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Irene Li

Irene Li

Boston, MA
Visionaries 2021
Irene wants to transform the restaurant world into an industry in which worker's needs and potential are taken seriously. Irene believes professionalizing and improving restaurant employment has the potential to uplift millions of workers and small business owners.

Irene is the co-founder of Mei Mei, a restaurant-turned-dumpling-company based in Boston, Massachusetts. As a self-taught cook, she's spent the last decade drawing on her Chinese-American heritage and her love of New England ingredients to create unusual and playful food. She is a six-time James Beard Award Rising Star Chef nominee. Inspired by her peers, team members, and experiences in the industry, she is now driving change in restaurants by creating tools and resources to support businesses of all sizes to thrive sustainably and equitably.

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