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Monday 8am - 5pm Tuesday 8am - 5pm Wednesday 8am - 5pm Thursday 8am - 5pm Friday 8am - 5pm

Root

Root’s mission is to help young adults create a pathway to independence through food service training and employment.

By developing essential life and work readiness skills, youth leave Root prepared for success in the workplace. Founded in 2017, Root is a 501(c)-3 non-profit social enterprise that uses the culinary arts as a tool for teaching workforce readiness and life skills to low-income youth in Essex County with barriers to employment. Root’s 14 week, 240-hour program of direct kitchen and classroom traini

ng helps young people transform their lives and futures through technical and experiential education in the culinary arts - leading to employment and financial self-sufficiency. Over the 14 weeks, youth participate in direct instruction and on-the-job training focused on 12 core culinary competencies, such as knife cuts, recipe management, basic sauces, leveners, kitchen safety, equipment knowledge, and more. As part of our job training program, Root operates three social enterprise arms; The Root Café, Catering by Root, and HarborPoint event space. Root's enterprises are core components to training model as they provide hands-on training experience. Root's enterprises engage youth participants in learning by doing and also provide services in demand by the local community. Revenues from these businesses also help decrease our reliance on philanthropic support.

05/27/2026

Root is proud to be a member of Mass Restaurants United and an active partner in their mission to support independent restaurants in the Commonwealth. Many MRU members serve as vital partners for Root’s Culinary Training Program: serving on our Chef Advisory Council, opening their doors to our trainees for externships, or bringing their expertise directly into our training kitchen as guest chefs and speakers.

Join us at their annual Breaking Boundaries event on Monday, June 8th, for a day of real conversationswith industry leaders, community partners, and changemakers interested in creating real solutions and real change in the industry.

See link in our bio for tickets, or visit: https://www.ticketmaster.com/mass-restaurant-united-breaking-boundaries-in-boston-massachusetts-06-08-2026/event/0100646D9A9FCABD?CAMEFROM=CFC_BIGNIGHTLIVE_SOCIAL_MERLINDA_JUNE8

05/26/2026

Root’s summer cohort is in session! Last week, we welcomed our 29th cohort, and they have jumped right in! It was a busy first week covering the ServSafe Allergen curriculum, learning basic kitchen safety and knife cuts. This week began with a discussion of their Community Contract, setting goals for how they will work and learn together over the next three months. We can’t wait to watch their progress!

05/15/2026

Congrats to Root Cohort 28 grad Nick for earning his ServSafe Manager certification this week!

05/11/2026

Last week, Root ED Nate Berkowitz participated in a collaborative discussion at Cornerstone Creative alongside partners from Cape Ann Works, The Open Door, and Cornerstone Creative — exploring how workforce development initiatives can continue to grow across the North Shore. The conversation brought together community members, business owners, and local leaders committed to expanding opportunity and addressing food access in our region. We are grateful to be in community with organizations doing vital work!

05/08/2026

We were thrilled to welcome back Root graduate Sebastien this week, who returned to lead a tour of our program for a group of his peers from New Liberty Innovation School. During his time at Root, Sebastien worked hard to build both his culinary and communication skills — and it was inspiring to watch the young person who once walked through our doors shy and quiet now step up as a leader, sharing his story and encouraging his peers to apply. We’re grateful for referral partners like the team at New Liberty, who help connect young people to our program and continue to support them on their journeys.

04/29/2026

One of our traditions on graduation night is for each Root cohort to add its words of wisdom to the classroom wall — advice for the trainees who come after them. Cohort 28 showed us once again how much they grew during their time with us - “Nothing changes if nothing changes,” “Take time to learn who you are,” and “Don’t get discouraged — keep pushing through.” We couldn’t say it better ourselves! We are so proud of all that they accomplished and can’t see where they go next.

04/27/2026

Our kitchen feels quiet in this week after graduation, and we are missing the energy of Cohort 28! One of our favorite traditions in the final week of the program is “Cooking with the Cohort,” where all members of the Root team roll up their sleeves and partner with the trainees to cook a meal together (with a little friendly competition thrown in for good measure!) Breakfast dishes were the theme, and we had some terrific twists on classic favorites such as eggs Benedict, shrimp and grits, and hash.

04/24/2026

Congratulations to our newest Root graduates! We had a full house last night as family, friends, mentors, partners, and supporters gathered to celebrate Cohort 28. We could not be prouder of this group of young people and the hard work they put in over the last 14 weeks.

Special thanks to our guest speaker, Kevin Tanglis, Director of Peabody Learning Academy, for sharing his perspective as a referral partner and the power of programs like Root and Peabody Learning Academy working together to support young people facing challenges to success, and to each of our student speakers, for sharing their Root experience.

We were thrilled to recognize Chef Daniel Gursha of Ledger, Salem, with Root’s “Special Sauce” award. Chef Dan has been a champion for Root’s trainees and alumni from the very beginning, hosting our trainees on externships, mentoring the graduates who have gone on to work on the Ledger team, and sharing feedback on our program through his role on Root’s Chef Advisory Council.

Three cheers for Cohort 28! We look forward to seeing what you accomplish next!

04/23/2026

Thank you to the terrific team of volunteers from Whole Foods Market in Lynnfield for joining us in the kitchen today! This hardworking group rolled up their sleeves to work alongside our alumni kitchen team and build dozens of lasagnes for The Salem Pantry.

Thank you for helping us !

Address

35 Congress Street, Suite 2350
Salem, MA
01970

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm

Telephone

+19786167615

Website

http://rootns.org/

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