This week's guest on ORIGINS is Mike Curtin, CEO of DC Central Kitchen. After graduating from Williams College in 1986 with a BA in Religion, Mike lived and

worked in Osaka, Japan as a teacher, copywriter, and bartender at his neighborhood pub. Upon

returning to the US, Mike began a 20-year career in the hospitality business, which included

owning and operating his own restaurant, The Broad Street Grill in Falls Church, Virginia, before

joining DC Central Kitchen (DCCK).

When Mike joined DCCK in 2004, he drew on his experiences as an entrepreneur in the

restaurant business to expand the Kitchen’s social enterprise program from less than $500,000

in 2005 to over $7 million in 2014. Under his leadership, DCCK’s social enterprise portfolio

expanded from a small catering outfit to include a full-service catering, contract meals, locally-

sourced, scratched-cooked school meals and a wholesale program that delivers fresh produce

and healthy snacks to corner stores in Washington, DC’s food deserts.