Allison Padilla-Goodman is Giving Kitchen’s first-ever Chief Executive Officer, leading the organization’s mission to provide stability and hope to food service workers in crisis. Since joining Giving Kitchen in 2024, Allison has focused on strengthening the organization’s systems, deepening its impact, and expanding its reach so that more workers and their families can access life-changing support. She is passionate about building strong teams, forging powerful partnerships, maintaining a steadfast commitment to justice, innovation, and growth, and ensuring that Giving Kitchen remains a reliably warm source of support for the industry and community.
Allison joined Giving Kitchen because she believes in the dignity of food service work and the essential role this community plays in shaping culture, connection, and belonging. Her own life has been profoundly shaped by the restaurant industry—from early food service jobs that influenced her academic path and global experiences, to the place where she met her husband, to the inspiration behind her daughter’s name. Leading Giving Kitchen is both a professional calling and a personal commitment.
Before Giving Kitchen, Allison spent more than a decade as a senior leader at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), directing the agency’s work across 15 Southern states. There she led large, multidisciplinary teams; built influential coalitions; guided major programmatic and policy initiatives; and advanced efforts to address hate and extremism. She is particularly proud of leading the statewide coalition that helped pass Georgia’s historic Hate Crimes law in 2020.
Allison’s career has always been rooted in building, connecting, and strengthening communities. She has held leadership roles across education, research, and international nonprofit sectors in New Orleans, Hong Kong, and Colombia. She thrives in helping organizations grow with intention—developing strong structures, aligning teams, and creating vision-driven strategies.
Allison holds a PhD and MPhil in Sociology from the City University of New York Graduate Center, where she focused on race, migration, and urban development. She also earned a Master’s in Latin American Studies from Tulane University and a BA in Sociology/Anthropology from Middlebury College.
A native of New Orleans and an Atlantan since 2017, Allison is active in the civic fabric of the city. She is an active alumna of Leadership Atlanta, a member of the International Women’s Forum and the Atlanta Civic Collaboratory, and has served on multiple nonprofit boards, including Atlanta Way 2.0, the World Affairs Council, the Howard School, and the Atlanta Speech School.