Haile Thomas, founder and CEO, The Happy Org
H
aile Thomas is seeking to change the way the world thinks about food, one com-
munity at a time.
At age 17, Thomas is already a veteran speaker, podcaster, author, and nutrition
expert and the youngest Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach in the U.S. She is
the founder and CEO of The HAPPY (Healthy Active Positive Purposeful Youth) Org,
a nonprofit that promotes the importance of nutrition and culinary education.
She founded HAPPY at age 12, and since then has delivered her message to nearly
16,000 children through hands-on cooking demonstrations, in-school programming,
summer camps, and other activities.
Thomas became engaged in the promotion of healthy cooking and eating following
her father's diagnosis with Type 2 diabetes. Together with other members of her family,
she researched how changes in diet and lifestyle could help, and when their approach
worked and her father beat the disease, Thomas saw the opportunity to share her knowl-
edge and message of hope with others.
She is currently organizing a cookbook, and getting ready to launch the Happy
Academy, a virtual learning center for teachers and communities.
In the long term, Thomas says she'd like to have a facility to serve as the hub for her
organization's activities, where she can host summer camps and classes. "And, I'd like to be
able to scale that hub, and be like the YMCA for health and nutrition," she says. —M.H.
12 Under 35
Age: i7
Winter Fancy Food Show Booth 5306
36 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com
Julie Besonen writes for The New York Times and is a restaurant columnist for nycgo.com. Mark Hamstra
is a regular contributor to Specialty Food Magazine and Specialty Food News.
