Liz Williams has been interested in the cultural aspects of food through several careers. Besides her work with SoFAB she is a lawyer who writes about the legal aspects of food, reflecting cuture, policy and economics. She has served in the US Army as a JAG officer, taught arts administration law and historic preservation law. In addition she has been involved in several major economic development projects in New Orleans. She is currently working on a book about obesity lawsuits and other food-related litigation in the U.S. Learn more about Liz and what's she up to here.
Joe comes to the museum with a background in music, museums and archives. He attended the University of New Orleans, North Texas State University, University of Nevada- Las Vegas , University of Nevada- Reno on music scholarships and graduated with Honours from Algonquin College in Ottawa, Canada with a degree in Archives Technology. He is an award-winning musician who has worked for some of the 20th Century’s greatest musical icons- if you don’t count Charro. The museum/archives side of his career has seen him do contract work for the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons, Canadian Red Cross Archives, Canadian National Archives, the Chapel Hill Museum and the UNC-Chapel Hill Archives. Prior to landing at SoFAB, Joe was the Director of Auxiliary Services and Archivist at St. Mary’s School in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Stephanie Carter, Director of Communications; Editor of SoFAB Monthly; Chef-in-Residence
Stephanie Jane Carter holds a Masters Degree in Philosophy from Tulane University and an Associate’s Degree in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America in New York. She also studied law at Tulane University. She has worked as a chef in the United States (West Virginia, Louisiana, New York, Virginia) and Austria in places as varied as five star hotels and refugee camps. Stephanie's recent writing projects include editing and writing the SoFAB newsletter, a recent essay in Room in the Bowl: The IACP Gumbo Giveback Project, and co-authoring Food and Law: An Encyclopedia. She is interested in forestry, alligators, and homebrewing. Chris Smith, Director of Collections
Chris Smith oversees the care and expansion of the museum’s collection, manages the museum’s extensive collection of culinary books, and supervises exhibitions. He is developing numerous strategies to increase donations to SoFAB's cookbook library, as well as the addition of other culinary artifacts. Smith holds a master of arts administration degree from the University of New Orleans; he also holds a masters degree in Liberal Arts from the University of Chicago He has earned considerable experience working as a team of collections professionals documenting holdings of the New Orleans Museum of Art. Recently, he helped catalog guns at the National World War II Museum.
Megan is a graphic designer and illustrator living and working in New York. Megan grew up in New Orleans and attended Louisiana State University where she studied Fine Arts with a concentration in Graphic Design. She is delighted to be a part of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. It combines her love for food and her love for design. Some of Megan’s likes: pure cyan, soup, paper samples, puns, and Vietnamese Spring Rolls. Some of Megan’s dislikes: picky eaters, semicolons, and talking about herself in the third person. Visit her personal website here.
Kelsey Parris, Americorps VISTA Technology Coordinator
Originally from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Kelsey moved down to New Orleans to attend Tulane University in 2005. Returning after Hurricane Katrina, she graduated this past May with a B.A. in American History and a minor in Sociology. Though surrounded by great food for the most part of her life, she only truly appreciated that fact when faced with the campus dining halls, and she resolved never to go back. Luckily, New Orleans restaurants were up to the task of saving her faith and her interest in eating well, and cuisine and culture formed a major part of her studies. She is now enjoying every opportunity to expand her appreciation of Southern food and tasty beverages at the museum.
Elizabeth Pearce is a cook, writer, speaker, guide, teacher, Research Fellow at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, occasional actor and all around bon vivant. She lives on Desire Street in New Orleans. For more information, visit her website here.
Zella Llerena, Guest Curator
Zella comes to SoFAB with an undergraduate degree from Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, Illinois in Bilingual/Bicultural Education and a minor in History. She also studied at the University of Havana in Cuba. Zella was a bilingual teacher for 3 years in Chicago public schools, Spanish translator for all Chicago public school districts and after school dance teacher of ballet and Latin dance. She is currently pursuing a Master's degree at the University of Toronto in Museum Studies. Her research focus is on Southern and Latin food, food issues and the history of food in the museum. Llerena is a freelance food writer, writes for SoFAB’s blog and currently published an article for the University of Toronto, Faculty of Information Quarterly; Food Conjures Memory: Making Memory in the Museum. She is interested in cooking, collecting cookbooks, dancing and traveling.
Liz Williams has been interested in the cultural aspects of food through several careers. Besides her work with SoFAB she is a lawyer who writes about the legal aspects of food, reflecting cuture, policy and economics. She has served in the US Army as a JAG officer, taught arts administration law and historic preservation law. In addition she has been involved in several major economic development projects in New Orleans. She is currently working on a book about obesity lawsuits and other food-related litigation in the U.S. Learn more about Liz and what's she up to 
Joe comes to the museum with a background in music, museums and archives. He attended the University of New Orleans, North Texas State University, University of Nevada- Las Vegas , University of Nevada- Reno on music scholarships and graduated with Honours from Algonquin College in Ottawa, Canada with a degree in Archives Technology. He is an award-winning musician who has worked for some of the 20th Century’s greatest musical icons- if you don’t count Charro. The museum/archives side of 
Stephanie Jane Carter holds a Masters Degree in Philosophy from Tulane University and an Associate’s Degree in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America in New York. She also studied law at Tulane University. She has worked as a chef in the United States (West Virginia, Louisiana, New York, Virginia) and Austria in places as varied as five star hotels and refugee camps. Stephanie's recent writing projects include editing and writing the SoFAB newsletter, a recent essay in 
Megan is a graphic designer and illustrator living and working in New York. Megan grew up in New Orleans and attended Louisiana State University where she studied Fine Arts with a concentration in Graphic Design. She is delighted to be a part of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. It combines her love for food and her love for design. Some of Megan’s likes: pure cyan, soup, paper samples, puns, and Vietnamese Spring Rolls. Some of Megan’s dislikes: picky eaters, semicolons, and talking about herself in the third person. 
Originally from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Kelsey moved down to New Orleans to attend 
