The Leela Palace Bengaluru and HopeWorks Foundation Partner for Women Empowerment

Bengaluru, May 8, 2025: The Leela Palace Bengaluru hosted Chef Massimo Bottura — world-renowned Italian chef — and girls from the HopeWorks Foundation and culinary aspirants from the Shefs At The Leela Program. Addressing the girls, Massimo spoke about the power of hope and dreams. He also led them in an experiential learning activity using art, in line with his philosophy, “Food Is Art.” The event took place on Saturday, 26th April in Bengaluru.

The Leela Palace Bengaluru and HopeWorks Foundation have partnered to provide internships and employment opportunities to increase the representation of women in the F&B division. The objective is to enable girls from underserved communities to become employable in the hospitality sector.

The partnership is now expanding with a new initiative to empower mothers from underserved communities to become entrepreneurs. The Leela Palace Bengaluru will serve as the knowledge partner, while HopeWorks Foundation will mobilise the mothers. Jacintha Jayachandran, Founder Trustee, said, “We are incredibly grateful to The Leela Palace Bengaluru for the partnership and for always showing amazing large-heartedness in enabling our girls to pursue their dreams.”

Culinary aspirants from the Shefs At The Leela program also had the opportunity to engage with Chef Massimo Bottura during the session. Eager to learn about his journey, inspirations, and the ingredients behind his global success, the young women left deeply motivated and encouraged to pursue their own careers in the culinary arts.

The interaction with Massimo was a high point for the girls, and as one of them said, “I learnt to paint and understand how to become a chef.”