About

About MAD

MAD is a global nonprofit that supports people across the food industry in building stronger businesses, fostering fairer workplaces, and advancing more sustainable food systems.

The organization sits at a unique and powerful intersection, translating knowledge from outside the hospitality sector, such as academia, the arts, agriculture, and other disciplines, and applying it in ways that meaningfully strengthen the industry.

Originally seeded by Noma, MAD also draws on deep access to some of the world’s leading food and craft expertise, and is surrounded by a network of exceptional restaurants and businesses at the forefront of culinary innovation.

This combination makes MAD’s programming both inspirational and academically rigorous, with a global reach that has impacted millions of people across more than 90 countries.

–

MAD consists of two legal entities: Komitéen for MAD Symposium in Denmark and MAD Foundation, a nonprofit organization incorporated in the state of New York (EIN #47-4561918).

Symposium

A multi-day gathering where the most ambitious people in food are inspired by cutting-edge thinking.

Academy

Intensive, hands-on courses on environmental sustainability and effective leadership.

Mondays

Lively public talks on the issues that matter most in food and hospitality.

VILD MAD

A foraging initiative and app with a map, recipes and guides to edible, wild plants.

A message from our Executive Director

When MAD was started, it wasn’t part of a master plan; it was an experiment. We were looking to create a space where people in food—chefs, yes, but also farmers, policymakers, food scientists, anyone who shapes the way the world eats—could come together. A space to ask and learn about the culture of eating, the systems behind what we do, and the responsibilities we carry.

Food is one of the most powerful forces on the planet. It connects everything—culture, nature, health, economy, identity. And yet, the people who make it all happen are often left out of the conversations that shape their future. That’s how the MAD Symposium began. Annual gatherings.

Honest conversations. Different themes every time, always about the future. Always asking: how do we contribute to a better future? Better ingredients. Better systems. Better leadership. How do we run restaurants that aren’t only creative but are also financially resilient? How do we help our people thrive? How do we stay creative ? How do we break the old, out-of-date patterns handed down to us? How do we protect the nature that is at the core of everything we do?

Today, our educational courses, public events, and publications help chefs and other professionals working in food lead the change that their industry, and the planet need.

We’re still experimenting and asking questions. And we’re building on what we’ve learned over the past two decades. This is what MAD is for.

I hope you’ll join us in building the future of food.

Melina Shannon-DiPietro
Executive Director