About the Team

Get Involved

DONATE

About the Team

Get Involved

DONATE

Xavier (15)

Mariana (14)

D’Ante (14)

Xavier (15)

Mariana (14)

D’Ante (14)

Xavier (15)

Mariana (14)

D’Ante (14)

Transforming the lives of overlooked & underestimated youth

Joy provides love, healing, faith, and opportunity to overlooked youth by serving the whole-human through high-quality culinary education, economic empowerment, and deep human and spiritual support.

GET INVOLVED

youth crisis

Kayla sleeps on the floor so she’s not hit by a stray bullet at night.

Kayla had a gun put to her head at age 12.

Kayla walks out her door to people putting needles in their arms every day.

Kayla’s mom is an addict and can’t give her the support she needs.

Kayla lives just one mile from the most expensive retail in the city.

There are thousands of Kaylas living in Nashville right now.

Kayla has hopes and dreams.

Kayla sleeps on the floor so she’s not hit by a stray bullet at night.

Kayla had a gun put to her head at age 12.

Kayla walks out her door to people putting needles in their arms every day.

Kayla’s mom is an addict and can’t give her the support she needs.

Kayla lives just one mile from the most expensive retail in the city.

There are thousands of Kaylas living in Nashville right now.

Kayla has hopes and dreams.

Kayla sleeps on the floor so she’s not hit by a stray bullet at night.

Kayla had a gun put to her head at age 12.

Kayla walks out her door to people putting needles in their arms every day.

Kayla’s mom is an addict and can’t give her the support she needs.

Kayla lives just one mile from the most expensive retail in the city.

There are thousands of Kaylas living in Nashville right now.

Kayla has hopes and dreams.

Kayla sleeps on the floor so she’s not hit by a stray bullet at night.

Kayla had a gun put to her head at age 12.

Kayla walks out her door to people putting needles in their arms every day.

Kayla’s mom is an addict and can’t give her the support she needs.

Kayla lives just one mile from the most expensive retail in the city.

There are thousands of Kaylas living in Nashville right now.

Kayla has hopes and dreams.

Note: Kayla is a pseudonym composite describing experiences of some youth in Napier.

opportunity

Whole human transformation through best-in-class chef development and deep human & spiritual support.

Joy (opening 2026) is charitable restaurant led by renowned homegrown chef Sterling Wright and staffed by overlooked youth.

Sterling gained celebrity as a finalist on Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen, which opened opportunities he never could have dreamed of. This includes cooking for Oprah, Prince Harry, and Tony Robbins. Encouraged by God, his mother and a deep desire to help lift others up, he chose to turn his focus and talents back toward the neighborhood where he himself grew up.

Joy Program

TRAINING
All program participants enroll in 'Cooking the Wright Way' (CWW), a weekly training program that targets overlooked youth ages 10-16.
9 month training program provides best-in-class training on how to be a productive member of the kitchen staff, empowering participants to thrive in Nashville’s growing culinary community in the following jobs:
Prep Cook
Station Cook
Server
Host
Graduates are empowered with real world professional skills, personal growth, and a supportive social structure that launches them into a new future.
RESTAURANT
Joy is a full service restaurant staffed by CWW graduates and led by famed head chef and community leader Sterling Wright.
Joy provides real-world work experience for CWW graduates in high-quality restaurant service and hospitality, increasing their preparation and marketability to meet a need within Nashville’s growing culinary community for well-trained staff.
Joy graduates will have the opportunity to access jobs available to CWW graduates in addition to more senior roles like:
Sous Chef
Assistant General Manager
Head Chef
General Manager
Joy will serve delicious and meaningful meals to guests. Dishes will rotate seasonally and present a taste of inner-city excellence, prepared in a kitchen full of love, joy, faith, and community.
CAREER ADVANCEMENT
Graduates benefit from Joy's curated relationships with leading restaurants in Nashville to offer a pathway into the established culinary community.
Partners include Trevor Moran, creator of Food & Wine Magazine's 2022 Restaurant of the Year, Locust.
Joy Placement partners provide:
Support through targeted training and collaboration opportunities, contributing to the growth of Joy trainees.
Career opportunities for qualified Joy graduates.
Joy graduates provide:
Highly qualified applicants to meet the high demand for kitchen labor.
A local solution to a local problem, as our city grows 4x the national average, largely fueled by hospitality.
A socially-conscious approach to staffing needs
SUPPORT
Joy Support is the heart of our whole-human approach to deliver healing and flourishing to overlooked youth in Nashville's Napier community.
Our students deserve and receive:
Individual mentorship, delivering both personal and spiritual encouragement
Accountability to meet academic standards
Access to mental health resources, as needed
Access to a church community through Napier Kitchen Table, an outreach of Midtown Fellowship Church
Financial literacy training
Support accessing available state, federal, and city resources
Joy Support meets regularly with student families and / or influences in the student’s life.
Joy Support is integrated throughout all three stages of the Joy training program (Training, Restaurant, and Career Advancement)

training

restaurant

career advancement

support

All program participants enroll in 'Cooking the Wright Way' (CWW), a weekly training program that targets overlooked youth ages 10-16.

9 month training program provides best-in-class training on how to be a productive member of the kitchen staff, empowering participants to thrive in Nashville’s growing culinary community in the following jobs:

Prep Cook
Station Cook
Server
Host

Graduates are empowered with real world professional skills, personal growth, and a supportive social structure that launches them into a new future.

training

restaurant

career advancement

support

All program participants enroll in 'Cooking the Wright Way' (CWW), a weekly training program that targets overlooked youth ages 10-16.

Prep Cook
Station Cook
Server
Host

Graduates are empowered with real world professional skills, personal growth, and a supportive social structure that launches them into a new future.

All program participants enroll in 'Cooking the Wright Way' (CWW), a weekly training program that targets overlooked youth ages 10-16.

Prep Cook
Station Cook
Server
Host

Graduates are empowered with real world professional skills, personal growth, and a supportive social structure that launches them into a new future.

target outcomes

YEAR 1

YEAR 5

Participants enrolled

10

200 Program completion rate

80%

90%

Job placement rate

70%

90%

Retention rate

At placed job after 6 months

90%

95%

College graudation rate

For those who pursue this path

--

100%

community supporters

“Joy Kitchen is changing lives one meal at a time. I’ve seen it first hand at their table. Food is an essential part of community, and the culinary education of Joy Kitchen is bringing practical skills and confidence to every chef.

Discovering how I can support this effort is as exciting as the creativity these kids are experiencing in the kitchen.”

“Joy Kitchen is changing lives one meal at a time. I’ve seen it first hand at their table. Food is an essential part of community, and the culinary education of Joy Kitchen is bringing practical skills and confidence to every chef.

Discovering how I can support this effort is as exciting as the creativity these kids are experiencing in the kitchen.”