pat especially enjoys teaching Prospects to bake cookies because “a good chocolate chip cookie can instantly take you back to childhood.” (Never mind, peanut butter cookies are her personal favorite!) Pat has always had a “big love” for giving back to her community. She is on the Transitions for Life Foundation board, an organization assisting veterans, unhoused, and adults reentering the workforce. She is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star. Pat is an avid follower of the British Royal family and relaxes by reading biographies and autobiographies of impactful historical figures ranging from Queen Victoria to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. because, as Winston Churchill said, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” In their own words: “I do love to travel when I can carve out the time, but I’m also an avid reader. If you want to escape, just pick up a good book…I love to learn about other people and what makes them tick.”
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Julie Caruthers
Catering and Special Events Manager (she,her)
Contact: events@theprospectkc.org
Julie earned an MBA from the University of Central Oklahoma and has over 20 years of restaurant management experience. After college, she followed her twin sister to Wichita, Kan., where she met her husband. After working for many full-service corporate restaurants in Kansas, such as Houlihan’s, Outback Steakhouse, and Granite City, Julie and her husband recently returned to Kansas City to work in non-profit kitchens. Julie oversees on and off-site catering for The Prospect KC. She also has plans to create a more robust grab-and-go program for The Spot, The Prospect KC’s coffeeshop, café, and fresh market. Julie also helps The Prospect’s culinary students, known as Prospects, sharpen their hospitality and customer service skills and, using her experience and contacts in the industry, plans to work with them on job placement after graduation. When she’s not at work, Julie enjoys exploring Kansas City’s cultural offerings, cheering for the Chiefs, hanging out with her three dogs, and teaching herself to grow houseplants and landscape her home with flowers. In their own words: “I’ve just always loved the atmosphere in Kansas City. The people are friendly, and there’s a large sense of community. I’m so happy to be a part of The Prospect, to really help get it going,” she says.
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Curtis Hale
Kitchen Manager (he/his)
Contact: thekitchen@theprospectkc.org
Curtis Hale
Curtis lived in Illinois before moving to Kansas City. He majored in restaurant management and earned a degree from Longview Community College. "I enjoy people, but things that rub me the wrong way are people with entitlement issues, people who take kindness for weakness, and lying just to kick it,” he says. “I will literally give the shirt off my back and will help anyone if asked,” and he has a soft heart: “I cry when I am passionate.” His first love? Baseball – specifically the Chicago Cubs.