Mary Risley

A pioneering figure in the Bay Area food community, Mary Risley started Tante Marie’s Cooking School as a full-time professional school over 35 years ago.

In 1987, she founded Food Runners as a grass roots organization picking up excess food from businesses and delivering it directly to agencies feeding the hungry in San Francisco.

12 years later, she was awarded “Humanitarian of the Year” by the James Beard Foundation for her work with Food Runners. In 2007 she was awarded the Jefferson Award for outstanding volunteerism.