Grandma Hattie used Pittsburgh’s food and tourism industry as a tool for embodied learning, showing me that the foundation of hospitality is built on empathy, belonging, and intentional world-building.
As a nursing director and with a passion for giving back that lasted well into her 90s, Aunt Anne demonstrated care and purposeful communication as tactics for building trusting relationships.
Wynn & Noble is an extension of their legacies, and the values I’ve inherited are the foundation of everything that follows.
Hattie Wynn and Anna Noble – my grandmother and great-aunt – believed in nurturing socially intelligent children with a healthy regard for self.
Story
We spend most of our careers segmenting our lives from our work. I’ve come to realize that my career wins, both in-house and independently, are deeply rooted in my ability to find harmony between the two. Wynn & Noble is an outward expression of that harmony: a place where culture, curiosity, and capabilities take shape.
Many of my peers know me for using inclusion and accessibility as a lens to drive social impact, specifically by facilitating programs that diversify and engage employees, audiences, and communities. This work has even led to my being recognized by the LA Times in 2022 as a DEIA Visionary for designing and facilitating Safety & Belonging programming at the Sundance Film Festival, an honor I don’t take lightly.
What many don’t know: I spent the pandemic studying the intersection of food and community-based tourism, earned my Level 2 WSET wine certification, and have spent the last four years quietly building toward this next chapter – exploring how inclusive travel and culinary tourism can expand palates and perspectives for social good.
Now, through Wynn & Noble, I specialize in inclusive placemaking and “taste of place,” partnering with destination management organizations and purpose-driven brands to design inclusive travel strategies and culinary experiences that create real, lasting impact.
Approach
My practice is grounded in embodied knowledge that comes from years of traveling, eating, and moving through the world, and refined through over a decade of experience leading engagement initiatives that turn understanding into strategy.
It’s through this context that I learned the most overlooked aspect of design is the gap between our current location and the desired destination. That gap is where communication breaks down, competing goals take hold, and the audiences we most want to reach get lost.
Using an intersectional, inclusive lens, I help organizations examine the distance and build programmatic pathways to belonging and impact.
Awards, Accolades, and Bylines
2022 LA Times Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Visionary
WSET Level 2 Wine Certified, passed with distinction
James Beard Foundation Media Awards Juror, 2023 - 2025
2025 ANA Multicultural & Inclusive Marketing Excellence Awards Juror
2026 Black Women in Food Awards Juror
Bylines:
“The Best Restaurants in Pittsburgh,” The Infatuation
“Toward a sustainable food system: How CPG and ingredient companies are driving innovation, impact,” Food & Beverage Insider
“Pittsburgh Exhibits Personify the Black Travel Experience,” VisitPITTSBURGH Blog
“Black brilliance, Pittsburgh Beat,” 2026 VisitPITTSBURGH Insider’s Guide
Past Speaking Engagements
2025 Colorado Governor’s Conference on Tourism
Theme: How “Accessibility Verified” Destinations have approached accessibility, engaged their communities, and made meaningful progress.
2025 Tourism Cares Meaningful Travel Road Show: Pittsburgh
Theme: How Pittsburgh is redefining itself. From steel and soot to sustainability, innovation, and community-centered placemaking.
2025 Tourism Cares Global Meaningful Travel Summit: Thailand
Theme: How culinary traditions, land stewardship, and inclusive food experiences can shape more meaningful and sustainable travel and nourish both people and planet.
2024 Colorado Governor’s Conference on Tourism
Theme: Leveraging the Accessible Travel Program to assess and promote accessible travel opportunities across Colorado.
2021 Film Festival Alliance FilmEx Conference
Theme: Actualizing Safety & Belonging in the film festival world– a case study from the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
2021 Association for the Study of Food and Society Conference
Theme: Complicating culinary tourism – a roundtable on travel, race, food, and social justice in the time of uncertainty.
2021 Philadelphia Grain and Malt Symposium
Theme: Fostering economic growth in Pennsylvania through culinary tourism.