Natalie Keng, M.A.

Natalie Keng “opens minds, one mouth at a time”  as a published food and culture expert, and additionally a speaker, entrepreneur, and professional Diversity/Inclusion facilitator/moderator. She is the Founder/CEO of Chinese Southern Belle, an award-winning woman-minority-owned small business that “cooks up a better world” through a natural cooking sauce line and interactive events/tours that promote positive human relations, healthy communities and lifestyles, and diversity/inclusion. A Georgia native and graduate of Vassar College (B.A.) and Harvard University (M.P.P.), Natalie has been a pioneer in connecting food, ethnicity, sustainability, gender, and economics across sectors. Furthermore, she has served as a publicly-elected official.

Through Chinese Southern Belle and community partnerships, she helps individuals cook up healthy, global flavors and advises organizations on “the multicultural power of food and diversity” – breaking egg rolls and stereotypes along the way. Natalie led the original Buford Highway “international corridor” tours, has taught 400+ cooking classes/demos, and launched the first award-winning line of Asian Southern fusion cooking sauces (in Whole Foods, Kroger, Amazon).

She is a recipient of numerous awards including the Women’s Small Business Council Trailblazer Award and the Flavor of Georgia-Best Cooking Sauces. She also serves on boards for women’s leadership, equity, and inclusion, and local food-health initiatives while additionally belonging to the Governor’s COVID19 Task Force, Board of ACLU of Georgia, Les Dames d’Escoffier, and the National Diversity Inclusion Task Force. She was featured on CNN’s Start Small, Think Big as an influencer, speaker, and presenter (ChineseSouthernBelle.com).