Consultant, Nina Concept Store & Bistro; Panama City, Panama

Elena Hernandez holds a Grand Diplôme in Culinary and Pastry Arts from Le Cordon Bleu, Paris, a Diplome in French history and literature from the University of La Sorbonne, in Paris, France,  and a bachelor´s degree in marketing management from Universidad del Istmo. For 30 years she worked her way through hotel and restaurant kitchens while teaching culinary arts in Panama and South America. In 2002, she founded the Academia de Artes Culinarias, the first private cooking school in Panama. Elena has consulted as a corporate chef for Copa Airlines, the Panamanian national airline; and for several culinary projects for leading food companies in Panama such as Nestlé, Melo, and Rey Supermarkets. She helped create and starred as head judge on Quiero Ser Chef, a cooking reality show on Televisora Nacional; has appeared as guest chef for three Seasons on Top Chef Panama, and is currently the head judge for BBQueen, a local reality tv show featuring women who master the grill. Elena writes regularly about food and her more than 40 articles have been published in La Prensa, the leading national newspaper, and several local food magazines.  La Prensa named her one of the five most important chefs in Panama of the last 25 years for her contributions to culinary education, while Chilean magazine Blank named her “Pioneer of Culinary Education” in her country. Among her international experiences, are being a guest speaker at The Culinary Institute of America at St. Helena, California and San Antonio, Texas campuses, at “Cooking for Solutions” at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California, and at the IACP Conferences at Baltimore, New Orleans, Seattle, New York, Denver, Portland, Austin, and San Francisco (USA). She served on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, being the first and only Latin American member to ever hold the position, between 2007 and 2011.  She currently leads the events and marketing department for her family business. (Panama City, Panama) @elenamhernandez