The guiding principle of Soil2Service leadership is the improvement of all communities, individuals and systems. This principle is held in the highest regard for the Executive Director, Board of Directors and anyone participating in the organization. Leadership in Soil2Service abides by the five principles outlined below and work to develop anyone involved with the organization to understand and adopt the principles.
Individual Mastery
The concept of knowing oneself and continually improving and learning. We must always be willing to grow, develop and master our individual selves.
Trust
Having trust in the decisions, process and concepts that are shared to better Soil2Service. Trust that the decision, actions and events conducted in the name of Soil2Service will enhance the mission.
Safety in Communication
When engaged in communication, the right to speak your mind is guaranteed to all individuals. Every idea will be heard and treated with professionalism and respect.
Systems Thinking
We must think outside of ourselves. What will the impact have on all the systems? We will filter all ideas, projects and events through a systems approach.
Metanoia – Shift of the Mind
Impart a sense of metanoia. We will go beyond everyday learning and work to impart a shift in mindset for the people we touch. Every individual encounter will allow the opportunity to improve humanity. With metanoia, the long-lasting effect may be achieved.
Board of Directors
Amanda Saab
Amanda Saab was born and raised in Dearborn, where she learned her love for food in her family’s produce market. Amanda is a graduate of Wayne State University School of Social Work and a MasterChef alumni. She has earned several awards and was a Tory Burch Foundation Fellow. Amanda shares recipes online at amandasplate.com
“People who love to eat are always the best people” Julie Child.
Mike Hix
Mike Hix has worked as a consultant for over 23 years. His attention to detail and passion for service has carried him up the ladder at several high-profile companies including his present positions Client Services Executive for Emtec Inc. an IT consultancy company. Mike has been awarded many top performance awards over his career. Mike is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
While IT is his profession, Mike is a novice food critic; sampling food and service everywhere his job takes him. His love and understanding of good food and service goes beyond the average diner. Mike is married with two children.
Mike Hix joins the Soil2Service, Inc. Board of Directors with a unique understanding of food and service coupled with the desire to make a positive difference in the lives of the people that work in the food system.
Eric Abbey, PhD.
Eric has been working in the restaurant industry for 25 years. Starting as a bus boy and moving through the front of the house as a waiter and the bartender at a 4-star restaurant gave him the knowledge and skills of the entire front of the house. As a sensei in a Japanese martial art he was drawn to Japanese culture and began working at Japanese restaurants in Michigan. Moving to New York City he gained a bartending position at a four diamond Japanese restaurant a block away from the Waldorf Astoria hotel. Here he served many famous people and continued to develop his style for customer service. After returning to Michigan he continued bartending at local breweries and other corporate restaurants expanding his knowledge of restaurant management and customer service. Eric’s focus on the elegance of the dining experience for the customer has always been the key to his success. The server, and service must not be distracting or noticed by the customer but should be felt.
Eric is also a full professor of literature at a prominent Community College and received his Doctoral degree from Wayne StateUniversity. His teaching and educational background focuses on postmodern drama and music. For the past 15 years, he has been teaching and researching best practices in assessment and education. He is also the founder of the Eastern Kendo Club at Eastern Michigan University and has been an instructor since its founding in 1997. His publications include Garage Rock and Its Roots: Musical Rebels and the Drive for Individuality, a monograph on McFarland Books and Hardcore, Punk, and Other Junk: Aggressive Sounds in Contemporary Music, an edited collection on Lexington Books which appears in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum library.
Lianne Lyne
Food can change society. Born in London, U.K. to adventurous foodies who cooked meals at home from scratch with ingredients sourced from around the world, Lianne started cooking for the family, at 14 years old with skills learned from her parents and experimenting with recipes from cookery writers and chefs such as Elizabeth David, Robert Carrier, and the Roux Brothers. Lianne has a deep understanding of what extraordinary food tastes like and believes it is a fundamental human right to eat exceptional high-quality food. Through her work with Soil2Service she hopes to make this attainable by anyone in the United States.
We can change the environment. We can share our diverse cultural stories through food, building empathy and community, and change social inequalities such as poor nutrition, health outcomes, and unemployment. “The greatest gift I can give is lovingly preparing a meal for friends and family.”
Lianne is passionate about helping people develop Mental Toughness – a significant factor in enhancing performance, creating wellbeing, and developing positive behaviors. She employs theories, principles, and techniques from humanistic psychology, positive psychology, and, as a practicing Buddhist, mindfulness to help her clients achieve long-term positive shifts in their performance by gaining a deep understanding of the way they experience the world and get to the very core of their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Through her company, Mind Tough, Lianne has coached global executives in top 20 Fortune 500 companies, leadership teams of startups, and everywhere in between. Her clients want to expand their thinking way beyond the limitations they set and the stories they create about their experiences and want to deeply examine and challenge their own conscious thoughts and feelings to attain significant, life-changing results.
“Food is our common ground. A universal experience.” James Beard
Trunella (Trudy) Williams
Trunella Williams, here after identified as (Trudy) is currently the Director of Authorization and Utilization Management with Team Wellness Center. Team Wellness Center is an Integrated Behavioral & Physical Health Community Organization, located in the Detroit Metropolitan Area. Team Wellness has 5 Behavioral Health Clinics that also provides children services from 0 to 17 years of age and 2 of the Clinics are Residential Facilities as well. Team Wellness offers a full array of behavioral health services as well Primary Care, Dental, Vision, Podiatry, Mobile Dentistry, Pharmacies and much more.
Trudy previously was the Director of Programming where she was instrumental in developing Programs while at Team Wellness: these Programs include Permanent Supportive Housing; Individualized Placements and Supports Supportive Employment Program.; the various Vocational Trainings including Culinary, Master Electrician Budgeting, Tax Preparation, Vehicle for Change and Construction, Nail Technician Manicurist and newly added Program and resources Auto Mechanics, WIC and Friend of the Court Mobil Clinic . In addition, Trudy has assisted in Team Wellness Centers partnership with several entities including Michigan Rehabilitation Services, Michigan Department of Corrections Parole and Probation and Correctional Facilities as well as the Detroit Police Department.
Trudy’s professional roles include being a trainer for the National Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Permanent Supportive Housing Program as well as a Fidelity Reviewer for the State of Michigan regarding the Individualized Placements and Supports Program Evidenced Based Employment Model. Trudy holds a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Management with focus in Mental Health is a Certified Career Development Facilitator (GCDF) and a Certified Career Services Provider (CCSP).
Reed Bingaman
Reed has more than 25 years of industry and consulting experience across manufacturing, consumer products, technology, and professional services. Presently, he is a Managing Director at EY in the Strategy and Transactions consulting practice focusing on finance transformations, acquisitions, and divestitures. Prior to EY, Reed spent time as an embedded portfolio company executive for a large private equity firm in transformation and CFO roles, served as CFO at a growth-stage technology company, and consulted for Deloitte in the M&A practice.
Reed’s driving purpose is to compassionately encourage growth so that we are inspired to become our best selves. In addition to being a devoted mentor and developer of talent, he is passionate about food, sustainability, and Detroit, and appreciates the power of community built in breaking bread with others. Reed and his wife are highly successful producers of kale, grape tomatoes, and nasturtiums, and hope to expand their vegetable harvesting skills with a few more raised beds.
Operations Team
Jeremy Abbey, WCMC, CEC, CEPC, CCE, CCA
Improving the human condition through all things positive, focusing on food has been the guiding principle in Jeremy’s life for over a decade. The power of connectivity and the possibilities of improving human capital through food, hospitality and the culinary arts has led to Soil2Service.
A Detroit native, Jeremy has worked in some of Detroit’s premier restaurants and has opened some of the most influential hospitality concepts in the nation. From fine dining to retail to hospitals and education, his diverse experience in the culinary arts has allowed him to affect the lives of many, now on a global scale. By challenging his skill set through international competition and the startup of DUO, he earned the World Certified Master Chef designation from World Chefs along with the Certified Executive Chef, Executive Pastry Chef, Culinary Educator and Culinary Administrator from the American Culinary Federation. He holds a degree in Culinary Arts and a degree in Sustainable Agriculture. Jeremy has run a successful catering and consulting operation for more than 20 years and has consulted on the opening of multi-million dollar concepts by creating culinary “stories” to differentiate concepts in the market place.
Jeremy’s writings and recipes have been published in both national and international publications covering topics including seasonal ingredients and certification but primarily focusing the conversation on social sustainability in the hospitality industry. “Soil2Service has been a dream of mine. To create a place for food to be the focus, from growing it to serving it. We hope to make a difference in the communities that we are involved in and look forward to hearing from you.”
“Good food is the foundation of genuine happiness. “ – Esscoffier
John T. Piazza, CEC, CCA
Chef Piazza’s career in the world of culinary arts and business management reflects his creativity, versatility and entrepreneurial spirit. John started working in restaurant kitchens at the age of 15. He graduated from Central Michigan University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration in Hotel and Restaurant Management. He later earned an Associate Degree of Occupational Studies in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, NY.
After years as a chef and restaurant operator, John joined a post-secondary institution in the Metro Detroit area to create and direct a multi-campus culinary arts school. John has joined the American Culinary Federation Educational Foundation as both a post-secondary school accreditation evaluator and an ACF certification practical exam evaluator. Currently, John is the Executive Director of Business Development for Soil2Service, Inc., a project consultant for the American Culinary Federation, and the treasurer of the Michigan Chef’s de Cuisine Association. Chef Piazza’s view on hospitality culture and his commitment to
people brings a unique edge to the team.
Detroit Institute of Gastronomy
Apprentice Advisory Committee 2024
Kevin Penn, CEC
Bouakhanh Greene, CEC
DaVoria Simmons
Aaron Gaertner
Russell Scott, CMC
Sarah Grutza
J. Kevin Walker, CMC
Alan Neace, CEC, AAC (DIG faculty)
David Hooper M.Ed, CEC, CCA (DIG faculty)
Eric Abbey, PhD (DIG faculty – S2S BOD Liaison)
edibleWOW
Jim Harb
Development Coordinator